TheatreMagic ::: December 2019 - February 2020

MUBI - PVR Join Hands For 'MUBI GO': One Free PVR Ticket Every Week Curated streaming service MUBI and PVR Cinemas - the largest cinema chain in India, announced that they have partnered to launch the cinemagoing initiative MUBI GO in India recently. As part of a MUBI subscription, members will now receive one complimentary ticket every week to see a film that has been hand-picked by MUBI in any PVR Cinema, via the MUBI GO app.

MUBI GO launches with Rian Johnson's KNIVES OUT as its first 'Film of the Week', featuring an all-star cast including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette.

KNIVES OUT hits PVR Cinemas across the country this Friday, and is a witty and stylish modern-day murder mystery that follows the investigation of the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), led

by Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).

The nationwide initiative with PVR Cinemas means that MUBI GO users will be able to redeem tickets for the selected films in any PVR Cinema across India in its hugely popular Classic seat category at all mainstream auditoriums. Available to download on iOS and Android mobile devices from Friday, the MUBI GO app will list PVR Cinema schedules for the current 'Film of the Week' based on user locations, as well as show the film selection for the upcoming week.

MUBI GO expands to India after a successful launch in the UK, where members have enjoyed box office hits like ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and JUDY to specialty titles like THE SOUVENIR and BORDER. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Ltd., commented, "We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with MUBI, MUBI GO is a new programming and marketing initiative that will put a spotlight on a curated set of character and narrative

driven movies. PVR taking action to promote and celebrate more films and more storytellers is a healthy enhancement to the cinematic ecosystem, our partnership with MUBI is a step in the same direction.

"Efe Cakarel, Founder and CEO of MUBI said, "I could not be more excited to launch MUBI GO with PVR Cinemas in India. It is a big milestone for us, with it being the second territory where we've introduced the initiative. After launching our film channels MUBI INDIA and MUBI WORLD this month, our members can now not only watch amazing handpicked films online, but also in real cinemas across the country."

Commenting on the association, Kamal Gianchadani, CEO, PVR Pictures, said, "At PVR, we always try to innovate and push the envelope.

This tie up dispels the myth that cinemas and OTT cannot collaborate.

Because PVR is the top choice for blockbuster movies, many customers don't realize that we screen more elevated and celebrated films than anyone else in the country.

Our collaboration with MUBI will help us expose more moviegoers to specialized films and increase their theatrical success. "From Friday, MUBI members will find MUBI GO included in their existing subscriptions, and new members can subscribe for an introductory price of INR 199 for three months. Subscriptions include MUBI GO and MUBI's curated streaming service, which is home to an incredible collection of hand-

picked films. Every day new films are introduced to each of its film channels including, MUBI WORLD, which presents acclaimed international films like MOONLIGHT, and MUBI INDIA, which is fully dedicated to Indian cinema and features cult classics like Kamal Swaroop's OM DAR-B-DAR to films like BINNU KA SAPNA from rising star Kanu Behl.

India's Oldest Multiplex Closed for Six Months Twenty-two years ago, a small corner of south Delhi became the centre of the national capital's cinematic world -- and a pivot of its cultural life too -with the opening of India's first multiplex.

The curtains came down on PVR Anupam, which changed the way Delhiites watched movies, on Thursday evening. It is the end of an era but also the beginning of one with PVR Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli promising that it will be back, better and snazzier in about six months.

It was initially called Anupam 4' to make the message clear to cinemagoers that they will now be able to watch four different films under one roof.

More than brick and mortar, cinema halls are built of memories, unique to people just like their choice of films.

Virtually every film buff in the city has an Anupam story, of standing for

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hours in line to buy a ticket for the latest Hollywood or Bollywood film, of assignations with that maybe special somebody, of childhood birthdays or of noisy family movie nights. And then that sheer novelty of watching a movie show beginning at 11 pm, unheard of at the time.

That it all involved a bus, auto, taxi or car ride to Saket was secondary.

