More Glitz to the Multiplexes

Network18 Media and Investments Ltd is venturing into film exhibition by opening its first multiple-screen movie theatre in New Delhi on 27 June.The company plans to start a chain across India in the next 12-16 months.The cinema exhibition business—to be handled by a separate corporate entity called Stargaze—will be headed by Sumant Bhargava.The movie halls will be branded as “Glitz”.Stargaze would focus on both metros and smaller cities and target audiences across income groups.To start with, the company would lease and operate existing cinema halls across the country but may later look at other operational models.The firm is starting its first multi-screen at an existing cinema hall called Batra in New Friends Colony, which will be renamed as Batra Glitz.
Network18 entered film production, acquisition, syndication, marketing and distribution business in 2006 by starting a division called Studio 18.In 2007, the firm’s portfolio of films included popular titles such as Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd, Namastey London, Welcome, Jab We Met, and Cash. Films currently under production include Singh is Kinng, Little Zizou, and Fruit and Nut.The cinema exhibition initiative complements Studio 18’s business.
With this move, Network18 will join the list of big corporate houses in the cinema exhibition business that include Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group owned Adlabs Ltd, Delhi-based PVR Ltd, Pritish Nandy Communications’ Inox Leisure Ltd and Pyramid Saimira Theatres Ltd, among others.
According to a study by the industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and professional services firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the filmed entertainment business, which was worth Rs8,500 crore in 2007, is set to touch Rs17,500 crore by 2011, growing 16% every year.
Domestic box office collection continues to be the largest contributor to the revenues of the film industry at 74%, the study reported.It estimated domestic box office collections at Rs7,200 crore in 2007, up from Rs6,400 crore in 2006, translating into a growth of 12% from the previous year.
Network18 is one of India’s leading media companies with diversified interests across television, print, Internet, filmed entertainment and mobile content.