About Us

PVR Limited

PVR Limited was incorporated in April 1995 pursuant to a joint venture agreement between Priya Exhibitors Private Limited and Village Roadshow Limited, one of the largest non-U.S. cinema exhibition companies in the world. In November 2002, as part of Village Roadshow's planned divestment of its investments in 18 countries, it sold its entire shareholding in our company to Priya Exhibitors Private Limited.

Today, PVR Group is among India’s leading integrated media & entertainment players with a significant presence in film entertainment (film production, distribution and exhibition) and retail entertainment landscape. Regarded as the pioneers of the multiplex revolution in India, currently, PVR’s cinemas serve an aggregate of more than 17.5 million patrons annually. It operates a geographically diverse cinema circuit of 136 screens with presence in 18 cities across India.
 

PVR Pictures

PVR Pictures is the flagship film production and distribution arm of PVR Group. PVR Ltd holds 60% shareholding in the subsidiary while the balance 40% stake is held by JP Morgan Mauritius Holding Ltd and ICICI Venture in equal proportion (20% each).

PVR Pictures made an enormously successful film production debut in 2007 with ‘Taare Zameen Par’ & ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ and has continued to build on its creative leadership in the film industry, since then.  Its current year production slate includes ‘Aisha’ (Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor) with Anil Kapoor Films Company, ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ (Abhishek Bhachchan & Deepika Padukone) with Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd & ‘Teen Thay Bhai’ with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions.

Spearheaded by its CEO, Kamal Gianchandani, a widely experienced media professional, PVR Pictures is led by its passionate promoters Ajay Bijli and Sanjeev K Bijli. Ajay Bijli is the Chairman & Managing Director of PVR Ltd while Sanjeev K Bijli is the Joint Managing Director.
 

Mr. Ajay Bijli (Chairman cum Managing Director, Whole time Director)

Mr. Ajay Bijli, 41 years, is the Chairman Cum Managing Director of our Company. He holds a Bachelors degree in commerce from Hindu College, New Delhi and has also completed the Owners President Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Mr. Bijli has more than 15 years of experience in the film exhibition industry. Mr. Bijli began his career in the industry by revamping and refurbishing 'Priya Cinema' ,a movie hall owned by his family. Based on the response received by 'Priya Cinema' and foreseeing the potential for the film exhibition business in India, Mr. Bijli set up our Company as a joint venture with Village Roadshow Ltd of Australia in 1995. Mr.Bijli pioneered the multiplex concept in India by setting up 7 Multiplex Cinemas in India, in a span of eight years.

Mr. Bijli was conferred 'The Theatre World Newsmaker of the Year Award for 2003' at FRAMES 2004, a global convention on the business of entertainment organised by FICCI and has also been awarded a 'Special Award during CineAsia 2004' for his contribution to the Multiplex industry in India. This special award was a first-time honour for an Indian film exhibitor by CineAsia, a prominent Asian motion picture industry convention. He was also awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year - Entertainment" by the Indian Retail Forum held in Mumbai in September 2005 and "Delhi Ratna" by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in August 2005. Mr. Bijli is a member of Young Presidents Organisation and is widely recognized as a credible voice for the Indian film exhibition industry. Mr. Bijli has represented the Indian film exhibition industry at various forums and is also the founding member of the multiplex association of India.

As the Chairman cum Managing Director of our Company, Mr. Bijli is instrumental in identifying
important business initiatives and strategic opportunities for our Company.

Mr. Sanjeev Kumar (Joint Managing Director)

 
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, 36 years, holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting from Salford University, Manchester and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Imperial College, London University. Mr. Kumar has also received professional training at Village Entertainment Centres, Australia in Operations and Development.

Mr. Kumar has been involved with our Company since its inception and has over 10 years of experience in the film exhibition industry. Mr. Kumar was appointed as the Executive Director of our Company in July 2003. Mr. Kumar manages the film acquisition and distribution business and programming activities of our Company and has been instrumental in setting up our relationships with various Hollywood Studios including Miramax, Newline, Focus, Summit and GK Films. Mr. Kumar has an important role in determining the content selection for our cinemas and is also closely involved in the development and growth strategy of our Company including identification of new business opportunities such as digital and franchise opportunities.
 

Mr. Kamal Gianchandani (President, PVR Pictures Limited)

A widely experienced Media and Entertainment industry professional with 15 years of professional experience in leading entertainment groups of India

Kamal’s diverse experience includes film financing, co-production, distribution, syndication, licensing & exhibition for both Indian and foreign language films in India. He has also successfully set up a mail order and retail movie rental service, including a download & streaming portal for a leading entertainment group.

In his previous stint at PVR Pictures and as one of the founder employees of PVR Pictures, from 2002 to 2006, Kamal facilitated acquisition of 140+ foreign language films from various Independent majors & mini majors. He was the principal architect of company’s marketing & distribution operations and under his leadership, the Company piloted some of the biggest independent films such as Chicago, the Kill Bill & Scary Movie series, Aviator, Next, Laws of Attraction, Basic Instinct 2, Phantom of the Opera, Transamerica, Alexander, Finding Neverland, Chocolate, Mistress of Spices, Passion of Christ, Hannibal Rising, Paris Je’taime, Rush Hour 2 & 3, Grudge 2, Sky Fighter (French) and several more. During this time, PVR Pictures emerged as the most prolific and successful distributor of independent foreign language films in India.

In his recent stint with Reliance Big Pictures, as COO Sales and Distribution, Kamal had the end-to-end responsibility of leading the theatrical distribution business of the company. Under his stewardship, the Company acquired and distributed some of the biggest Indian hits of recent times, including the phenomenal success of year 2009 - “3 Idiots” with a domestic gross of US$ 76 million ( an all time Indian record).

Kamal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Hons) from Delhi University, India and an MBA from Pune University, India.