The whole movie going experience had been elevated with the advent of PVR Anupam -- with more expensive tickets, more expensive but better popcorn and other stuff too, and clean toilets -- and that was all that mattered. The curtains on the famous structure, which shut operations a month ago, came down in the presence of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Back in 1997, India's first multiplex had opened with Khan's "Yes Boss", which went on to become a blockbuster. The film, also starring Juhi Chawla, was a shot in the arm for the cinema hall.

According to Bijli, the multiplex would be revamped and upgraded to make it more attractive for the youth of today.

"It will still remain a very young cinema, it will have all the technology available Dolby Digital, 4K, laser and the works... We will have a new seating arrangement, all new sound system and projectors, and F&B services, Bijli promised.

"These are just black boxes but what happens on the screen and in those four boxes is what creates the magic," he added.

Amazon Signs Deal with BookMyShow: Sells Movie Tickets on Its Platform Amazon India and BookMyShow recently entered into a partnership where customers can now book

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movie tickets on the e-commerce website. "Our aim is to simplify the lives of our customers in every possible way - as they shop, pay bills or seek other services. This partnership is yet another step on this ongoing journey," Mahendra Nerurkar, Director, Amazon Pay said in a statement. Amazon.in users can log onto the app or mobile site to book their tickets from the 'movie tickets' category under 'shop by category' or the Amazon Pay tab.

All the cinemas and theatres listed on Amazon.in for this category will be powered exclusively by BookMyShow.

Customers will also get access to BookMyShow's content offerings, including movie reviews, ratings, synopsis, posters and other offerings."This partnership will further extend the convenience of digital transactions on Amazon.in to the 'Movie Tickets' category making the experience absolutely seamless for all consumers," Ashish Hemrajani, Founder and CEO, BookMyShow added. With the integration on Amazon.in, Amazon customers do not need to leave the Amazon app to buy a movie ticket. Users can pay conveniently using their Amazon Pay balance, Amazon Pay ICICI Credit Card, Amazon Pay UPI or other digital payment methods.

INOX Reports a Stupendous 42% Growth Making Q2-FY20 A Historic Quarter INOX Leisure Ltd (INOX) reported financials for the second quarter ending 30th September 2019. The results were taken on record by the Board of Directors today at a meeting held in Mumbai. Building upon the practice of creating new benchmarks, INOX closed the 2nd

Quarter of FY 2020 on a historic note with highest ever Footfalls, Revenues and EBITDA. Total Revenue rose to INR 524 Cr. with a substantial 42% growth, from INR 369 Cr. in the corresponding Quarter in FY19.

INOX also hosted the highest number of guests in a Quarter with a stupendous Footfall count of 19 Mn, up 39%. EBITDA more than doubled to INR 107 Cr. with a 121% growth and PAT stood at an impressive INR 51 Cr. up 327% from previous year's 2nd Quarter. The Board has declared an Interim Dividend of INR 1 per equity share (10%).

Content continued to be the decisive force behind the remarkable performance of the Quarter, with numerous movies doing extremely well at the Box Office. ‘Mission Mangal’, ‘Super 30’, ‘The Lion King’, ‘Chhichhore’, ‘Saaho’ and ‘Dream Girl’ were the top contributors.

‘Batla House’, ‘Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw’ and ‘Spider Man - Far From Home’ also made significant contributions towards the record ticket sales.

While content played its part, INOX's aggressive screen addition and efforts to take the cinema experience to new levels also added gleam to the historic performance. INOX's emphasis on innovations and impeccable service in the F&B delivered historic revenue levels of INR 141 Cr. with a 48% growth. The company has added 27 new screens in the FY20 so far, underlining Company's expansion focus. INOX continued its focus on technology and formats with the roll out of India's first 270-degree multiprojection ScreenX auditorium at Inorbit Mall Malad, Mumbai and Quest Mall, Kolkata.

ADVERTORIAL

Samsung Onyx:

The Showstopper of Every Show Bringing the visual power of LED picture quality onto the big screen alongside stunning audio configuration has surely been no surprise that this revolutionary technology comes from a brand that thrives on offering only incredible experiences to its audience.

