Komal Nahta

Beginning of a boom

The next two years will witness a boom in the construction of new cinema halls across the country.

Consider: Gujarat, for one, has a headstart, because the state government has a well-defined policy for cinema multiplexes.

While the Maharashtra government is still dillydallying with the proposed multiplex policy, several top players have jumped into the game and are already in the process of building multiplexes in Bombay and Pune, among other cities.

Rajasthan may have started a tad later but the cinema scene in the desert state is no different from Gujarat.

Anupam PVR in Delhi was the first multiplex in India. The four screens at Anupam in the capital city are doing excellent business. The multiplex has its own clientele. Irrespective of the films being screened at the multiplex, cinegoers throng to it for the sheer experience of watching a film there.

City Pulse in Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat, is a veritable tourist attraction and a picnic spot for locals who don't mind travelling long distances to view a film there -- even if cinemas closer home are screening the same film. The scene at City Pulse on weekends is to be seen to be believed.

In Gandhinagar, a new multiplex -- R World -- launched with fanfare on October 27, with Mohabbatein and Mission Kashmir.

R World, like City Pulse, has three screens. It also has food courts, a bowling alley, go-karting, shopping mall -- some of these are already started. Founder Ajay Sinh Chudasama has spent a fortune on the multiplex.

And there is one multiplex coming up in Gandhidham, the first in Saurashtra.

Although all this is not new to our overseas readers, for Indians this is a whole new experience.

Meanwhile, the Suranas of the famed Rajmandir cinema of Jaipur, diamond merchant Kothari and jeweller Padam Sacheti have collaborated to build a multiplex in the Bombay suburbs. Like this one, there are several multiplexes in various stages of construction or planning in Bombay.

Zee big boss Subhash Chandra is said to have moved quite ahead in bringing up multiplexes. Not just in Maharashtra but also in other states like Rajasthan.

The million-dollar question

The question that arises here is -- with so many multiplexes coming up, what will the exhibition scene look like in the days to come? For the same City Pulse of Gandhinagar, which experiences a veritable mela of cinegoers on Saturdays and Sundays, has to sometimes suspend shows on weekdays due to a lack of audience!

If this is the scene now, what will it be after more multiplexes come up? Do we have enough software to sustain the new increased number of cinemas in the country two years hence? What's more, even if there is increased software production for cinemas, will be enough to keep all screens occupied?

Shravan Shroff, who diversified his father Shyam Shroff's Bombay distribution business and began exhibition by taking up the control of cinemas like Cinemax and Cine Star, refuses to despair about the lack of software. Like water finds its own level, he says, film exhibition, too, will undergo a change and settle at a level in keeping with the new conditions.

"Exhibitors have got to come out of their weekly rental routine," says Shravan, adding, "It has happened in Hollywood and I don't see why it shouldn't happen here." The problem, according to this third-generation distributor, is that exhibitors have got used to taking their share of the pie irrespective of how a film fares.

"This mind set must be changed," warns the forward-looking 30-year-old Shravan. "Once this is done, distributors will release films in larger number of cinemas than they release today."

What Shravan says is that saturated releases will become the norm. For distributors, this would mean more shares from a greater number of cinemas. While, for exhibitors, it will ensure that their cinemas are fed up with running programmes.

With people spending more on eatables in cinemas now than, say, a few years ago, revenues from canteens and food courts or restaurants in the multiplexes will also add to the kitty of exhibitors.

In the first year of its operation, Ashok Purohit of City Pulse multiplex recovered 50% of his running expenses from restaurants and snack counters in the cineplex premises alone! Of this, 30% was from just the sale of popcorn and beverages! The balance 20% was from sale of other food items.

But one thinsg is certain: multiplexes will be have varied sources of revenue-generation for the cinema owner. And one has to stop thinking of cinemas in the traditional terminology. No longer now will there be mainly revenue from sale of tickets or an apology of a canteen!

Revenue from parking space in cinemas, advertisement revenue from display windows in cinema foyers, revenues from food courts, etc, can contribute substantially to the income stream of multiplexes.

Will the old order change?

Another question arises here: will the old cinemas be able to withstand the competition offered by state-of-the-art cinemas and multiplexes? It is, perhaps, this fear of being eaten up by multiplexes that has made old cinema owners in Bombay, the heart of Bollywood, go up in arms against the proposed multiplex policy of the state government.

