Kerala - Kozhikode   

Cinemas become football grounds

P.K. Ajith Kumar

DEMOCRATIC SPORT: Spectators inside RajaTheatre at Meenchada in Kozhikde erupt as Argentina scores another goal at the World Cup in Germany on Friday. - Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

KOZHIKODE: Suddenly, Mohanlal and Mammootty have competition - from Ronaldinho and Rooney.

Many cinema theatres are now showing the World Cup football matches live from Germany, instead of the regular films. In Kozhikode, Raja Theatre at Meenchanda has been beaming the matches from the very second day of the World Cup, while the kick-off at Chithra Theatre, Koyilandi, is slated for Saturday. And, of course, quite a few cinemas in Malappuram have already turned into German football grounds.

It is to beat football at its own game the proprietors of these theatres have done this. "Ever since the World Cup got under way last week, people have virtually stopped going to the movies," said T.K. Dinesh Kumar, who owns Raja Theatre. "And film distributors aren't willing to give `B' and `C' class theatre good films, fearing poor collections. Even the releasing centres, I am told, are badly hit by the World Cup. So showing the matches live on the big screen seemed a good option to me. I got the permission from ESPN and hired an LCD projector, through which the television signals are beamed to the screen."

This technology comes at a price. "We have to pay Rs.1,000 per day as rent for the project and we paid ESPN Rs.25,000,"said Mr. Dinesh Kumar. "Though we had good crowds for matches involving Brazil and Argentina, there weren't that many people for the other matches. I hope more people would come out to watch, because it's a great experience watching these great players on a large screen and with great sound effects."

T.C. Satheesh, whose Murali Theatre at Edappal, started showing football from Thursday, said there were bigger crowds for the last World Cup. "But maybe that was because we were showing the tournament only from the quarterfinal stages," he said. "I hope we will have bigger audiences as the World Cup makes further progress."

Appoos Theatre at Pandikkad, Malappuram, has been showing the World Cup right from the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on June 9. "And there was an excellent crowd for that game too," said the theatre's proprietor, Dasan Master. "More and more theatres, in other districts like Thrissur and Palakkad, will be showing the World Cup, as films have no audience now."

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