Moviegoing has never remained the same ever since Samsung India launched the most captivating theatre screen of all time - Samsung Onyx! By bringing the visual power of LED picture quality to the big screen, Samsung has been successful in transporting viewers to experience "the cinema of the future". It surely is no surprise that this revolutionary technology comes from a brand that thrives on offering only incredible experiences to its audience.

With its phenomenal audio configuration and stunning visuals, Samsung Onyx has clearly pronounced dominance over conventional theatres. The 3D version of Samsung Onyx accomplishes the impossible with its depth and specialised composition, making 3D cinema content even more vivid and realistic. The active 3D format allows for negligible loss of resolution, bringing visual details to the forefront. And if that wasn't enough, Samsung Onyx's audio support comes from HARMAN Professional's JBL Sculpted Surround technology, which is commissioned to sweep away the moviegoers with its exceptional quality.

Moreover, by introducing High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture refinement technology to the theatre, the Samsung Onyx screen

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has elevated content to brightness levels greater than the accepted, legacy cinema standard.

This produces a sharper and more detail-rich viewing experience.

Apart from mesmerising the guests with its extraordinary technology, Samsung ONYX steals the show by creating a modern theatre experience. Thanks to its ambient light settings, theatres today have a new found identity. Cinema theatres can now be used for events apart from movie watching, such as, corporate events, dine-in cinema, kid's cinema, and gaming theatres.

In order to suffice the demands of the masses, it has intelligently

expanded the theatre by replacing the bulky projector equipment and setting additional seats in its place.

What brings the ONYX VIEW in the limelight is its ability to let the audience live the movie in its true colours. A theatre that amplifies drama to its full potential is a theatre that should be on every movie enthusiast's list. Moviegoers are bound to love the unparalleled picture quality that ONYX Cinema LED has to offer alongside the spellbinding sound. For all those who have not yet had the leisure to pleasure their eyes, it is time you book your tickets and get the show on the road!

• SPECIAL STORY •

Theatres vs OTT Storm:

On the Battle that's Just Begun

Netflix, Amazon Prime and other OTT platforms will continue to thrive and grow.

Reliance Jio will disrupt the business but the cinema exhibition industry will weather all these storms and continue to co-exist. The cinema exhibition industry has weathered many a storm over the years and continues to register growth and thrive.

Reliance Jio has been a major disruptor in the telecom segment.

So when they announced their plans to launch the Jio Fiber and disrupt the home broadband service with ultra-low pricing along with an offering called First Day First Show, it send shockwaves through the cinema exhibition industry in India.

The cinema exhibition industry as such was already reeling with multiple challenges and this announcement couldn't have come at a worse time.

"Also, for the first time in India, we are introducing a disruptive concept for watching new movies. Premium Jio Fiber customers will be able to watch movies in their living rooms the same day these movies are released in theatres. We call this Jio first-day-first-show. We plan to

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launch this service in the middle of 2020," said Mukesh Ambani at the Reliance AGM. The stock of PVR and INOX too, reacted badly following the announcement. The shares of PVR fell by 4.28% to INR 1,403.5 while INOX fell by 4.66% to INR 287.40.

PVR and INOX, which run around 800 and 600 screens respectively across the country, were quick to respond to this. INOX nor PVR did not seem to be very worried with the announcement. The theatrical experience is what they are betting on.

"Theatrical and at-home are two completely different experiences and each has their own place. Both these experiences have co-existed and prospered for decades and will continue to do so in future.

We are extremely buoyant about cinema exhibition's growth prospects and remain committed to expand PVR's reach in cities and towns across the country, while delivering an unmatched moviegoing experience to the Indian consumers," PVR said in a statement.

INOX said that the theatrical exhibition industry, led primarily by the multiplex industry, has made significant investments in world class cinema theatres, by bringing in state-of-the-art technology, luxurious ambience, bespoke comfort and unmatched service, ultimately curating an experience which can never be matched by watching movies on television screens at home.