Says Russ Balaporia, who owns Jaihind among other cinemas in Bombay, "The policies governing multiplexes should be linked with the policies governing the existing single-screen cinemas because these cinemas have been paying taxes to the government promptly for so many years."

Balaporia adds, "All we are demanding is that the government give adequate protection to the existing cinemas. Else it must allow those cinema-owners not wanting to continue their cinemas to demolish them.

"Today, if we want to demolish the existing theatre, we are required to build a mini cinema in place of the existing one. Now, the new cinema will have to be state-of-the-art if it has to compete with the others. Which means an investment of at least Rs 1.50 crore.

"What then is the guarantee that the government will give mini cinemas like ours protection?"

Given the choice, Balaporia feels, many cinema owners in Maharashtra would be willing and glad to down their shutters. He vehemently concludes that "multiplexes should not be allowed at the cost of single-screen cinemas."

Nitin Datar of Uday cinema, Ghatkopar, Bombay, is dead against the Maharashtra government's proposal to grant entertainment tax holiday to multiplexes that come up in the state. Asks he, "Have those going in for multiplexes studied the economics of the cinema industry; the amount invested vis-a-vis the returns? There is an equation: 1 seat costs Rs 10,000. Now multiply this with 'n' number of seats. Are the big planners even aware of this equation? Forget the equation, let's just face the fact that even the existing cinemas are facing a crunch these days!"

The major factor behind the crunch, of course, is the shortage of good films, as Bombay exhibitor Pranlal Doshi points out. He asserts, "As it is, there are no films to feed the existing cinemas. People are motivated only by the 'no entertainment tax' and 'no sales tax on multiplexes' hooks dangling in front of them. The government's policy on multiplexes is yet to be decided."

On the other hand, leading Bombay distributor Balkrishna Shroff feels that multiplexes are good for the distributors and the audience alike. He is radical -- and almost scathing -- as he airs his views on the issue. As far as he is concerned, gone are the days when the exhibitor could get away with adding precious little at his cinema for the comfort of his patrons.

"They (multiplexes) are the need of the hour. And so, everyone must think positively on the issue," he says. "If existing cinemas suffer because of multiplexes, they deserve to. The choice before them is quite simple -- refuse to move ahead with the times and suffer. Or renovate the cinemas, as many have already done, and survive."

Countering Shroff's view, Gujarat exhibitor-distributor DY Pattani warns that the multiplexes picture may not be so rosy after all. He is convinced that multiplexes are marching towards very tough times ahead: "Multiplexes will close down for want of films within just six months of their opening. Most investors in multiplexes are the kind who are pumping in money earned from other businesses into cinema complexes. They are carried away by the misleading notion that multiplexes yield very high returns. Ultimately, they will realise their folly when they will feel the pinch of the shortage of films."

As against the fears of people like Balaporia, Doshi and Datar, there are those like Maharashtra exhibitor Guru Shenoy who feel that you cannot fight technology. The old order changeth, yielding place to the new. Guru says, "Whenever a new thing comes in, the older one ends up on the losing side."

The argument that multiplexes will adversely affect business of old cinemas cannot be used to throttle the birth of multiplexes. One has got to keep pace with the times, the emerging technologies and has to offer services to cinegoers to lure them to the cinemas.

Guru Shenoy believes that the multiplexes could survive provided due attention is given to creating a gamut of entertainment activities for the patrons within the complex. He suggests, "One could have pubs, games arcades and what-have-you to attract people to a multiplex."

Opines Vinay Choksey, leading Bombay distributor and exhibitor, "Multiplexes will cater to the interest of big films. Weekdays may experience no shows at the multiplexes, but weekends will see huge crowds."

But since Choksey is both, a distributor and exhibitor, he adds quickly, "As a distributor, I'd welcome multiplexes because they will fetch us high shares and at a faster speed. Of course, existing cinemas may face problems with the coming up of multiplexes."

Following is the list of some of the films screened at City Pulse, Gandhinagar, and the astronomical collections of their total grosses (in lakhs):

Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai: 86.45
Hum Saath-Saath Hai: 44.56
Mann: 40.02
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: 32.39
Taal: 28.44
Refugee: 27.93
Pukar: 26.47
Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai: 24.66
Kya Kehna! 24.49
Hera Pheri: 24.25
Baadshah: 22.40
Dhadkan: 20.74