Hindi
PVR declares FY20 Q3 results, witnesses growth of 8%
MUMBAI: PVR Ltd today announced its unaudited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2019.
Consolidated revenues for the quarter ended December 2019 were Rs 924 crore as compared to Rs 857 crore during the corresponding period of last year, witnessing a growth of 8 per cent. Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 315 crores as against Rs 179 crore in the same period last year, witnessing a growth of 77 per cent. EBITDA margin for the quarter was 34.1 per cent. Consolidated PAT for the quarter was Rs 36 crore as compared to Rs 55 crore during the corresponding period of last year. After adjusting for the impact of Ind-AS 116 – Leases, EBITDA, and PAT of the company would have been Rs 188 crore and Rs 59 crore respectively. This would represent EBITDA and PAT growth of 5 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
The overall EBITDA margins of the company were 20.4 per cent (after excluding IND-AS 116 impact). The box office revenues for the quarter were up by 6 per cent from Rs 425 crore to Rs 453 crore. F&B revenues were up by 13 per cent from Rs 217 crore to Rs 244 crores supported by robust growth in average F&B spend per person of 12 per cent. Advertising revenues grew from Rs 112 crore to Rs 122 crore, up by 8 per cent in spite of challenging business environment on media spends by companies. The company has aggressively expanded its screen portfolio in the current financial year by adding 67 new screens across 11 properties and now operates a network of 825 screens spread over 173 properties in 71 cities across the country.
Commenting on the results and performance, PVR Ltd chairman and managing director Ajay Bijli said, “The operating and financial performance of the business for Q3has been robust amidst difficult macro-economic conditions. The box office performance has been satisfactory with strong performance from Bollywood and Hollywood film industry. The performance of the regional film industry, specifically Tamil and Telugu, however, has been below par in the current quarter resulting in muted growth in our overall box office performance. This truly reflects the strength of our business model and our strategy for a wide geographical distribution of our cinema footprint where we have reduced our dependence on any one film industry or region. Our operating performance on all other parameters remains strong and we continue to innovate and identify areas where we can serve our customers better. Our screen opening outlook remain strong and we are on track to open 90-100 new screens in the current financial year.”
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.
