Latest news with #AamerBijli
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'Ballerina not only holds a candle to John Wick - It might just outshine it'
When Aamer Bijli first heard about Ballerina, it wasn't pitched as just another installment in the bullet-riddled mythology of John Wick. 'It was such a phenomenal concept,' he says, speaking about the moment when Lionsgate first brought the idea to the table, nearly two and a half years ago. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Aamer Bijli, Lead Specialist – Innovation, Film Marketing & Digital Programming, PVR INOX Ltd., says,"It's such a phenomenal concept. When our partners at Lionsgate first shared it with us 2.5 years ago just off the success of Wick: Chapter 4 - we were all so excited that the franchise was getting a resurgence. Ballerina does just that. I was lucky enough to see the film, and I completely fell in love with the franchise all over again. I think Ana de Armas does a phenomenal job of bringing elegance and ferocity to the character. It's something Indian audiences are really, really going to love. It also prepares Indian audiences for a genre we are diving deep into now -independent, women-led action characters. There's been a lot of speculation about whether it will hold a candle to the original John Wick franchise, but I think it not only holds up, it exceeds expectations. The full might of action direction has gone into this. They've gone all out.' Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, and Keanu Reeves also appear in the film. "I wanted to make sure people knew this wasn't about creating a female John Wick. It's her own character," director Len Wiseman told Collider about Ballerina. Niharika Bijli and Aamer Bijli This week in Mumbai, the India premiere of Ballerina unfolded at PVR Juhu, alongside a curated reel of upcoming international titles. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 26: Ana de Armas attends the "From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina" Berlin Premiere at Zoo Palast on May 26, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by) BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 26: Ana de Armas attends the "From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina" Berlin Premiere at Zoo Palast on May 26, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by) BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 26: (4R-8R) Robert Maaser, Ana de Armas, Bernhard zu Castell, Len Wiseman and Helen Lee-Kim attend the "From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina" Berlin Premiere at Zoo Palast on May 26, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by) At the event, he also unveiled PVR Pictures' international release slate for FY25–26 - a bold and varied lineup that includes everything from Now You See Me 3 and Smashing Machine, to A24's Sorry Baby and Black Bear's provocatively titled I Want Your Sex. 'We're committed to curating stories that transcend borders and genres,' Bijli says. 'Ballerina is just the beginning of a global content journey that reflects our growing audience's appetite for bold, diverse, and cinematic storytelling.' The past year saw PVR INOX Pictures make significant strides as a leading player in the international distribution space. The studio successfully brought award-winning and buzzworthy titles such as Oscar hopefuls Golda and Beau Is Afraid to Indian audiences. It also expanded into new genres — championing popular anime releases like Suzume and Haikyuu: The Dumpster Battle, as well as concert films including Blackpink World Tour, Seventeen Tour, Suga: Road to D-Day, and J-Hope: In the Box — tapping into India's rising pop culture fandom and niche cinematic communities. Aamer Bijli took the stage to unveil the next wave of international acquisitions for 2025–26, marking a pivotal moment in PVR INOX Pictures' global growth story. The upcoming slate features standout titles from some of the world's top studios: From A24: Sorry Baby, The Drama, The Riders, Marty Supreme, Onslaught From Lionsgate: The Strangers: Chapter 2, SAW 11 From Black Bear Pictures: Afterburn, Relay, Fred & Ginger, Greenland Migration, I Want Your Sex, Famous From NEON Studios: The Housewife These acquisitions reflect the studio's ambition to deliver diverse, impactful storytelling across genres — whether it's prestige drama, elevated horror, romantic musicals, or high-stakes action. 'The studio's continued success is rooted in its deep relationships with a roster of renowned international partners, including A24, Lionsgate, FilmNation, Black Bear, Pathé, NEON, and Comix Wave,' he said. 'These collaborations allow PVR INOX Pictures to serve as the exclusive theatrical gateway for many of the world's most compelling films in India.'