"We strongly believe that Indian movie watchers' love for cinema on giant screens is deep-rooted and

• SPECIAL STORY • unshakeable, and this has kept, and will continue to keep the industry alive and thriving for the past several decades, and for several decades to come," INOX added.

Jio's offering is for their high-end customers. The urban audience may opt for Jio Fiber, but if you look at masses in tier 2, tier 3 markets, they like going out and watching movie The way film distribution works is when a producer produces a movie and an exhibitor gets rights for it, for nearly 8 weeks, he has the rights for the movie and that cannot be shown on any other platform. This is an advantage that exhibitors have, that protects them from competition of OTT platforms.

"This exclusive theatrical window is a model that is followed internationally, in order to ensure the robust financial viability of all the segments of the sector, and has been replicated in India. The producer of the film is the owner of the creative content and is therefore entitled to choose the platform for distribution and consumption of his content," says INOX, adding that in view of this window, he would have to choose between theatrical exhibition or release on any other platform, since release on both simultaneously would breach the mutually agreed exclusive theatrical window.

Theatrical Revenues Drive the Film Business The number of films released in India in 2018 was around 1776. Out of which the domestic theatrical revenues is estimated at INR 100 billion and OTT revenues were around INR 13.5 billion. Theatrical revenues accounted for 58% of total

New Age Bollywood Actors Support Theatrical Release First The new age actors are leading the way in ensuring that the first barometer of gauging any movie's success will be the cinema theatres and the box office collections at the cinema screams. With the threat of OTT looming large across cinema screes and with cases where movies made for a theatrical release directly arrived for online viewing. Recently, Sushant Singh Rajput-Jaqueline Fernandez starrer Drive met such an unfortunate fate and looks like the ‘Chhichhore’ actor is very upset due to its direct release on Netflix.

It has been reported that Sushant has been shying away from promoting Netflix's Drive. It is also learned that the actor tried convincing the makers for a theatrical release but Karan Johar's Dharma Productions stayed with their decision after going through the final outcome. At the scripting stage, it becomes difficult for producers at times to know how the film will ultimately shape up.

At times, they believe the script has potential and there are times when they refuse to see the reality and end up approving a bad script.

It's only when they see the final product do they realize that they have created a bad film that can entail losses. Earlier, a producer would have no choice but now, OTT platforms are giving them a chance to recover the costs.

The same was to take place in case of Saif Ali Khan's ‘Baazaar’ as it wasn't getting any buyers for a film revenue while OTT stood at 7.7% of the total film entertainment revenue. Multiplex screens took the screen count to around 9600 plus in India.

Uday Sodhi, Ex EVP & Business Head of Sony Pictures doesn't think OTT is

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theatrical release but after Saif gained tremendous popularity with Sacred Games, Viacom18 Motion Motion Pictures signed a deal. It has been learned that Saif too was keen on a theatrical release only for ‘Baazaar’.

The latest development on the issue states that the actors from now onwards will add a 'no digital release' clause in their agreement, thus squashing the chances of direct arrival of a movie on the OTT platforms.

From now on, most of the major and mid-level actors will add a 'no digital release' clause in their contracts when they want to do a film. It simply means that the producer will be legally bound to release the film in cinemas and not straightaway on Netflix or Amazon Prime, failing which the actor can sue the producer.

This is a huge move and will provide a fillip to the cinema screens across India. The Southern film actors can also take a step in this direction and support the cinema exhibition industry. going to be a threat to the theatre business. "US, for example, in spite of having such a large digital audience, the theatre collections are very robust. The kind of movies will change. There are multiplex type movies which are for a certain

• SPECIAL STORY • audience. Those might find a digitalfirst premiere logic. However, your big budget Baahubali type of cinema will first go to the theatre because big monetization happens there."

Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd said that for big budget and genre movies, theatre is a very large source of serving and raking big bucks. Theatre business is a transaction model. That window is limited in terms of weeks. "I don't see this model shifting anytime soon.

