We’ve become language agnostic: PVR on growing market of non-English films

Language is no longer a barrier when it comes to quality content, says Sanjeev Kumar Bigley, CEO of PVR INOX Ltd, which has acquired Sundance Film Festival ‘Past Lives’ for release in India.

Directed by Celine Song for the first time, “Past Lives” is a drama about English-Korean relations that has been acclaimed by critics as one of the best films of the year. It has already been released in the US and hits Indian theaters on July 7.

Begley said the commercial success of the Japanese animated film “Suzumi” inspired them to look beyond English titles and experiment with the kind of films they wanted to distribute in India through PVR INOX Pictures, the motion picture arm of PVR INOX Limited.

“In the last few years we have become very language agnostic. We are now watching Tamil movies in Tamil with subtitles, Malayalam movies in Malayalam, that’s why remakes in Hindi are not working well. We just need good content now and this made us realize That we need to move beyond just English films and Japanese anime, which gave us confidence to look at other languages,” Begley told PTI in an interview.

“It’s hard to ignore a good movie when you’re watching it… We saw ‘Past Lives’ at the Berlin Film Festival in February and fell in love with the movie. It comes from a studio called A24 that we’ve bought and distributed films in the past as well.”

Films are a risky business, but Begley is happy that ‘Past Lives’ has garnered so much love, attention and positive reviews, since its take on the Indian markets.

“We have been purchasing and distributing 30-35 films a year. We have been in this business for 20 years. Most of them have been in English but we are very keen to introduce foreign language films because we believe there is a market for them.”

According to him, Japanese director Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume grossed around ₹10 crore, which was previously rare for an anime film in India.

“In the past, we’ve experimented with French films. We did ‘Notre-Dame on Fire’ last year. And one of those films that became an important piece of revenue for us was Japanese animation. We experimented… the whole DNA of the company is that we have to Because Indian audiences are now mature. They now have access to all kinds of content on OTT platforms,” Begley said.

Past Lives takes viewers on a journey through time and destiny through two young souls in South Korea, who, torn apart by fate, meet again decades later in New York. The film stars Greta Lee as Nora, South Korean star Teo-yu as Nora’s childhood sweetheart Hye-sung, and American actor John Magaro as her husband, Arthur.

Begley said they plan to release the film in about 75 to 100 cinemas in major cities, a release strategy that worked so well for Suzume that they started the film small but increased the screen count as demand grew.

“Usually, we buy films at different stages, but this time, we get to see the finished product and it resonated with all of us. It will resonate across cultures. It’s half Korean, half English but it’s well made. I’m happy to bring the film to India on July 7.”

PVR has also distributed the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite in India and has generated more than 5 crore at the box office, he said.

The popularity of Korean content has continued to grow since then with viewers in India also embracing K-dramas and K-pop in a big way in recent years, and Begley said the company is keen to get more and more Korean films for distribution.

Next on the list for PVR INOX Pictures is another anime movie called First Slam Dunk, a horror movie Talk to Me and White Bird, starring Helen Mirren.