IMAX:
Will the big picture work in India?
The USA has always come up with innovative techniques in cinema
to attract viewers to the theatres. First it was Cinemascope,
then came Vistavision and Cinerama, 70-mm and 3-D and now IMAX,
all aimed at providing better and bigger pictures and ensuring
novel viewing experiences as also to ward off the stiff competition
from other media like the television and cable networks. By
the end of this year, Mumbai is all set to usher in the IMAX,
to provide to the audiences an altogether different experience
by way of its huge screen of 15/70 on which will be projected
an image which will be ten times larger than a conventional
35mm frame and three times bigger than a standard 70mm frame.
Will Imax work in India?
Rs
150 for adults; Rs 75 for kids
Manmohan Shetty
Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs, whose IMAX theatre in Mumbai
will be ready by the end of November this year, is hopeful
that the giant screen theatre will attract large audiences
for English films which are of 45 minutes duration each
and will have a large share of school-going children.
He is also constructing four small cinemas in the complex
which will open subsequently next year. "If the IMAX
theatre succeeds in Mumbai, we may go in for more such
cinemas in other cities," averred Shetty.
Shetty feels the proposed admission rates of Rs 150 for
adults and Rs 75 for children below 12 years would not
be prohibitive. "Even for normal screen sizes, the
cinemas are charging anything between Rs 100 and Rs 150.
Even the cost of equipment is much higher than normal
35mm projectors which cost around Rs 60 lakhs whereas
the IMAX projector alone will cost Rs 20 crore, which
we have imported by paying more than Rs 5 crore as customs
duty. This doesn’t include the cost of land and construction
of the huge screen and theatre. In the USA, the rate of
admission is between 7 to 12 dollars, and there are about
100 IMAX cinemas there. In Toronto, where the IMAX system
was manufactured, there are five IMAX theatres. If in
Bangkok, the admission rates are 200 Bahts, I don’t
think our rates of Rs 75 and Rs 150 are expensive,"
he pointed out.
Asked whether adults would patronise IMAX, too, Manmohan
Shetty pointed out that the 200 IMAX theatres all over
the world have registered 100 per cent attendance, of
which only 30 per cent are patronised by children while
the remaining seats were patronised by the adults. "Whenever
I go to see films in IMAX theatres abroad, I find the
audience is more than for the regular theatres, because
of the very size and sound quality which makes an altogether
different experience for the audience. If the government
sponsored Tarapore Aquarium, which a Singapore-based company
is renovating with state of art equipments, has decided
to charge Rs 150 per person, why can’t a private
enterprise charge that much?" he asks, predicting
that IMAX theatre will become a major tourist attraction
in Mumbai. |
The key to the extraordinary sharpness and clarity of the 15/70
IMAX film frame lies in the unique projection technology. The
highest-precision IMAX projectors are the most advanced and
the most powerful projectors ever built. The key to their superior
performance and reliability is the unique ‘rolling loop’
film movement,
which has revolutionised giant-screen cinemas. There are currently
210 permanent IMAX theatres operating in 26 countries. Over
80 of these theatres are equipped with IMAX 3D technology. There
is a backlog of more than 75 theatre systems scheduled to open
during the next few years.
It may be recalled that Disney’s Fantasia 2000 put IMAX
on the line. Even people who thought it would not work were
surprised that it opened to capacity crowds and hasn’t
budged. Now more than 100 large-format projects are being pepped
by over 65 companies and lot more are eager to jump in. The
jumbo film format which has hit Hollywood will not take long
to hit India, too.
Kids will love it
Santosh Singh Jain
Santosh Singh Jain, president of the Central Circuit Cine Association,
said: "IMAX in India will work better if conventional small
screen theatres are also built in the same compound. IMAX films
of 40 to 50 minutes duration will attract children more than
the adults. The elders, who accompany the children making a
beeline for giant screen viewings, may want to see other films
in the small theatres in the complex. If an IMAX cinema complex
caters to the entertainment needs of children as well as the
elders, it will attract more audiences."
No threat to Hindi films
Vinay Choksi
Vinay Choksi, of VIP, welcomed the construction of an IMAX theatre
in Mumbai. "In any case it is not going to affect the business
of Hindi fil-ms because initially only films provided by IM-AX
will be shown on the giant screen," he said.
Novelty has its uses
Sanjay Chaturvedi
Sanjay Chaturvedi, of ABC Films, said: "The public will
lap up the IMAX cinema because it will be a new kind of movie-going
experience, particularly for school-going children. IMAX theatres
will work well only in big cities, initially. If and when they
become popular in big cities, they will automatically move to
small cities and towns."
Good for the movie trade
Balkrishna Shroff
Balkrishna Shroff, of Shringar Films, welcomed the proposed
IMAX theatre and said : "It will not affect the existing
cinemas. The IMAX will have a giant screen on which Hindi films
are not going to be shown. Hence, there is no competition. In
any case, more theatres are good for the film business."
IMAX will work in multiplexes
UA Thadani
UA Thadani, president of the Theatre Owners Association, said:
"The coming up of an IMAX theatre makes no difference to
the existing theatres because IMAX theatre can show only English
films and that too of short duration, which will only attract
kids. Theatres like IMAX will become viable only if other forms
of entertainment are available in the same compound like games
and restaurants. Hindi films are not made to fit into the IMAX
system and as such there is no need to worry even if one IMAX
cinema comes up. Revenue wise, even if four small cinemas come
up in the same complex to screen Hindi films, I feel, it will
hardly make any difference. Though quite a few theatres in Mu-mbai
were closed, most of them have been re-activised after renovation,
barring two or three."
Spare it of ET
Pahlaj Nihalani
Pahlaj Nihalani, president of the Association of Motion Picture
& Television Programme Producers, said: "The entry
of IMAX into India should be welcomed. IMAX is not only entertainment-oriented,
but also more educational. So the government should not impose
Customs Duty and Excise Duty on the machinery imported for the
purpose. Since, the equipments needed for the IMAX theatre are
expensive, the Finance Ministry should give concession to all
such equipments as being done by the Ministry of Education so
that more such theatres can be built," he added.
MSM Desai |
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