Mangalore gets one more multiplex
The second multiplex with five screens will open to public on Saturday, giving much needed relief to viewers who had to depend on only one multiplex with four screens till date.
The Cinepolis multiplex has five screens, including VIP class. On Saturday only four screens will be open - minus the VIP class as work is incomplete.
If all had gone well, the city should have had Cinepolis multiplex last year itself, but it was embroiled in controversies. The District administration while rejecting the licence cited absence of several mandatory licences required under Karnataka Cinemas (Regulations) Rule 1971.
Incidentally, NS Channappa Gowda gave the no objection certificate for Cinepolis on the last day of him relinquishing his office as Deputy Commissioner. Channappa said: Earlier the fire NOC was not given to the entire building; hence the permission was not given from the district administration. The NOC was given after the building authorities obtained fire NOC to the entire building.''
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The Hindu GroupMANGALORE: In a month and a half, Mangalore will get a 1,200-seat five-screen three-dimensional (3D) cinema multiplex, including 60-seat auditorium with “luxury” seating. Called “VIP”, the seats will have 180-degree reclining ability and in-seat catering from the in-house food and beverage (F and B) section of cine operators, said Ashish Shukla, Head — Exhibition, Cinepolis India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cinépolis, Mexico-based international cine “exhibitor”.Cinepolis has invested Rs. 10 crore for the five screens (Rs. 2 crore per screen), which will be on the fourth floor of the City Centre Mall, Mangalore.The screen, seating arrangements, and technology to show the movie was the exhibitor's, which had taken the property on a renewable “lease model” from Mohtisham, he said.How many people in Mangalore would watch movies from such seats?“We think we will get them although mornings on weekdays are a bit of a concern for us.“Even if there are two people, we will screen the movie,” he said.Sixty per cent of the collections originate on weekends and 40 per cent from four weekdays (Mondays to Thursdays), said Mr. Shukla.Mangalore was chosen based on its student population, multilingual crowd with a propensity to watch movies. It will show Tulu, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam movies. Ticketing will be online, through SMS and email. Pricing has not been decided as yet but “is not substantially different from multiplexes,” he said.The company has set up a Facebook page about the multiplex in the city, where it expects 10,000 people to visit the multiplex each week.A seven-screen multiplex was started in Bangalore two weeks ago but the “VIP” auditorium could not be introduced there as the “shell” had been made.In Mangalore, it was financially feasible, he said.The company has 200 such “VIP” screens in the world.The seven-screen multiplex in at the RM Mall in Bangalore has taken off in two weeks with 80 per cent occupancy on the last weekend for 13 movies. About 32,000 people have visited it in the last 12 days.“The initial fervour will reduce but we expect them to return because of the experience,” he said.South India was an “extremely crucial market” for the company because of the multilingual market.In Karnataka, it was looking at other cities to set up multiplexes, Mr. Shukla added.
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