Mumbai: PVR Inox co-CEO Gautam Dutta said that the launch of the monthly subscription service will help the company grow footfalls during the weekdays besides uplifting small and medium films that are getting overshadowed by big films at the box office.

The monthly Passport subscription service, which launched on Monday, will allow subscribers to watch up to 10 movies per month for Rs. 699 from Monday to Thursday, which works out to roughly Rs. 70 per film.

In the first phase, PVR Inox has restricted the Passport subscription to 20,000 consumers. It is hoped that the subscriptions will be totally sold out in two to three days. “The Passport subscription service will be a boon for small and medium films. For the industry, it will lead to the release of more films and grow footfalls,” Dutta said, cautioning that this is not a price promotion but about removing friction for consumers to get to a cinema.

He pointed out that the trend in the film industry is that the big is getting bigger and the small is struggling while pointing to the box office collections of Jawan, Pathaan, and Gadar 2.

In a note, Nuvama Institutional Equities executive director Abneesh Roy said that this initiative can be a win-win for customers and PVR Inox; however, too many conditions will limit its offtake.

“It will appeal to value buyers (students, housewives, and senior citizens) and heavy users and help PVR augment occupancy on weekdays when it is low. However, there are quite a few conditions attached that may limit its offtake,” he stated.