In August, mid-day reported that Ajay Devgn is in talks with three production houses in South India, with his first collaboration of the lot being with Kannada director JP Thuminad (Southside story, Aug 29). But the superstar’s interest in the South market goes well beyond headlining movies. On October 1, he unveiled Devgn CineX — his chain of theatres, earlier known as NY Cinemas — in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Chinta Sasidhar’s Vishwa Samudra Group. It is learnt that over the next few years, Devgn intends to expand the chain across seven cities in South India.  

Devgn first started NY Cinemas in 2019 in Ratlam, before launching more outlets in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. A source reveals, “Now with the new identity of Devgn CineX, the plan is to expand it all over India, especially in the southern cities of Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Guntur, and more. In the past few years, Ajay has noticed the rise of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies, and how the footfall in theatres is higher in that market. The company’s strategic focus is to expand across metros, tier-1 cities, and strengthen its footprint in South India. The brand wants to redefine the movie-going experience through state-of-the-art theatres equipped with modern digital technologies, and by offering customer reward programmes.”