Aandavan
15th December 2006, 10:21 AM
[tscii] Going to the movies isn't the same anymore. Like everywhere else in the world, a multiplex boom is taking place in Metros and now smaller towns across the country. The very experience of going to the cinema is changing.
No longer do you have to sit on rickety chairs without which have no upholstery. and may snap any time No more bug bites. No more stale popcorn or in sealed plastic bags and not to forget that stinking toilets. All that has changed with the multiplex mania. and single screens changing into multiplexes.
Movie watching is a holistic experience now. Today the multiplexes are state-of-the-art theatres, cinemas and are equipped with better screens, sound and seating arrangements.
Novel idea
When Ajay Bijli launched PVR Anupam (with four screens) in New Delhi's upmarket Saket in 1997, he was triggering off a pop culture revolution in India. He provided cine-goers a wholesome new experience, a trend starting of with just four screens. At present Bijli has 76 screens spread across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru Bangalore and Hyderabad.
By June 2007, he would have crossed the magic figure of 100 screens when he opens the swanky x 7 seven-screen PVR Ampa centre at Ampa Centre One Mall at the junction of Nelson Manickam-Poonamalee high road in Chennai.
Much before PVR set foot in Chennai, But before PVR arrives in Chennai, the four-screen Inox at Citi Centre Mall in Radhakrishna Salai is due to open by Pongal 2007. And by 2010, Chennai and its suburbs are poised for a multiplex explosion as nearly 100 new screens are likely to be added to the existing ones. screens!
It was Sathyam Cinemas and its Managing Director Kiran Reddy who pioneered the multiplex revolution in Chennai. When Kiran took over the Sathyam Cinemas in 1999 there were only three screens, and the business was in a bad. shape. He invested heavily and refurbished the screens, started installed three new ones screens within the existing complex and totally overhauled the movie-going experience. The competitors called him crazy and said it will not work in conservative Chennai where people are price conscious. However Kiran was adamant and went ahead and made Sathyam Cinemas one of the biggest brands in cinema the business.
Suddenly people in the city came to Sathyam for the movie watching experience and became a popular hang-out for the young people. Riding piggyback on Sathyam became the hot and happening destination, thanks to the IT boom, in the city, a rise in spending power, and the habit of going out during the weekends. "going-out" spirit, Sathyam became the hot and happening destination in the city. It had also a nice mix of movie programming — the art house with popular cinema.
Today Sathyam cinemas have has the highest weekly gross collections in India from its six-screen 2912- seater multiplex. The occupancy during the weekends irrespective of the films screened is an amazing 97 per cent.
In Tamil Nadu trade, Sathyam has become a territory by itself, with the year's biggest grosser "Vetayadu Vilayadu" taking a distributors share of approximately Rs 67 lakhs!.
According to Kiran Reddy: "Today we have been able to create certain defined quality standard for our theatres for décor, comfort and programming by constant update and maintenance. Viewers should be able to feel it while parking his car, settling into their seats, using the washrooms or buying popcorn-cola."
In Tamil Nadu, most theatres outsource their concessions (Canteen), but only Reddy has his own bakery in the theatre, which makes all the eatables and has even appointed a French Chef to make the Puffs and Pastries so that the quality is maintained.
His car park is the largest in India (350 cars), but due to pressure on weekends, he has taken an adjoining area to supplement his car parking. Asked about On the secret of Sathyam's success, Kiran smiles d and says: said: "It's about choice-comfort-convenience."
So seeing the Sathyam success story it was but natural for out-station companies to set up multiplexes in and around Chennai and for the existing ones older complexes like (Devi, Sangam) to go for a total image make-over. and refurbishing.
Shanti also recently renovated and became a two-screen theatre, Anna had a face-lift and other single-screen theatres too are also planning to have more to increase the number of screens.
The four-screen Inox at City Centre mall with a seating capacity of 909 seats is due to open by Pongal, and will provide competition to Sathyam. Inox is the second largest multiplex chain in India, with 32 screens and their Chennai multiplex has a is state-of-the-art in projection, and design with plush carpeting and a canteen that sells concessions (Canteen ) like in other places selling only pure vegetarian food. eatables (We are told it is company policy!).
Says Vinod Babu, General Manager, Inox, Chennai: "Inox in Chennai will provide a whole new… movie watching experience and programming will have movies in all Indian languages, Hollywood [with] and special stress on Tamil cinema."
New malls
Meanwhile, 15 to 20 new malls are coming up in Chennai, in areas like- Egmore, Kilpauk, Woods road, Poonamalee High Road (3), 100 feet road, Vadapalani-Saligramam (3), Mint, OMR, ECR, and the suburbs.
All major players in the multiplex business like PVR, Inox, Adlabs, Shringar and Sathyam want a piece of the cake.