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
Appetite for global cinema growing in India, want to bring every genre: PVR Inox's Aamer Bijli
From horror lovers to rom-com and anime enthusiasts, India's filmgoers have diverse tastes and PVR Inox Ltd wants to be the go-to destination for global cinema across formats and genres, says Aamer Bijli, the company's lead strategist for marketing and innovation. The company is making a major strategic push in bringing international cinema to Indian audiences, starting with the premiere of the upcoming action thriller "Ballerina", headlined by Hollywood star Ana de Armas. In the next one year, PVR Inox will be distributing some of the major Hollywood titles, both big-budget and indie, from top studios like Lionsgate, A24, Neon, Black Bear and FilmNation."What we see as the future is to ensure that the growing appetite in India is quenched. Essentially every appetite has a particular genre, and we want to be at the forefront of bringing that genre to the Indian market. And this is a combination of international films as well as local films. "Our business fires on three engines, which are Hollywood films, the Hindi local segment and live events. So we want to really become a prolific player in all three categories," Aamer, son of PVR Inox managing director Ajay Bijli, told PTI in an interview. At a premiere event for "Ballerina", held at PVR Juhu in Mumbai, the company gave a glimpse into the next four titles that it will be distributing in India -- "Smashing Machine", starring Dwayne Johnson; "Now You See Me: Now You Don't", the third part in Lionsgate heist franchise; Aziz Ansari-directed comedy "Good Fortune", featuring Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen; and anime film "Shinchan: Kasukabe Dancers".Besides, PVR Inox has a robust slate for the year 2025-26, spanning genres like horror, musicals, drama, romance, and action. It includes five films from critically-acclaimed studio A24. The movies are -- "The Riders" with Brad Pitt; "The Drama" with Robert Pattinson and Zendaya; "Marty Supreme" with Timothee Chalamet; "Onslaught" with Adria Arjona and Dan Stevens; and "Sorry Baby" from actor-director Eva Lionsgate, it will be bringing out "The Strangers: Chapter 2" and "SAW 11". It will also distribute Neon's "The Housewife", starring Naomi Watts, in the Black Bear Pictures, PVR Inox will distribute filmmaker Guy Ritchie's "The Wife & Dog", featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Hopkins and Rosamund Pike, as well as six other titles -- Gerard Butler's "Greenland: Migration", "Relay" with Lily James, Riz Ahmed and Sam Worthington; "Afterburn", starring Samuel L Jackson; "Fred & Ginger" with Margaret Qualley; Zac Efron's "Famous"; and "I Want Your Sex", starring Olivia Wilde."We've always tried to maintain a very fruitful and amicable relationship with these studios. It's always been a to-and-fro to understand what films they're producing, what films the international audience is liking, and what films resonate with India."We have exponentially grown in terms of size because now independent cinema is also really demanding big budgets. A lot of big actors are being associated with independent films and it's really going to grow," Aamer about the content acquisition strategy of PVR Inox, he said genre plays a pivotal role."There are certain genres that cut across the language barrier more than others. And the major genre that does this is action films. Some films that even we don't dub tend to see its day in the sun."But action firms are notorious for their dubbable ability. You can dub it into all the languages and that's something we specialise, in regional and Hindi language to dub these films in. So that's a big part of the strategy." Another aspect of the strategy is to identify studios as well as independent banners that are credible to partner, Aamer added."We have a very long standing relationship with Lionsgate. We have an output deal with them, and we represent the India office. They have very big budget films such as the 'John Wick' universe, which they want to bring and which suits India," he final piece in the puzzle is the star cast attached to a project, Aamer stressed."There are certain actors and actresses that people resonate with more than others. Sometimes the story, the prowess, the writing, is enough to carry a film forward, but sometimes it needs the extra power, which is the star cast. And it makes these potential content acquisitions possible and gives relevance for the Indian market," he forward, Aamer is optimistic about India's rising stature as a key market for international films, especially when it comes to hosting premieres and other promotional events of major Hollywood titles."It would really boost the momentum for the film. Films like 'Avatar: The Way of Water', which released two years ago, and 'Oppenheimer', they all did so well that they were comparable with global box office numbers as well."Even in the independent film space. Like 'John Wick' for example. 'John Wick 4' did exceedingly well for us. I think it clocked about USD 4.5 million, which is a very respectable number compared to the grand scheme." India can truly emerge as a global cinema destination if more international films receive commercial success in the country, he added. "I don't see why studios won't start looking at India as a destination to host premiers, festivals, and all these marque events. I think it is just a matter of time," Aamer said.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Appetite for global cinema growing in India, want to bring every genre: PVR Inox's Aamer Bijli