Content is at the central part of any service and trying to create certain exclusivity as well as a certain module to both attract and retain the consumers. That is why so many different modules are now emerging."

While many continue banking on the might of the digital world, Cinema halls are least affected.

However, reports suggest that the broadcasting space is been facing challenges with the OTT players acquiring digital rights of movies even before theatrical release and the shrinking of the window between satellite TV and digital premieres.

"There is enough passion and love for movies, enough fondness for the cinema experience and there is enough content to be enjoyed on the giant screens," said Alok Tandon, CEO, INOX Leisure. "...if the industry's performance in FY19 is anything to go by, this situation is only getting better, with best ever revenues, footfalls, rollouts and introduction of new technologies."

Multiplex executives feel entertainment will not just co-exist but flourish in the country. Kamal Gianchandni, CEO, PVR Pictures, said that cinema as a platform has existed for many years and has competed with many forms - VHS, DTH, PPV, VCD etc and survived.

"Last financial year was the best in the last 10 years for PVR on all metrics, be it occupancy, footfalls, revenue or operating profits.

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The OTT players were fairly aggressive on marketing and in spite of that cinema chains had a fabulous year. It clearly shows that cinemas and streaming platforms are not just co-existing but prospering," Kamal Gianchandnai said.

Shariq Patel, CEO of ZEE Studios, echoed the sentiment by adding that he doesn't see multiplexes or cinema chains going out of business. "If that had to happen, it would have happened a long time back with the advent of VCR. We have been hearing about death of cinemas ever since home entertainment started."

OTT & Jio Pose a Threat to DTH Players Reliance Jio Home Broadband launch will pose a serious threat to existing DTH providers like Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV, Dish TV, Sun Direct.

Reliance has already acquired national cable channel players like Hathway and Den Networks. Plus their plans of giving HD or 4K LED smart television along with a 4K settop box for free as part of a welcome offer will have major repercussions.

With the entry of OTT players like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar in the last two years, the growth of direct-to-home (DTH) TV active subscribers has slowed down considerably as the former, apart from bringing more of international content, also packs it with the latest domestic content faster than the latter. This, coupled with the consumer getting more data at lesser price, courtesy the cut-throat competition among the telecom operators since the coming of Reliance Jio last year in September,

has added to the growth of video OTTs via-a-vis DTH. For perspective, according to the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), average active subscriber base of DTH services has seen a sharp decline of 25 percent in this quarter coming down to 54.26 million in April to June quarter in comparison to 72.44 million in January to March this year.

The BIG SCREEN Experience is Unmatched Cinema will continue to thrive and flourish in India as it has been the only form of entertainment and at a cheap cost, much before the advent of TV in India. The 'BIG SCREEN' experience cannot be matched by OTT and at home. India is a highly entertainment crazy country and there are two obsessions in this country, one is cricket and the other is movies. So in a nutshell all mediums of entertainment distribution like OTT, DTH and Cinema Theatres will all co-exist.

There will be challenges but that's part of the technology trend which constantly keeps changing.

Multiplexes will have to introduce new consumer offerings and enhance their customer experience to counter the OTT challenge ad multiplex chains will have to start offering lower ticket costs and boost the audience experience as they penetrate further in smaller markets.

Big and spectacular movies big on special effects will drive people to theatres, while other genres will continue to find a theatrical and OTT medium for release. So as Shahrukh Khan said in ‘Om Shanti Om’ "Picture Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Dost"

• INDIA PLEXING •

Aruna Theatre:

Upholding the Legacy This profound single screen property was built during 1984 with all amenities that prevailed during that era.

This town had not been a releasing centre until Digital Cinema came in to existence. The auditorium was built of fully framed structure with Mosaic Flooring; proper acoustics and Ground level, Mezzanine and a VIP Lounge back then itself and is now fully renovated and functional with a wholesome fresh new look for its patrons.