Ajay Bijli , Chairman and Managing Director of PVR says by the year 2010 he hopes to reach 500 screens from the present 76, and he sees a big market in the south. PVR's Bangalore and Hyderabad multiplexes have become very popular. Ajay and his brother Sanjiv feels that their new PVR at Ampa Mall in Chennai to be commissioned by June 2007 will be the "ultimate cinema experience".
Says Ampa Palaniappan : "The Ampa Centre One is a fully integrated mall at a total cost of over Rs. 50 crore… is spread over three acres with a total built up area of over six lakhs square feet. The mall [It] will boast of a hypermarket, three floors of retail, a food mall, and a 20-room boutique hotel with a bar. And the highlight will be the seven-screen PVR, with a seating capacity of 1818 seats."
Parking lots
Palaniappan adds ed that there will not be any car park problems as there is a 12-storeyed multi-level parking lot and two basement ones. parking lot.
The six-screen Mayajaal on ECR, which says it is the first multiplex in the south, is now in the process of adding three more screens. by next summer.
Says Udeep.B, CEO Mayajaal entertainment: "I think one of the best collecting multiplex outside Chennai is our complex. Now we are adding more screens including a state-of-the-art 54-seater luxurious all gold class designer screen, where corporates and individuals can hold shows of films of their choice. It will be the first ‘movie-on-demand' theatre."
The multiplex picture looks rosy. The Kalpathi family which ran the IT education and software through their flagship SSI, has entered into the entertainment sector with a chain of multiplexes in south India.
They have taken over the Royal theatre in Villivakkam and is converting it into a multiplex.
Kiran Reddy and his Sathyam Cinemas are planning to set up 29 screens at Express Estates Mall on Club House Road, off Anna Salai, Gee Gee Khusaldas gardens in Poonamalee high road and Vijay Mall in Vadapalani. They are also planning to move to smaller towns in Tamil Nadu.
Business booms
The Karunanidhi government tax exemption for Tamil films has been the biggest incentive for the multiplex boom in Chennai.
Added to that, the mall mania and real estate growth has also indirectly helped the multiplex industry to set up operations in Chennai.
By the year 2010 nearly 20 malls, most of them with multiplexes, will come up in the city as well as on the IT corridor and suburbs. Many single-screen theatres have also applied for makeovers.
Out of the 12500 odd theatres in the country, nearly 1850 are in Tamil Nadu. Leading producer and distributor Oscar Ravichandran, who controls 63 theatres in NSC ( North and South Arcot and Chengalpettu) area is planning to set up low-priced multiplexes in B and C stations in Tamil Nadu. The other multiplex majors are planning to foray into rural areas in the state, which is film crazy. This trend is going to change the way Tamil cinema is made. Just like Bollywood, films will be made to cater to the multiplex audience.
No longer do you have to sit on rickety chairs without which have no upholstery. and may snap any time No more bug bites. No more stale popcorn or in sealed plastic bags and not to forget that stinking toilets. All that has changed with the multiplex mania. and single screens changing into multiplexes.
Movie watching is a holistic experience now. Today the multiplexes are state-of-the-art theatres, cinemas and are equipped with better screens, sound and seating arrangements.
Novel idea
When Ajay Bijli launched PVR Anupam (with four screens) in New Delhi's upmarket Saket in 1997, he was triggering off a pop culture revolution in India. He provided cine-goers a wholesome new experience, a trend starting of with just four screens. At present Bijli has 76 screens spread across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru Bangalore and Hyderabad.
By June 2007, he would have crossed the magic figure of 100 screens when he opens the swanky x 7 seven-screen PVR Ampa centre at Ampa Centre One Mall at the junction of Nelson Manickam-Poonamalee high road in Chennai.
Much before PVR set foot in Chennai, But before PVR arrives in Chennai, the four-screen Inox at Citi Centre Mall in Radhakrishna Salai is due to open by Pongal 2007. And by 2010, Chennai and its suburbs are poised for a multiplex explosion as nearly 100 new screens are likely to be added to the existing ones. screens!
It was Sathyam Cinemas and its Managing Director Kiran Reddy who pioneered the multiplex revolution in Chennai. When Kiran took over the Sathyam Cinemas in 1999 there were only three screens, and the business was in a bad. shape. He invested heavily and refurbished the screens, started installed three new ones screens within the existing complex and totally overhauled the movie-going experience. The competitors called him crazy and said it will not work in conservative Chennai where people are price conscious. However Kiran was adamant and went ahead and made Sathyam Cinemas one of the biggest brands in cinema the business.
Suddenly people in the city came to Sathyam for the movie watching experience and became a popular hang-out for the young people. Riding piggyback on Sathyam became the hot and happening destination, thanks to the IT boom, in the city, a rise in spending power, and the habit of going out during the weekends. "going-out" spirit, Sathyam became the hot and happening destination in the city. It had also a nice mix of movie programming — the art house with popular cinema.
Today Sathyam cinemas have has the highest weekly gross collections in India from its six-screen 2912- seater multiplex. The occupancy during the weekends irrespective of the films screened is an amazing 97 per cent.
