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The city that once had the best and grandest of cinemas, is now seeing a crop of multiplexes that combine movie entertainment on smaller screens, coupled with food courts and shopping arcades. PRADEEP SEBASTIAN welcomes the trend with mixed feelings.
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Photos: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
The City first multiplex, Innovative, on Airport Road near Marthahalli
THE COMING of multiplex cinemas to Bangalore means three things: state-of-the-art projection and sound, variety, (four to 11 screens playing different movies), and best of all — the chance for movie buffs to see art house movies. Because the blockbusters play on several screens, one screen can be spared for the smaller, offbeat film. "Sunday morning shows will be devoted to playing art house movies," promises Saravana Prasad, the managing director of Innovative, Bangalore's first ever multiplex, which opened a fortnight ago. Formerly a distributor, it had been Prasad's dream to come up with Bangalore's first state-of-the-art multiplex. "I wanted to redefine entertainment in Bangalore — make the city a part of the global entertainment experience."
Innovative features four screens (320 seats each) with the latest in projection and sound: Christie Xenon Projectors, Platters, and JBL speakers.
"One of the big pluses with the high-end Christie projectors we have," points out Ranjit Thakore, in charge of sound at Innovative, "is that we can use just one print of, say, The Matrix Reloaded, and show it on two screens! We can do this because the Christie projector is computer automated and it interlocks one print to two projectors."
But what exactly are Xenon projectors and how are they different from existing projectors? Theatre World, Asia's first and best magazine on theatre and sound (based in Bangalore) explains: "Xenon projection is a revolution in projection of films. It replaces the conventional carbon arc. There is a misconception that xenon projection throws more light onto the screen, making the picture brighter. Though it makes the picture look brighter, in reality, it does not throw more light on to the screen. It throws only the required amount of light: not less, not more. It makes the picture sharper in terms of colour temperature. In essence, it projects the picture with the same colour sharpness, contrast and brightness with which it has been captured onto the film. In conventional carbon arc projection wherein the carbons have to be changed periodically, it emits significant amounts of carbon ash, and is considered hazardous for operators. Xenon, which does not involve carbon usage, therefore, is considered eco-friendly."
And what are platters? "The Platter system facilitates continuous film feed with a single projector enabling simplified operations and uninterrupted viewing. Simply speaking, it is an advanced version of supplying film reels to the projector without missing a scene. In a conventional system, two projectors run alternately and one has to keep interchanging the film reels manually. There may be interruptions between each changeover, if the operator is not alert. A platter system does not allow this loss and ensures continuous viewing."
Bangalore will soon see as many as three multiplexes by the year end — PVR's Acropolis with 11 screens in Koramangala, Sigma on Cunningham Road, and Inox on Magrath Road. Rex also has plans for a multiplex.
How will Innovative, which opened with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, handle all this competition? "The warmth and hospitality of Innovative will keep our patrons coming back to us," says Upasana Mittal, executive director of Innovative who also oversaw its interior acoustics. "Besides, what we have here is a complete entertainment package. There will be a food court, shopping, and games. Our film programming is going to be very different: there will be an afternoon show for students everyday at reduced rates. Our usual ticket prices are Rs. 70 and Rs. 90, but the student shows will be Rs. 30 and Rs. 50. During school vacations, we'll have children's films, also at reduced rates. We are currently building a small, 90-seat theatre in the basement for corporate and private use. You can hire it for a private party and screen a movie of your choice."
"What we'll lose," observes Balachandra, an ardent movie buff and connoisseur of Bangalore theatres, "is the sweep of the big 70 mm. screen of the single theatre. While the multiplexes have better sound and projection, their screens are smaller."
"Multiplexes that are in the suburbs will take longer to catch on, while those inside the City will take off," feels A. Premchand, 20th Century Fox's Bangalore representative. "Also," he adds, "too many screens — as many as 11 — means the multiplex will have a hard time filling all the screens. There just wouldn't be enough new movies to go around."
As a movie buff, I'm thrilled at all the choice we'll have. I just wish they wouldn't call it a multiplex — while it conveys the idea, it sounds too functional, like multistorey or multipurpose. Why not call it, as they do in America, a cineplex?
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Metro Plus
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