Hindi
Inox reports 2Q loss of Rs 22 crore
Mumbai: Hit by the poor performance of Bollywood, multiplex operator Inox Leisure has reported a second quarter 2023 fiscal loss of Rs 22 crore compared with a profit after tax of Rs 51 crore in the same period of the 2020 fiscal. When compared to the same period in the 2020 fiscal, Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) fell by 97 percent to three crore rupees.
Revenue dropped by 27 per cent to Rs 381 crore. While the spending per head went up by 29 per cent, the number of footfalls went down by 39 per cent. Occupancy was down by 13 per cent. The average ticket price rose by 10 per cent. Inox said that the 2021 and 2022 fiscals were hit by the pandemic, and therefore it has taken the 2020 fiscal as a comparison.
Inox had a net profit of Rs 57.09 crore in the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal. Revenue from operations was Rs 582.26 crore in the first quarter of the 2023 fiscal.
For the first half of the 2023 fiscal, profit after tax declined by 43 per cent to Rs 53 crore compared to the same period in the 2020 fiscal. Ebitda fell by 33 per cent to Rs 134 crore. Revenue fell marginally by five per cent to Rs 970 crore.
The company said that it expects a great turnaround in the business going forward thanks to a content lineup in the upcoming quarters with releases like Ram Setu, Thank God, Drishyam 2, Bhedia, Phone Bhoot, Cirkus, Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Avatar: The Way of Water, complimented with consumer-centric innovations. The company added 30 screens in the first half of the fiscal, which it said was the highest screen addition in the industry. The company added two new properties with 13 screens in the second quarter; a 10-screen Inox Megaplex at Emerald Mall, Lucknow and a three-screen multiplex in Srinagar. Inox revived cinema in Kashmir after a gap of 32 years with the launch of the first multiplex in Srinagar. The three-screen cinema brings the contemporary giant-screen movie watching experience back to the region.
Furthermore, the company plans to add 11 properties and 47 screens in FY23.
The company reported its best ever quarterly SPH, which was largely driven by the rigorous efforts around F&B. Critical additions to the menu, introduction of seasonal specialties, timely and result-oriented marketing initiatives, interactive culinary sessions and workshops and numerous process innovations have led to a solid recovery on the F&B revenues.
Inox Leisure director Siddharth Jain said, “Pandemic has taught us to remain battle-fit and come up with answers to difficult situations. The second quarter of FY23 was impacted by the inconsistency in the content value chain, proving the importance of great quality content yet again. We are delighted with our promising performance on the F&B front, with our highest ever quarterly spend per head. Our foray into Kashmir with the region’s first multiplex marked the revival of cinemas in the valley, and we are quite upbeat about this historic launch, which underlines our desire to entertain India across its length and breadth. The spectacular content pipeline, the festive fervour and our consistent rigour will certainly mark a celebratory third quarter for us.”
Hindi
Remembering Gyan Sahay, the lens behind film, television and advertising
From a puppet rabbit selling poppadums to Hindi cinema, he framed it all.
MUMBAI: There are careers, and then there are canvases. Gyan Sahay, the veteran cinematographer, director, and producer who passed away on 10 March 2026 in Mumbai, had one of the latter. Over several decades in the Indian film and television industry, he turned lenses, lights, and the occasional puppet rabbit into something approaching art.
A graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, Sahay built his reputation as a director of photography across a career that stretched from the early 1970s all the way to the digital age. He was the kind of craftsman who understood that a well-composed shot is not merely a technical achievement but a quiet act of storytelling.
For most Indians of a certain age, however, Sahay will forever be the man behind the rabbit. His direction of the iconic long-running television commercial for Lijjat Papad, featuring its now-legendary puppet bunny, gave the country one of its most cheerfully persistent advertising images. It was the sort of work that sneaks into the national subconscious and takes up permanent residence.
His big-screen credits as cinematographer include Anokhi Pehchan (1972), Pagli (1974), Pas de Deux (1981), and Hum Farishte Nahin (1988). In 1999, he stepped behind a different kind of camera altogether, making his directorial debut with Sar Ankhon Par, a drama that featured Vikas Bhalla and Shruti Ulfat, with a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan for good measure.
On television, Sahay was particularly prized for his command of multi-camera production setups, a skill that made him a go-to technician for large-scale shows and reality programmes. In an industry that has never been especially patient with complexity, he was the calm hand on the rig.
In later life, Sahay turned teacher. He participated regularly in masterclasses and Digi-Talks, often hosted by organisations such as Bharatiya Chitra Sadhna, sharing hard-won wisdom on cinematography, the comedy of timing in a shot, and the sweeping changes brought by the shift from celluloid to digital. He was also said to have been involved in a project concerning a biographical film on Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.
Tributes from the film industry poured in following the news of his passing, with colleagues remembering him as a senior cameraman who served as a rare bridge between two entirely different eras of Indian cinema. That is, perhaps, the finest thing one can say of any craftsman: he kept up, and he brought others along with him.
