The New Post-Credit scene for Cinemas

Ever seen an IT Hero walking in slow-motion as pieces of inefficiency, invisibility and customer distance fly up in the air behind him? What a sight as he walks on with a fresh background score of cloud, CRM and touchless tech for the swagger? Let’s meet this hero here.

He seems to be firmly entrenched in the catbird seat. And he deserves this seat. After all, he has walked through all the backstage and operational corridors of a cinema for three years when he started his career as an accountant. He knows the pain points of cinema owners and managers. Plus, he is a movie-lover at heart. So, he knows what it exactly feels like when the ambient sound and laser precision of projection lifts a good Hollywood movie many many levels up. The best part of his script of IT is that he makes these two protagonists—the cinema business guy and the viewer—meet at a lovely turn—never to be parted again. Let’s see how Dhawal Mehta, GM-IT, Miraj Cinemas does that.

Cinema has changed beyond recognition today—specially after the pandemic. Do you think it will rise up well after the OTT attack? Or would it be a good cue to cast some personalisation in what cinemas offer?

I do not think OTT as a competition. It was just a matter of wrong timing. People had nothing to watch during Covid, so they had to turn to OTT platforms. OTT is not a threat to cinemas—may be to TV, it is. As to personalisation, we had begun such initiatives even before the pandemic. We always have a three-year advance plan for IT. For example, our kiosks in the three to four screens present at Gurgaon earn more revenues than the biggest players there—which have a larger cluster of screens.

If we hypothetically consider that there is even 1 Patron in the Cinema Hall who has entered without Ticket for any reasons -then for us in 165 Screens * ATP(Average ticket Price) of 150 = 24,750/- per day * 365 days = 90,33,750/- for 1 Show and on an average every Screen has 5.5 Shows that turns out to be  4,51,68,750/- so, practically, when you assume this figure vs. Actual for 40% than also we are Saving 1,80,67,500/- per Year.

This is possible because we allow QR-code based services to not just any one partner of the couple but the whole couple or family altogether. We have also customised payment integration. This means that even if the code is on the device of one person, the partner can order food etc. based on the ticket easily. And when the food or beverage is delivered to the seat, the server comes with a card machine—because s/he knows in advance that this customer prefers card payment. It is all about these small details—but they elevate the cinema experience a lot. We had also brought in QR Code scanning at the seat level so that viewers can order while sitting and watching a movie—without the need to get up midway.

Can you elaborate about these ideas? And how do you pick which technology to bet on when you plan three years ahead?

My experience—on the real street of this business—helps me to know the exact spots which will give relief to management and the ones which can delight a viewer. As to examples of IT, we had brought in paperless ticketing before—but people were not comfortable sharing their phone numbers before. The pandemic created a psychological shift here. Plus, in 2017, we had begun the task of moving all our cinema servers on cloud. We did it in 2019—and no one else had that. Other cinema players—even the top ones—have separate servers for their cinema. This can create problems when Internet is down or awry in some cities. We wanted to make sure that by moving to cloud, we wipe away this problem altogether. We aimed for zero downtime and smooth booking experience—irrespective of location-specific Internet bandwidth. This would also help us in making sure we do not lose revenues.

Miraj Cinemas was among the first in the industry to take a lead and migrate all Cinema Application and Database Servers from Physical Hardware to a robust and scalable Private Cloud, thus, ensuring 100 per cent Uptime for the Business. By Migrating to Cloud Miraj Cinemas has been first Cinema Chain to achieve this feat in the Cinema Exhibition Industry in India as well as globally.

We have already surpassed our goals on online booking improvement. Now our cinemas are online 24/7. Our Online Channels percentage for Ticket Sales has grown tremendously from 31.64 per cent in 2017-18 to 53.10 per cent by April 2022—the highest for a single day being 70 per cent on 27th March 2022 for the Movie RRR.

Our Online Channels percentage for Ticket Sales has grown tremendously from 31.64 per cent in 2017-18 to 53.10 per cent by April 2022—the highest for a single day being 70 per cent on 27th March 2022 for the Movie RRR.

You love playing with technology, right?

