In the last quarter of 2025, PVR INOX Pictures, the motion picture arm of PVR INOX Limited, has distributed some memorable Hollywood films like the hot Oscar favourite, Nuremberg, the highly awaited Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, The Smashing Machine, which featured Dwayne Johnson in a never-before-seen avatar, etc. They are now excited to bring Christmas Karma to Indian theatres. It is directed by Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Bride And Prejudice (2004) fame and features an eclectic star cast. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, the young and enterprising Nayana Bijli, Lead: Distribution and Licensing, PVR INOX Limited, discusses the release of Christmas Karma on December 12, the exciting premiere on December 2, the release strategy, plans, and more.
EXCLUSIVE: Karan Johar to decode Christmas Karma with Gurinder Chadha at PVR INOX’s premiere night, Amruta Fadnavis to join as chief guest; Nayana Bijli promises an ideal family entertainer this holiday season: “A global story that would resonate with Indians”
What made PVR acquire Christmas Karma?
With every acquisition, we try to ensure that the film has commercial appeal, comes from a partner or filmmaker we trust, has global appeal, and, at the same time, has themes that will resonate well with India. Hence, we were excited by Christmas Karma as it ticked all the boxes. It is directed by Gurinder Chadha, who I am a huge fan of, personally. I love Bend It Like Beckham (smiles). We trusted her filmmaking and realized that she would be a great partner to bring this film to India with. While the film is about Christmas and set in England, it touched upon identity, racism and migration, which would resonate with diaspora everywhere and also particularly, Indians.
That’s not all. It’s a musical and also has actors like Kunal Nayyar, Eva Longoria, Boy George etc. It’s a family entertainer with a mix of comedy and empathy. Taking all these factors into account, we realized that Christmas Karma would be a very appropriate film for us to back.
The premiere of Christmas Karma on December 2 will be a special event. It’ll have Gurinder Chadha in a conversation with Karan Johar, while Amruta Fadnavis will be the chief guest…
This is our way of celebrating Gurinder Chadha. She is in India at present for her press tour, reconnecting with filmmakers and is a part of the emerging filmmakers’ initiative as well. She is a filmmaker who has done so much for global cinema and yet incorporates themes that are so important to Indians everywhere. That’s how we have managed to pull so many people for the premiere. People are very curious about the film. It’s a big screen entertainer from her after a long time, which will also entice people to the premiere tomorrow. I am sure that Q-and-A session with her will be very interesting to understand her thought process and why she chose to make a film on Christmas.
What will be the screen count for Christmas Karma?
It’ll be a 100-screen release, similar to our other Hollywood films. Then, we’ll see how it resonates with people and shift the programming accordingly. Since it deals with British humour, the release is urban-focused.
Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 releases in cinemas on December 12 and also Sholay. Moreover, there are many big-scale films coming in December like Dhurandhar, Avatar: Fire And Ash etc. Does that worry you about getting the required screen space?
Our core business is exhibition, while my focus is distribution. Hence, for us, having so many releases is the best thing possible. It is definitely not a problem. We are just excited that so many exciting releases will be there during the holiday time. It’s the period when people have some down time, which they would hopefully spend in the cinemas. We also need to understand that each film is very different. So, there’s an audience for every film.
We released Nuremberg 2 weeks ago. That has done very well for us, which pleasantly surprised us. Of course, we pushed from our end. It just got to show that even a niche film of that kind has an audience.
Keeping that in mind, we are excited about December. We believe that if the films have substance, they’ll find their target audience.
Since Christmas Karma deals with Christmas, I would like to know what you would ask Santa Claus for yourself and the industry at large?
(Smiles) I wish that people would come to the cinemas and watch the movies. Everyone should have an open mind to the films being released. In other words, people should step out of their homes with their families and loved ones and enjoy a communal experience during this holiday season.
More Pages: Nuremberg (English) Box Office CollectionTags : Amruta Fadnavis, Bend It like Beckham, Boy George, Christmas Karma, Eva Longoria, Features, Gurinder Chadha, Hollywood, International, Karan Johar, Kunal Nayyar, Nayana Bijli, Now You See Me Now You Don’t, Nuremberg, PVR Inox, Rami Malek, Reflects, Russell Crowe, The Smashing Machine
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