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10 yrs of multiplex | Pixel perfect
Published on Thu, Jun 07, 2007 at 17:34, Updated on Thu, Jun 07, 2007 at 21:04 in Entertainment section
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New Delhi: It's a decade since India's first multiplex opened in the Capital and ushered in the urban Indian audience to a cinematic experience that was quite unlike the single screen theatre.
Multiple screenings and mini theatres with state-of-the-art technology soon made the 'daily four shows' tag history.
Though, initially vary of exorbitantly priced tickets – 10 years on – cinema without the multiplex is unimaginable.
The growth in the sector can be sampled from the fact that the pioneer – PVR – which began with one mutliplex in the Capital, now has 82 screens across the country with plans of opening 250 more.
“The whole idea was to provide a change in the exhibition industry because single-screen theatres were not working. We were exposed to the way such screens worked in the West and we knew it would work in India considering the appetite for movies is large,” Sanjeev Bijli, Joint MD of PVR Ltd, said.
Currently a Rs 2,500-crore industry, multiplexes not only revolutionised the way we saw movies but also the way movies were made.
The song less Hindi film is no longer an exception. Producers are now open to experimenting with unconventional themes and you no longer need a star to ensure that your film does well. To put it simply – no multiplex means no Khosla Ka Ghosla and Bheja Fry.
“Now independent filmmakers have a foot in the door. At least now we can make a film like Parzania, Black Friday, Bheja Fry or Honeymoon Travels. At least now we get an opening. After that it is for the audience to come or not,” filmmaker Rajat Kapur said.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta believes that had it not been for multiplexes, a production house like UTV would not have picked up a film like Khosla Ka Ghosla.
“It (UTV) picked up the all-India rights of Khosla Ka Ghosla because there are multiplexes in all big cities in the country. The halls are small so one does not need 10,000 people to make it a success,” Nahta explained.
The trend is now towards opening multiplexes in non-metros like Aurangabad and Baroda, where tickets would also be priced at around Rs 40-60 keeping the profile of the cinemagoer in mind. Enough reason to raise a toast to a decade of the multiplex?
(With inputs from Urmi Sahni in Mumbai)
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