Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL) has entered the Malayalam film industry with plans to lease 150 theatres across the state. The launch of this theatre chain and inauguration of the Pyramid Saimira Productions Ltd, production unit of PSTL, were held on Saturday in the capital city.

While the company aims to acquire nearly 150 screens in the state this fiscal, it will lease as many as 20 theatres by October 12 with the release of Mohanlal- starrer Paradesi.

Earlier addressing a press meet P.S.Saminathan, managing director of PSTL, said that PSTL plans to lease theatres in all the release stations located at Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Thalassery, Vadakara, Payyanur, Mananthavady, Kalpetta, Bathery, Alappuzha, Punalur, Anchal, Varkkala and Karunagappally. Discussions are on regarding the lease arrangement with theatres in Ernakulam and Kozhikode cities. Saminathan said that under this arrangement, the company would invest in improving the infrastructure and the qualitative aspects of the theatres. The lease arrangement will be for five to 15 years. The production unit of PSTL will produce 10 Malayalam films annually and would also buy another 10 films.

"We won't be directly producing these films. We will be the executive producer and will extend infrastructural, financial and marketing support for the producer," Saminathan said.

Under the lease arrangement, the ticket charges would not go up, as they plans to introduce biometric identification system in the sale of tickets , V.Natarajan and N.Narayanan, chairman and director of PSTL and Mukesh Mehta, chief operating officer of the company for Kerala, were present at the press conference.

Late in the afternoon, the official launch of the first film of PSTL was done by Mohanlal handing over a momento to the director Shaji Kailas.

The function was attended by all the luminaries of the Malayalam screen. “We plan to be present in 1,550 locations across the country with over 2,000 leased theatres by 2010,” said the chairman of PSTL V Natarajan, on the occasion the entry of PSTL is certainly going to be welcomed by the beleaguered Malayalam film industry where the number of films released in a year has fallen to around 80. A decade back, Kerala had around 1,200 film theatres. The number has come down to less than 900 now.