Online ticketing site BookMyShow, after years of trying, finally closed a deal to list tickets from PVR Cinemas, a multiplex chain which dominates India's urban markets, and has been holding out against a partnership with BookMyShow. The deal, BookMyShow believes, will bring Rs 1000 crore of tickets in gross value for PVR Cinemas over the next five years. BookMyShow, which is backed by the Network18 group and Accel Partners, today dominates the online entertainment ticketing space, covering movies (which account for 75% of its revenues), events, gigs, plays etc. MediaNama spoke at length with Ashish Hemrajani, who founded the venture in 1999. In the first part of the interview, he discusses with us the PVR deal, why BookMyShow is the virtually the only player in online movie tickets MediaNama: Why did it take you so long to close the PVR deal? Hemrajani: We've been working with PVR for the last 10-12 years now. A lot of people are not aware that the entire backbone that PVR runs - the ERP, ticketing systems, concessions and all of that is managed by us. Ever since they started their first site. It's a very old relationship. They just didn't think it was the right time or right moment earlier. And then they realized that BookMyShow...when we launched in 1999, there were 20-21 competitors, and it clutters your mind, which way to go. In 2006-07 they started and in 2009 they pulled off from everybody. You wouldn't know who would succeed, who would not.…
