India’s biggest cinema chain, PVR Inox, reported a nearly 3x jump in its quarterly profits, driven by the box-office performance of Ranveer Singh-starrer Dhurandhar and by recent tax cuts that encouraged more people to go to theatres.
PVR Inox shows ₹96 crore profit
PVR Inox reported a consolidated profit of ₹95.7 crore in the December quarter, up from ₹35.9 crore a year earlier. This 166% increase also helped the cinema chain expand its profit margins to 5% in the December quarter from 2% a year ago.
Footfalls up by 9% despite increase in prices
In their quarterly filings, PVR Inox reported a nearly 10% increase in revenues for the quarter ending December 31. Footfalls increased by 9% in the quarter, largely helped by Dhurandhar. The Aditya Dhar film sold over 4 crore tickets across India, nearly half of them at PVR Inox theatres. The spy thriller, starring Ranveer Singh in the lead, has grossed over ₹1000 crore in India and ₹1300 crore worldwide, making it one of India’s most successful films ever. This footfall increase helped offset an increase in operating costs and price of beverages and snacks in the theatres, which rose by 2.5%/
Box office collections rose by 13% in 2025 in India, driven by films like Dhurandhar, Chhaava, and Kantara Chapter One.
Hopeful for a better 2026
PVR Inox is now bullish on an even better January-March quarter, which sees several big films, including the already released Border 2, the sequel to Dhurandhar, and Kannada star Yash’s pan-India film Toxic. “The industry has evolved where sequels end up doing as well as the first ones,” PVR Inox executive director Sanjeev Kumar Bijli told Reuters. Bijli added that he expects box-office collections to grow 14%-15% in 2026. The year is a big one for Indian cinema with major releases, including Ramayana Part One, the most expensive Indian film ever made. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is returning to the big screen after three years with King.