In Tamil Nadu trade, Sathyam has become a territory by itself, with the year's biggest grosser "Vetayadu Vilayadu" taking a distributors share of approximately Rs 67 lakhs!.
According to Kiran Reddy: "Today we have been able to create certain defined quality standard for our theatres for décor, comfort and programming by constant update and maintenance. Viewers should be able to feel it while parking his car, settling into their seats, using the washrooms or buying popcorn-cola."
In Tamil Nadu, most theatres outsource their concessions (Canteen), but only Reddy has his own bakery in the theatre, which makes all the eatables and has even appointed a French Chef to make the Puffs and Pastries so that the quality is maintained.
His car park is the largest in India (350 cars), but due to pressure on weekends, he has taken an adjoining area to supplement his car parking. Asked about On the secret of Sathyam's success, Kiran smiles d and says: said: "It's about choice-comfort-convenience."
So seeing the Sathyam success story it was but natural for out-station companies to set up multiplexes in and around Chennai and for the existing ones older complexes like (Devi, Sangam) to go for a total image make-over. and refurbishing.
Shanti also recently renovated and became a two-screen theatre, Anna had a face-lift and other single-screen theatres too are also planning to have more to increase the number of screens.
The four-screen Inox at City Centre mall with a seating capacity of 909 seats is due to open by Pongal, and will provide competition to Sathyam. Inox is the second largest multiplex chain in India, with 32 screens and their Chennai multiplex has a is state-of-the-art in projection, and design with plush carpeting and a canteen that sells concessions (Canteen ) like in other places selling only pure vegetarian food. eatables (We are told it is company policy!).
Says Vinod Babu, General Manager, Inox, Chennai: "Inox in Chennai will provide a whole new… movie watching experience and programming will have movies in all Indian languages, Hollywood [with] and special stress on Tamil cinema."
New malls
Meanwhile, 15 to 20 new malls are coming up in Chennai, in areas like- Egmore, Kilpauk, Woods road, Poonamalee High Road (3), 100 feet road, Vadapalani-Saligramam (3), Mint, OMR, ECR, and the suburbs.
All major players in the multiplex business like PVR, Inox, Adlabs, Shringar and Sathyam want a piece of the cake.
Ajay Bijli , Chairman and Managing Director of PVR says by the year 2010 he hopes to reach 500 screens from the present 76, and he sees a big market in the south. PVR's Bangalore and Hyderabad multiplexes have become very popular. Ajay and his brother Sanjiv feels that their new PVR at Ampa Mall in Chennai to be commissioned by June 2007 will be the "ultimate cinema experience".
Says Ampa Palaniappan : "The Ampa Centre One is a fully integrated mall at a total cost of over Rs. 50 crore… is spread over three acres with a total built up area of over six lakhs square feet. The mall [It] will boast of a hypermarket, three floors of retail, a food mall, and a 20-room boutique hotel with a bar. And the highlight will be the seven-screen PVR, with a seating capacity of 1818 seats."
Parking lots
Palaniappan adds ed that there will not be any car park problems as there is a 12-storeyed multi-level parking lot and two basement ones. parking lot.
The six-screen Mayajaal on ECR, which says it is the first multiplex in the south, is now in the process of adding three more screens. by next summer.
Says Udeep.B, CEO Mayajaal entertainment: "I think one of the best collecting multiplex outside Chennai is our complex. Now we are adding more screens including a state-of-the-art 54-seater luxurious all gold class designer screen, where corporates and individuals can hold shows of films of their choice. It will be the first ‘movie-on-demand' theatre."
The multiplex picture looks rosy. The Kalpathi family which ran the IT education and software through their flagship SSI, has entered into the entertainment sector with a chain of multiplexes in south India.
They have taken over the Royal theatre in Villivakkam and is converting it into a multiplex.
Kiran Reddy and his Sathyam Cinemas are planning to set up 29 screens at Express Estates Mall on Club House Road, off Anna Salai, Gee Gee Khusaldas gardens in Poonamalee high road and Vijay Mall in Vadapalani. They are also planning to move to smaller towns in Tamil Nadu.
Business booms
The Karunanidhi government tax exemption for Tamil films has been the biggest incentive for the multiplex boom in Chennai.
Added to that, the mall mania and real estate growth has also indirectly helped the multiplex industry to set up operations in Chennai.
By the year 2010 nearly 20 malls, most of them with multiplexes, will come up in the city as well as on the IT corridor and suburbs. Many single-screen theatres have also applied for makeovers.
Out of the 12500 odd theatres in the country, nearly 1850 are in Tamil Nadu. Leading producer and distributor Oscar Ravichandran, who controls 63 theatres in NSC ( North and South Arcot and Chengalpettu) area is planning to set up low-priced multiplexes in B and C stations in Tamil Nadu. The other multiplex majors are planning to foray into rural areas in the state, which is film crazy. This trend is going to change the way Tamil cinema is made. Just like Bollywood, films will be made to cater to the multiplex audience.