Devakottai is a first-grade municipality in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located in the Sivaganga district, the town is situated close to the city of Karaikudi, near Rameswaram National Highway Road. It is one of the major cities under the Chettinad area with rich heritage of houses built with limestone called "Karai Veedu". It is the second largest city in the district after Karaikudi. This Region is one among the villages in the Chettinad belt. The town is famous for its

ancient temple Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple also known as Nagara Sivan Kovil. Located at Devakottai has a population of 70,000, a tier 2 town 16kms away from Karaikudi. And one such beauty amidst the town is Aruna Theatre.

This profound property was built during 1984 with all amenities that prevailed during that era. This town had not been a releasing centre until Digital Cinema came in to existence.

The Auditorium was built of Fully Framed Structure with Mosaic Flooring, Proper Acoustics and the auditorium has Ground level, Mezzanine and a VIP Lounge.

After Installation of Digital Cinemas in the town, Devakottai was bound to start receiving the movies releasing on the same day of the actual release date. Irrespective of the up-gradation the town had, the people still wished to watch movies inair-conditioned halls with improved audio and video systems.

They travelled all the way to Karaikudi and Ramanathapuram from places like Mangalam, Thiruvadanai and Thondi just to watch a movie with all the amenities.

Taking keen note of these constraints, Aruna Theatre initiated great efforts to provide top notch facilities for its very own cinema hall.

The theatre owned by Shri. Ramaswamy, a well renowned MLA of the town, approached Senthil Kumar a man of great expertise in the field of cinema exhibition, Annamalai, a recognised

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• INDIA PLEXING • estate promoter and Ramanathan who owns a few cinema halls fimself in the region to help establish this property.

The Core Team: The project is designed by Archidart Architects, Madurai specialized in the designing of cinemas. A team of three young architects Nagalaxman. N, Principle Architect; Parvathy, Senior Architect and Vignesh, Senior Design Head of firm have worked their way throughthe entire project.

Elevation: A Simple ACP work that adds spice to the existing massive structure, with Acrylic Signage work, Fixed Glasses with UPVC Frames and Box office with acrylic sign boards.

Lobby: Front lobby with wooden wall paneling and gypsum false ceiling gives an ambient look which includes cafeteria where guests can pamper their taste buds with some quality and tasty food at affordable prices. The spacious cafeteria has anelectronic screen display of the food choices. Special combos and offers are always there to bring out the foodie in you. The lobbies have LED screens which are used for Advt branding and to show upcoming movies and now showing movie updates.

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Auditorium: The Aruna theatre has large spacious 550 seats of capacity with different class ground floor, Mezzanine floor and VIP Lounge.

Challenges that went to make this cinema: Around 7 months were taken to complete the renovation process and the auditorium had some problem in the viewing angle and we have changed seating and screen position to tackle those problem and now it gives great feel without any hindrance for watching the movie.

The cinema is equipped with Dx Ductable Air Conditioners of Daikin, Installed by CEE GEE Electronics, Madurai. We have properly done PUF panel insulation for ducts and machine ensuring ambient

temperature in the auditorium even after years. With regards to sound, the theatres are equipped with Dolby digital soundsystem, installed by Shree Kumar and equipments purchased from GM Audio Techniques. Fully array speakers, sub-woofers, QSC amplifiers, Dolby processors, Ashly crossovers and much more make it a delightful filmviewing experience. 2K projectors

by Christie were installed; Galalite silver screen wasinstalled for 3D movies. All DBs and MCBs are being done with world class products like Legrand, RR Cable provided by Supreme Electro controls Madurai.

All Cafeteria equipments and display shelves are made of Stainless steel with warmers and coolers done by Guna Kitchen Equipments, Madurai.

• INDIA PLEXING •

Miraj Cinemas:

Presenting The All New Chef Corner!!!

With a vision to provide larger-than-life film watching experience, Miraj Cinemas has consistently satiated the hunger of movie connoisseurs by unfolding films on the silver screen in a world class environment across the country, revolutionising the multiplex experience.

All with its grandeur and affordability, Miraj has become a truly national multiplex chain, where the cine-goers will enjoy the best of luxuries, warmth, care and mouthwatering food at an affordable price.

