New Delhi: On one hand, the country is shocked by the sudden death of Bhuvnesh Mendiratta at the age of 40 due to a brain stroke and on the other, the cinema exhibition industry in the country is in a big shock. He was on the job as Managing Director of Miraj Cinemas for just about a year, but had been involved with the company for over a decade.
Prior to the days of Miraj Cinemas, Mendiratta had been in the entertainment industry less of a fortuitous, but much more of a long-time affair. He joined the hotel industry with well-known companies like Oberoi Hotels, Taj Hotel and Intachotel from where he transitioned to the cinema exhibition industry and served in the leadership roles at Cinemax and PVR. This combination of known hospitality and entertainment skills would also prove to be one of his best assets in later years.
During two decades, Mendiratta developed the fundamental aspects of the business at Miraj Cinemas. His roles included being responsible for operations, food and beverage services, marketing and film programming and audits as Chief Operating Officer. Through his hands-on experience he was able to help the company become more efficient, which helped to make the moviegoing experience better.
One of his major works was the backing for the development of Miraj beyond metros. With the top team that he was a part of, the business went ever so aggressively into Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, offering them modern multiplex experiences that had been unimagined till date and had been previously neglected by big multiplex chains. The move enabled Miraj to get a firm foothold in the nation and become India’s third-largest multiplex group in terms of screens.
In May 2025, Mendiratta was promoted to MD, overcoming the long tenure of Amit Sharma as the MCM leader. The trust Miraj Group had in him knowing all aspects of business and his complete trust in himself.
He, as a Managing Director, gave an ambitious outlook to the future. Some of his concerns were more about the size of the premium cinema halls like IMAX and the Neo-M and improving the quality of the projection and sound in cinema halls, and making strategies to bring locally-developed content into the regional markets. He further advocated a sustainable cinema business model for emerging markets.
During his tenure, Miraj Cinemas had over 235 screens in 70 locations in 48 cities. Industry experts rated him as a new breed of filmmakers who can merge protocol with the innovative approach to service excellence.
Mendiratta’s impact remains, in the form of systems, expansion plans and customer experience efforts that he helped launch, although his Managing Director days were tragically short lived. Thanks to his contribution Miraj Cinemas has become one of the biggest cinema chains of India, from being a growing multiplex operator.
His death is a loss of a well respected industry professional who was living up to vision and making an impact on the future chapter of India’s cinema exhibition business.
