Hindi
Higher numbers push up financials; ‘Padmaavat’ top grosser for PVR
BENGALURU: Higher box office, food and beverages (F&B) and sponsorship revenues, higher occupancy, higher average ticket prices (ATP) have helped push up Indian exhibitor PVR Ltd’s (PVR) overall numbers for the quarter and year ended 31 March 2018 (Q4-2018, quarter under review, FY-2018, year under review) as compared with the corresponding year ago quarter (Q4-2017) and financial year (FY-2017) respectively. Net box office collections (NBO) at Rs 75.15 crore for Padmaavat, the top grosser for PVR in Q4-2018 were more than double the NBO of the Q4-2017 top grosser Dangal, which had netted Rs 32.23 crore. This was despite lower theatre admits in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat which were impacted due to non-release of Padmaavat in these states, says the company.
PVR reported 19 per cent yoy increase in consolidated revenue for the quarter under review at Rs 572.88 crore as compared to Rs 483.01 crore in Q4-2017. Profit after tax for Q4-2018 increased to Rs 25.89 crore as compared to Rs 0.01 crore in Q4-2017. EBITDA (including other income) in the quarter under review increased 60 per cent to Rs 101.93 crore from Rs 63.84 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.
For FY-2018, the exhibitor reported an eight per cent increase in revenue at Rs 2365.45 crore as compared to Rs 2181.68 crore in FY-2017. PAT for FY-2018 was 29 percent higher at Rs 124.02 crore as compared to Rs 95.84 crore in FY-2017. EBITDA for the year under review increased 15 per cent to Rs 433.17 crore from Rs 375.87 crore in FY-2017.
Q4-2018 revenue numbers
Total NBO collections increased 18 per cent yoy in Q4-2018 to Rs 312.40 crore from Rs 264.60 crore. Revenue from F&B increased 22 per cent yoy to Rs 157.10 crore from Rs 128.49 crore. Advertising revenue increased 37 per cent yoy in Q4-2018 to Rs 72 crore from Rs 52.74 crore in Q4-2017. Convenience income declined two per cent yoy to Rs 14.46 crore from Rs 15.72 crore. Other operating income declined 19 per cent yoy to Rs 13.95 crore from Rs 17.24 crore. The company says that other operating income in Q4-2017 included government subsidy of Rs 7.62 crore provided by various state governments. In Q4-2018, this component has not been accounted for on due to lack of clarity on refund mechanism for the tax exemptions under GST regime claims the company in it investor presentation. Other income declined 43 per cent yoy to Rs 2.97 crore from Rs 5.22 crore.
FY-2018 revenue numbers
Total NBO collections increased 11 per cent yoy in FY-2018 to Rs 1248.06 crore from Rs 1125.64 crore. Revenue from F&B increased 10 per cent to Rs 607.66 crore from Rs 550.54 crore. Advertising revenue increased 20 per cent in FY-2018 to Rs 294.86 crore from Rs 245.02 crore in Q4-2017. Convenience income increased three per cent to Rs 59.71 crore from Rs 58.15 crore. Other operating income declined 14 per cent to Rs 55.14 crore from Rs 64.26 crore. Other income declined 45 per cent to Rs 10.22 crore from Rs 18.58 crore.
Box-office numbers
Admits in Q4-2018 increased by five per cent to 1.90 crore from 1.82 crore in corresponding quarter of fiscal 2017. Occupancy was fractionally lower in Q4-2018 at 31.5 percent as compared to 31.6 percent in Q4-2017. ATP increased by Rs 19 during the year under review to Rs 209 as compared to Rs 190 in Q4-2017. The company says that the top five movies in Q4-2018 contributed to 52 percent of the gross box office with an occupancy rate of 38 per cent.
Admits in FY-2018 increased by one per cent to Rs 7.61 crore from Rs 7.52 crore in fiscal 2017. Occupancy was up at 32.9 per cent in FY-2018 as compared to 31.3 per cent in the previous year. ATP increased by Rs 15 during the year under review to Rs 210 as compared to Rs 196 in FY-2017.
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.