Yes. It’s a creative field—just like making a good movie. For instance, we actually innovated a solution-from scratch—which no one globally had. I quip sometimes—that we can claim royalty for this idea. It was about how barcode-based entry was leading to duplication and while there are many vendors who offer headcount solutions—the answer to this issue was missing. I discussed it with vendors and installed cameras in a cinema to correspondingly check entries and actual seating inside the cinema. We started this in 2019 and executed it in 2020 with one-cinema installation. It’s a novel concept.

PVR has started investing in experiential cinema. Plus, all over the world we are beginning to see the thunderous entry of new stars like 4DX, Motion Seating, Haptics, immersive entertainment etc. How does that influence your IT roadmap?

We have already been working on these areas. We have used technology to bring in new formats to delight our viewers. We have been switching from traditional projectors to laser projectors to improve experience. It helps us to address challenges of utilisation-based projection quality. Our projector in Gurgaon, for instance, is the second largest in India and the third largest installation in entire Asia.

Miraj Cinemas was among the first to take a lead and migrate all Cinema Application and Database Servers from Physical Hardware to a robust and scalable Private Cloud.

It has a Laser projector and Atmos sound technology. But unlike the sound technology used in properties of other big players, we have aligned it well with height. The components which typically contribute to such an experience is the large screen size with Dolby Atmos sound, (Best in class Atmos Setup taking advantage of the Heights of the Largest Auditorium) new-age laser projectors, (Best in Class Barco laser Projector being only the 3rd Installation in Asia for the large screen) and luxurious interiors, I bet—you will enjoy a Hollywood movie here—like no other cinema in India.

How do you juggle profitability with scale in an industry where a movie’s response is unpredictable? You still have to keep the seats ready even if a movie bombs?

Let me introduce something here. We have nailed many such problems through a ‘Real-time Occupancy & Seat Count Solution’. It is a solution that combines EXIR Technology Cameras, Controller and an AI-Built Application. We developed an automated occupancy detection system. It works non-invasively to reduce the need for labour-intensive enforcement monitoring that depends on visual inspection. This innovative people-counting solution is specifically built and customised to suit our Business of Cinema Exhibition. This Solution, custom-built for cinema halls, is uniquely engineered for rapid installation. Herein, live data streams are processed and presented online through cloud-based reporting dashboard which delivers highly accurate count of cinema patrons and is further auto-reconciled with the DCR.

Thanks to real-time data and visualisations, we can compare historical occupancy data across different spaces to drive insights on patron behaviour. With 100% accurate data show-wise and cinema-wise, occupancy will increase distributors’ confidence.

If you were to look back and capture how technology helped your strategic goals, can you share some glimpses from what you see?

Miraj Cinemas’ screen count has multiplied immensely and we proudly own 165 screens across 38 cities and 14 states in India. By the end of 2022, we aim to have over 200 screens. In Big Cine Expo 2022—We have Won the Best Multiplex Theatre of the Year—Miraj Cinemas, Entertainment Paradise, Jaipur. To add to that, we have added sales channels like BookMyShow, Paytm, PopExpress(Self Ordering Kiosk), QR Code Application to our Food and Beverages Business as well. Now we are also available on Zomato for selected locations. BookMyShow and Paytm contribute to our Pre-Sales where as Our Pop Express (Self Ordering Kiosk) and QR Code Applications have helped us a lot in Queue Busting as well as given a lot of convenience to our Patrons to order their Food right from their seat without missing out on any part of the movie. We have also added apps on the EDC POS Terminals to equip our staff with hand-held devices for Seat Ordering.

Evidently, our sales channel contribution for Food and Beverages has grown from 0.5 per cent in 2017-18 to five in 2022. Collectively we see this going up to 50 per cent by 2025 hence our complete focus is on Technology to enable Business to be ready to achieve this.

What’s next? When is a Sequel expected?

We have planned a lot more customised campaigns and many fresh promotions and loyalty programs. But we have many more internal IT projects. As we expand our screens, we need to make sure our human resources can manage the scale—that’s where we need advanced people management, process management, application management etc. We are soon revamping our Pop Express Application with new features and also planning to add more Sales Channels.

Dhawal Mehta

GM-IT, Miraj Cinemas

By Pratima H

pratimah@cybermedia.co.in