Ajay Bijli, managing director, PVR Inox, and founder of PVR, will deliver the exhibition keynote address at International Day at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, to speak on behalf of India’s film and exhibition marketplace.
The show is being held April 24-27 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
PVR Inox, having completed a recent merger, has become the largest cinema exhibitor in India, with 1,680 screens across 115 cities throughout the country and parts of Sri Lanka, in 359 cinemas.
“I am delighted to be invited by CinemaCon to present a special International Day keynote address on behalf of exhibition representing the Indian film and cinema industry," Bijli said in a statement. “India currently has the highest number of movie releases and amongst the highest admissions, and though the pandemic severely impacted our industry for nearly two years with operating restrictions, the Indian market was the first to recover among global cinema chains."
Bijli also said the company’s successful recovery was thanks to the huge pipeline of Indian produced movies in the form of Hindi and regional content, apart from overseas Hollywood content. “Cinemas are the country’s number one out-of-home entertainment choice, due to affordability, accessibility, and limited location-based leisure activities," he said.
Mitch Neuhauser, CinemaCon’s managing director said that with upwards of 71 percent of the global box office coming from overseas, international exhibitors play a more important role than ever before. “India continues to cultivate a strong movie-going culture having established stature and continuity. We’re delighted Mr. Bijli accepted our invitation to share valuable insights as a thought leader and for India’s global contributions in exhibition," he said in a statement.