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As the old becomes new...
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Cineplexes, multiplexes and the quality of films... In this perplexing potpourri of possibilities, the customer is King and theatre managers talk about more than the talkies. KANIKA DHAWAN finds what some Central Delhi cinemas plan f or the change of scene... .
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THE SHOW GOES ON: New Delhi's Satyam and Imperial cinema halls attract varied patrons. Photos: R.V. Moorthy.
VENERABLE CINEMA halls in the heart of Delhi, like Rivoli, Odeon, Regal and Plaza in Connaught Place may make veterans nostalgic of watching a Guru Dutt movie 40 years back, but as memories linger, times are changing. Guru Dutt is long gone and so is the old spirit, where nothing interfered in the relationship between viewer and viewed. Cinemas are converting into cineplexes or multiplexes, offering multilayered experiences for a pretty price. The race is on between cinema owners.
Rivoli's manager S.S. Tiwari states: "Business is low because of the film content and the various options available to people. We used to do good business till five years back but now our collections are half of what we used to make. We are on the verge of converting it into a multiplex."
V.N. Sawhney of Odeon admits: "The Delhi Development Authority has given permission to convert it into an even bigger commercial space. With recent releases, business is fairly good, but renovating it into a new theatre is definitely on the charts."
As for audience tastes, old-timer Niranjan Dhawan remarks: "I have watched more than a dozen films in these theatres, but now I only go to PVR Naraina or Satyam Cineplex."
Exhibitors like Sideshwar Dayal, owner of Regal, and Joginder Sahni, managing partner of Plaza aver that the only reason for declining business is the advent of cable, piracy and the small screen alternatives, yet Plaza is currently undergoing a facelift.
"It will take the form of a cineplex but with only one auditorium which will lessen our annual requirement of films and enable wider occupancy," says Sahni.
Dayal who has no plans of converting Regal into a multiplex, identifies two basic reasons for a film's success or failure. "Patrons either take the film at face value or listen to hearsay. Nothing else makes or breaks the movie."
Also unfazed by the multiplying multiplexes is Om Prakash Singh, manager of Imperial, a hall conspicuous for C-grade films. "We show low-budget films which cater to the kind of crowd that visits our cinema. As compared to other Delhi halls except a PVR, our average is about 55 per cent, which is quite good. We hold no competition with any PVR or its kind because we are separate entities."
Meanwhile at the dilapidated Khanna Talkies at Pahar Ganj that screens C-grade films, business is not up to the mark. The manager says: "The entertainment tax has been slashed from 60 per cent to 30, so our ticket prices have gone down. Our nearest competitor is Imperial. Converting to a multiplex is not in the pipeline as of now."
Yet Rahul Malhotra, manager of Satyam Cineplex - which customers like Karol Bagh's Neelesh Sinha feel is "an obvious choice for it has a great ambience and gives me a lot of choice. Spending on a comfortable hall does not really hurt that much." - maintains: "It is all a question of options. In this service industry of entertainment, `providing choices' is the keyword, and those who sell them in the best possible way, benefit."
At Satyam's morning shows aimed at the college crowd, tickets are priced at Rs.75, followed by Rs.125 for all other shows.
G.S Rathore, one of the managers of India's first 70mm cinema - Shiela at Pahar Ganj - asserts: "Piracy and cable television are eating a major chunk of the cinema businesses. We have all the facilities a good cinema should have, even better than all the fancy theatres.
But our locality and unavoidable traffic jam conditions have spoilt our status. Also, contemporary cinema is sandwiched between Western and Indian civilisation, it is bound to crack. Maybe the Conditional Access System and a sound cable act by the Government might bring some relief."
Meanwhile, the customer is King.
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