Showcasing history

REBECCA CHANDY

Deep and clear came the voice. "Welcome to the IMAX Adlabs Theatre. You are about to see the world's most exotic movie presentation on the world's largest (and India's first) dome screen. Brought to you by Adlabs Films Ltd., Mumbai, the giant screen will showcase images three times larger than a standard 70 mm frame, with 12,000 watts of astounding wrap-around sound! Be amazed as the screen unveils the Mysteries of Egypt and hurls you from the top of the Pyramids to the gorges of the Nile basin and back to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. Do not leave your seats and do not open the doors while the film is in progress." And so the film proved to be - exotic and amazing.

The IMAX Theatre, is set up in Bhakti Park, Anik Wadala Link Road, Mumbai. The roof looms over at a height of nearly 60 feet. A "see-through" glass elevator whisks you up to the Theatre. Tiers upon tiers of seats rose in a steep incline from the floor to the point where it met the curvature of the dome.

The visuals of India's scenic splendours and of its diverse people, carrying the Tricolour, exploded on to the screen, to the strains of A.R. Rehman's Vande Matharam. The spectacular effect of the incredibly magnified yet sharp images spread across the dome screen, in front, to the right, to the left, up and even behind us.

IMAX Corporation, founded in 1967, in Canada, invented and developed the first large format motion picture system. IMAX films are shot in their large format high precision cameras and can be exhibited only in IMAX Theatres. It is the unique "Rolling Loop" film movement of the IMAX projectors that provides images of unsurpassed size, clarity and sharpness.

Mysteries of Egypt is an IMAX film which focusses on the masterpieces of the great Egyptian civilisation. The film gives close-up views of the Sphynx of Giza as well as of the great Pyramids of Cheops, famous for their accuracy and immensity. It also recreates scenes of the building of the Pyramids by showing us thousands of slaves dragging huge granite blocks up a ramp, which had been discovered by archaeologists in the ruins.

But more exhilarating than the breathtaking views of the Pyramids was the way the illusion of a thrilling flight over the Nile was created. The large format cinematography combined with the multi- speaker sound system made us feel we were in a plane flying over the Nile as it thundered through narrow gorges, dense forests and craggy terrain to its source.

The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death as the beginning of a long journey which had to be provided for. So the Pharaohs built enormous tombs for themselves and filled them with treasures and the necessities of life. The film revolves around the search for the mysterious tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The British Egyptologists Howard Carter and his patron Lord Carnarvon were on the point of giving up their 15-year explorations in the Valley when on November 5, 1922, one of the Arab diggers hit his pickaxe against the edge of a huge well cut stone embedded in the rubble. It was the entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamen, the teenage Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who ruled Egypt from 1332-1322 B.C.

It was a sensational discovery, which excited the whole world, because it brought to light an astonishing collection of more than 3,000 art treasures. They included gilded shrines, gold chests, gold coffins, gold jars, statues of goddesses, besides models of boats, ships and barges. The film showed the burial chamber and three nesting coffins, one inside the other. Tutankhamen's mummy rested in the innermost coffin and it was made of solid gold. Over his face was placed an exquisite gold mask. The walls were painted with scenes of his voyage to the underworld.

On the entrance of his burial chamber were scrawled the protective Curse of the Mummy. "Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the King." And sure enough, two strange deaths followed the opening of the tomb.

Prior to the discovery, Carter had brought home a yellow canary in a gilded cage, much to the delight of his Arab workmen. They hailed it as a bird of gold which would lead them to a tomb full of gold. And so it happened. Within a week Carter found Tutankhamen's tomb. But on the day the entrance to the tomb was laid bare, a cobra entered the house, pounced on the bird and swallowed it. The magnified image of the cobra slithering along the giant screen was eerie and petrifying. But worse was to follow. Within five months, Lord Carnarvon died of blood poisoning due to a mosquito bite that had become infected. These two deaths tended to instil the fear of the Mummy's curse in all those connected with the excavations. But miraculously, the little Arab boy who was sent in first to the sepulchral chamber, because he was small and the entrance narrow, lived to a ripe old age. One of the tense and gripping shots of the movie was of the little lad stepping forward haltingly into the menacing darkness of the 3,300 year old tomb, holding out a long stick at the end of which dangled an electric bulb!

IMAX films are a unique phenomenon, the focus being on the large images enhanced by a good story. Most of these films focus on exotic locations, wildlife, thrilling sports and space travel, and as such are of great educational value. There are 225 IMAX Theatres operating in 26 countries. IMAX Dome Theatres brings to its audiences a world class theatre experience.

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