The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : The state and fate of cinema houses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

The state and fate of cinema houses

City Bureau(Inputs by Susan Muthalaly, Sandhya Soman, Kannal Achuthan, S. R. Ashok Kumar and K. Laks

Movie-goers say they don't mind paying a bit more if better facilities are provided

CHENNAI : The Tamil film industry's economy of scale has changed since January 1 with the Government Order putting a cap on the maximum ticket fee that a cinema hall can levy, in proportion to the facilities it offers to the visitors.

Tamil Nadu has 1800 cinemas (it was 2400 theatres 15 years ago) and all of them have now reduced their admission rates in a drastic way after the Government's directive to theatre-owners in cities to levy Rs.10 as minimum charge and Rs.50 as the maximum.

So, do movie-goers in Chennai get value for money? Some theatre complexes are going all out to offer a cutting-edge technology by charging premium rates while others cost less but provide little value-addition. A few others are in the process of catching up with the big players.

We give you the latest on theatre facilities and ticket fares in the city, following the State Government's order.

Rs. 120 segment

Mayajaal Entertainment houses six screens in its complex with 150 seats each. They fulfil all stipulations mentioned in the Government Order, including an entertainment centre, toilets with auto flush and a food court.

Abirami Mega Mall is a designated family entertainment centre like Mayajaal for providing entertainment facilities other than movies. There is a food court, a shopping arcade and a gaming area.

The moviegoer has facilities such as four air-conditioned halls with digital projection and Dolby sound system, surround speakers, home delivery of tickets, Internet booking and computerised ticketing.

The group also offers a Rs 1,000 membership card that gives priority for ticket booking.

However enquires have revealed that ticket prices remain in the Rs 40-50 category.

Rs 95 segment

Although Sathyam qualifies in the Rs 95-category , it charges lower rates depending on the hall and the film. Six Degrees and Seasons (the re-launched Subham) are the most expensive.

Sathyam offers RDX brand digital projectors and has 3,000 seats divided among six halls.

Facilities include home delivery of tickets, online bookings, e-ticketing, an in-house bakery and a `Fuel' card with which one can buy tickets online and get food delivered at the hall itself.

Rs 50 segment

Most of the city's 80 theatres come under the Rs. 50 category. These theatres were charging as much as Rs. 90 per ticket during the first two weeks of blockbuster releases. The Government's new order has done away with the provision of hiking ticket fares in the first two weeks.

The theatres have now come up with uniform ticket prices for balcony, first-class and second-class seats.

Here is a sample of the ticket costs: Ega in Chetpet - Rs. 50 and Rs. 45, Melody in Royapettah - Rs. 50, Sangam in Kilpauk - Rs. 50 and Rs. 48 and Casino - Rs. 50.

Regular visitors to Sangam complex say that it offers the best experience in the Rs. 50 category. "The theatre has been painted in bright colours and is fairly clean and food quality is all right," says G. Gokul, who watched `Thiruvilayadal Arambam' at the theatre recently.

Melody Theatre has a strong fan following among viewers of Hindi movies. The theatre has had to cut its prices from Rs. 70 or Rs. 80 to the specified cost. At Devi Theatre, moviegoers are happy with the additional parking space that has come up behind the complex. However, they said the theatre's interiors, including seating, needed improvement. Visitors to Udhayam Theatre, Ashok Nagar, were also unhappy about the quality of interiors.

Some of these theatre groups say they are in the process of improving the facilities. While work is in progress at the Devi complex, Sri Devi Groups' Sangam Theatre complex had already put in plush sofa sets at two of its halls. "We already have 11 of the 15 stipulations laid out in the Government Order to put us in the Rs. 85-plus category. But we can't afford to go ahead with our plans to upgrade Roopam because authorities are yet to give approval for our appeal to revise the rates," a theatre official told The Hindu .

Suburban areas

Several theatregoers in cinema halls in Ambattur and Koyambedu complain that they still charge rates up to Rs.100 during the first few weeks of new films.

R. Bhaskar, a regular visitor to a theatre complex in Koyambedu, said that the facilities provided did not match the price fixed now. Lack of drinking water, poor toilet facilities and an increased parking fee are some of the turn-offs in the theatre.

A few air-conditioned theatres in Ambattur abruptly stop providing the facility in between the shows. Many theatres in Padi have only benches to sit on. Prarthana, the only open-air theatre in South India, was exempted from ticket price reduction. It continues to charge Rs.60 for cars and Rs.30 for gallery.

The verdict

Most moviegoers said they would revisit theatres only if they got value for their money. They wouldn't mind paying a bit more if they were satisfied with the facilities. Theatres would have to upgrade if they want patronage and the new order stipulating prices to match facilities could provide an impetus .

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