The Hindu : National : Goa multiplex theatre ready for festival

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 10, 2004

National

National

Goa multiplex theatre ready for festival

By Anil Sastry

PANAJI, NOV. 9. Inox Leisure Limited, which has constructed a four-screen multiplex here for the coming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in a record time, is all set to open its shop in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai next year with an investment of around Rs. 75 crores.

Shishir Baijal, chief executive officer of the company, who was here to announce the completion of Inox Goa, told The Hindu that the multiplexes would have four screens with a seating capacity of over 1,000. He said professionalism and corporatisation of the industry were the buzzwords of the new generation cinema.

The Bangalore Inox, coming up on Magrath Road (off M.G. Road) would be thrown open to the public in January 2005. Inox Hyderabad at Banjara Hills and Inox Chennai at GVK Reddy Group Complex on Anna Salai, would be opened mid-2005 and December 2005 respectively.

Inox is already operating multiplexes in Pune, Vadodara, Kolkata and Mumbai.

Mr. Baijal said the future of the entertainment industry belongs to multiplex theatres. They offered flexibility of operation.

While a traditional theatre struggled to get full occupancy of thousand-odd seats, multiplexes with three or more screens, provided an opportunity to offer different movies at the same time without seats remaining vacant.

Citing a UNESCO survey which said the number of screens (10 for one million) in India were grossly inadequate, Mr. Baijal said that quality screens increased viewership and brought in more revenue to the government besides encouraging the entertainment industry.

A record

The Inox multiplex here is built in an area of 40,000 square feet. It has been completed in a record time of 180 days — from excavation to commissioning. It is adjacent to the 150-year-old "Old Goa Medical College" building facing the picturesque river Mandovi.

The four-screen multiplex has 1,272 seats and each auditorium features wall-to-wall, stadium-style seating to enhance viewing with reclining seats and cup-holder armrests.

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