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XENON PROJECTION, Martin audio, rocker seats and Brinton carpets. Looking for options, no not for a luxury liner, just for the latest Shah Rukh starrer, then these are the criteria that your hall must fulfil. DT cinema, 3Cs, Wave, Satyam - with a literal mushrooming of cineplexes in the Capital and satellite towns over the past year or so viewers may have come back to the theatres, but for a price - both economic and social.
The miniscule super rich minority might not mind, but the salaried majority is finding the hefty entry rates, ranging from Rs.80 to an exorbitant 500 for the Platinum class in the Wave cinemas, as an unwelcome addition to their already crunched budgets. But the owners have a point. "We had to offer something out of the world to bring the crowd out of TV and cable addiction," points out H.S. Shekhon, Director, Wave Cinemas.
With eating joints, designer clothes and nightclubs vying for attention, the youth with credit card in their pockets and `feel good picture' in the mind, find these celluloid jamborees a decent way to chill out after hectic working hours, not to forget the tax-free cosy corners becoming the latest hot spots for the Cupid-hit couples.
At another level, however, here also it is the middle class that has found itself against the wall. While some middle rung cinemas like Nataraj, Sapna and Eros succumbed to the multiplex drive, passing the cost in the form of hiked admission rates, others like Rivoli folded up. "Multiplexes are not doing exceptionally well. They are at an advantage because they have a smaller number of seats and they make up through marketing options that they provide. We suffer because we neither have such shopping alternatives nor can we show the Joginder stuff," bemoans M.L. Sharma, Manager, Odeon cinema.
That Khanna and Imperial are catering to the lower strata with Joginder and Satnam Kaur specials with reasonable success attests Sharma's statement.
Big films or names are no more guarantee for success. "We ran Nana Patekar's `Aanch' without a single houseful show and `Janasheen' didn't mange to fill even half a theatre even in matinee and evening shows, that too when our balcony ticket is priced at Rs.32 only. It's time the film prices were slashed," complains F.K. Sharma of Moti Talkies, the lone survivor in the once celluloid-chic Chandni Chowk, now centre of piracy.
On form, fresh formulas from M2K to M4U clicked but is the equation balanced?
ANUJ KUMAR
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