PVR Cinemas has its origin as Priya Cinema in Vasant Vihar, Delhi, the cinema was named after Priya Jaisinghani and was bought by Ajay Bijli’s father in 1978, who also owned a trucking business,  Amritsar Transport Co. In 1988, Bijli took over the running of the cinema hall, which was revamped in 1990, and its success led to the founding PVR Cinemas.
The company started as a joint venture agreement between Priya Exhibitors Private Limited and village  Roadshows of Australia in 1995 with 60:40 ratio. It began its commercial operations in June 1997 as Priya Village Roadshow. The company was founded by Ajay Bijli who is the chairman and managing director of PVR Cinemas. Ajay Bijli’s brother Sanjeev Kumar Bijli is the Joint Managing Director of PVR Ltd. The company also operates a pro-active CSR wing under PVR. In 2003, ICICI Ventures invested ₹40 crore in PVR when Village Roadshow decided to pull out of the partnership. The first PVR Gold Screen was introduced in Forum Mall,Bengaluru.