'Having a parallel release has its benefits. It benefited us since we were the only ones to release it on time. Then customers don't have to wait for long for the India release of the film. Hence, it curbs piracy because the film is available onscreen,' he added.

There has been economic meltdown, but overall the Indian film industry is expected to grow to $4.3 billion by 2011, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

And the multiplex giant allocated a budget of Rs.150 crore to invest in the exhibition business by adding 57 screens across 10 properties, taking the total to 165 screens by the end of this year.

Apart from the metro cities, PVR has screens in smaller cities like Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Indore, Latur, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Vadodara and has plans to expand their reach further.

'We are planning seven screens in Chennai, seven in Ahmedabad, eight in Surat, and also a few in cities like Bhopal and Raipur, in order to increase our reach and not limit ourselves to bigger cities alone,' informed Bijli.

But will people in smaller cities be able to pay exorbitant prices for tickets?

'We follow the multiple pricing scheme. Under that we survey and see how much people are willing to spend on films. Accordingly, we fix the price of the ticket in different places. Tickets in Delhi, Mumbai are more expensive, while tickets in some smaller cities are as little as Rs.60,' he added.

Bijli further said PVR would be distributing many upcoming big budget films like underwater thriller 'Blue' and laugh riot 'All The Best'.