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads From horror lovers to rom-com and anime enthusiasts, India's filmgoers have diverse tastes and PVR Inox Ltd wants to be the go-to destination for global cinema across formats and genres, says Aamer Bijli , the company's lead strategist for marketing and company is making a major strategic push in bringing international cinema to Indian audiences, starting with the premiere of the upcoming action thriller "Ballerina", headlined by Hollywood star Ana de the next one year, PVR Inox will be distributing some of the major Hollywood titles, both big-budget and indie, from top studios like Lionsgate, A24, Neon, Black Bear and FilmNation."What we see as the future is to ensure that the growing appetite in India is quenched. Essentially every appetite has a particular genre, and we want to be at the forefront of bringing that genre to the Indian market. And this is a combination of international films as well as local films."Our business fires on three engines, which are Hollywood films , the Hindi local segment and live events. So we want to really become a prolific player in all three categories," Aamer, son of PVR Inox managing director Ajay Bijli, told PTI in an a premiere event for "Ballerina", held at PVR Juhu in Mumbai, the company gave a glimpse into the next four titles that it will be distributing in India -- "Smashing Machine", starring Dwayne Johnson; "Now You See Me: Now You Don't", the third part in Lionsgate heist franchise; Aziz Ansari-directed comedy "Good Fortune", featuring Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen; and anime film "Shinchan: Kasukabe Dancers".Besides, PVR Inox has a robust slate for the year 2025-26, spanning genres like horror, musicals, drama, romance, and includes five films from critically-acclaimed studio A24. The movies are -- "The Riders" with Brad Pitt; "The Drama" with Robert Pattinson and Zendaya; "Marty Supreme" with Timothee Chalamet; "Onslaught" with Adria Arjona and Dan Stevens; and "Sorry Baby" from actor-director Eva Lionsgate, it will be bringing out "The Strangers: Chapter 2" and "SAW 11". It will also distribute Neon's "The Housewife", starring Naomi Watts, in the Black Bear Pictures, PVR Inox will distribute filmmaker Guy Ritchie's "The Wife undefined "Afterburn", starring Samuel L Jackson; "Fred undefined Zac Efron's "Famous"; and "I Want Your Sex", starring Olivia Wilde."We've always tried to maintain a very fruitful and amicable relationship with these studios. It's always been a to-and-fro to understand what films they're producing, what films the international audience is liking, and what films resonate with India."We have exponentially grown in terms of size because now independent cinema is also really demanding big budgets. A lot of big actors are being associated with independent films and it's really going to grow," Aamer about the content acquisition strategy of PVR Inox, he said genre plays a pivotal role."There are certain genres that cut across the language barrier more than others. And the major genre that does this is action films. Some films that even we don't dub tend to see its day in the sun."But action firms are notorious for their dubbable ability. You can dub it into all the languages and that's something we specialise, in regional and Hindi language to dub these films in. So that's a big part of the strategy."Another aspect of the strategy is to identify studios as well as independent banners that are credible to partner, Aamer added."We have a very long standing relationship with Lionsgate. We have an output deal with them, and we represent the India office. They have very big budget films such as the 'John Wick' universe, which they want to bring and which suits India," he final piece in the puzzle is the star cast attached to a project, Aamer stressed."There are certain actors and actresses that people resonate with more than others. Sometimes the story, the prowess, the writing, is enough to carry a film forward, but sometimes it needs the extra power, which is the star cast. And it makes these potential content acquisitions possible and gives relevance for the Indian market," he forward, Aamer is optimistic about India's rising stature as a key market for international films, especially when it comes to hosting premieres and other promotional events of major Hollywood titles."It would really boost the momentum for the film. Films like 'Avatar: The Way of Water', which released two years ago, and 'Oppenheimer', they all did so well that they were comparable with global box office numbers as well."Even in the independent film space. Like 'John Wick' for example. 'John Wick 4' did exceedingly well for us. I think it clocked about USD 4.5 million, which is a very respectable number compared to the grand scheme."India can truly emerge as a global cinema destination if more international films receive commercial success in the country, he added."I don't see why studios won't start looking at India as a destination to host premiers, festivals, and all these marque events. I think it is just a matter of time," Aamer said.