Besides having Pop Corner in its theatres, Miraj Cinemas latest addition is 'Chef Corner'- A fresh kitchen counter for foodies those who loves wide variety of gourmet food while watching movies. The Chef Corner is an in-house kitchen operated by Miraj with a vision to give fresh food to movie goers across Miraj theatres. Chef Corner's delicious menu includes cold sandwich to burger and from hot dogs to savouries, exotic nachos, mocktail and many more.

Started in Rajasthan, Miraj Cinemas forayed into the entertainment sector when its competitors were either in the premium category or in the single theatre business. Tapping into the psyche of the price conscious Indian customer, it is known for its opulent ambience that caters to both the masses and the classes. Moreover, the technology adoption has also contributed to the overall quality of our properties and hence patrons find a repeat value.

Miraj has always kept value addition to its services at top priority.

For example, the adoption of newage technologies like Dolby Atmos sound system and Barco laser projectors along with recliner seating arrangements that provides ample

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space and holistic movie-watching experience of its patrons. Recently, the group has launched Miraj Maximum, Premium Large Format (PLF) theatre from Miraj. The 86-ft. wide screen at Gurugram turned the movie hall with the largest screen size in Delhi NCR region besides it has also launched similar large format theatres in Chandrapur, Maharashtra & in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and more such format multiplexes coming soon.

The expansion strategy for Miraj Cinemas is two pronged in terms of the nature of the property and the geographical location. The company enters modern retail spaces and simultaneously converts single screens into multiplexes. Miraj Cinemas fast tracked its growth

trajectory not only in Tier I cities and metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, but also in smaller centres like Chandrapur and Akola in Maharashtra, Sonipat in Haryana and Nathdwara in Rajasthan.

At present, Miraj Cinemas is positioned as one of the market disruptors with 121 screens at 44 multiplexes in 33 cities of 13 states across the country. After touching 100 screen mark, it aims to touch the 200-screen milestone by 2020.

The company plans to add 20 more screens at Hyderabad and Balanagar in Telangana, Raichur in Karnataka, New Town in West Bengal, Panvel and Dombivali in Maharashtra and Madurai in Tamil Nadu before this year ends.

• S P E C I A L F E AT U R E •

V-EPIQ SULLURPETA:

SOUTH ASIA’S LARGEST SCREEN For residents of Sullurpeta, a small town in southern Andhra Pradesh, as the closest town to India’s rocket launch pad, the rocket launch might not be the only exciting thing happening in Sullurpeta any longer. The reason being this town, 80 km North of Chennai is now home to the EPIQ, first-of-its-kind Premium Large Format (PLF) screen.

V-EPIQ by V Celluloid in technical partnership with Qube Cinema Technologies is the big new baby of the cinema exhibition industry and surely does justice to its name by sporting a 100 x 54 feet flat-screen claimed to be the largest in South Asia. Facilitating these gigantic big-screen experiences is another proven way to keep the audiences flocking back towards cinema halls. Without much further ado, Raghavendra T, Editor/Publisher of TheatreWorld gets into a candid conversation with Naveen Kumar Eada, Senior Vice President, V Celluloid and K. M. Suryanarayanan (a) Sury, Head - Technical Design & Services of Qube Design, a div. of Cinema Technologies Pvt. Ltd to explore more into this mega screen project.

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Congratulations on having launched South Asia’s largest screen here in India! How does it feel to have achieved this title?

Naveen: This was a very ambitious project for V Celluloid indeed!

Initially when we and Qube had come together to set the plans, we certainly came with a vision. Once it was on the papers and a thumbs up was given, we had nothing coming in-between to have us achieve our goal. The output that we see today is the result of the dedication and determination of each and every one from the entire team.

Sury: It was certainly very exciting and fulfilling to be the core designer of this prestigious project; V-EPIQ that is South Asia’s largest screen.

I thank V Celluloid and Qube Cinema Technologies for this opportunity and support to set the EPIQ (PLF) screen up on such grand scale.

How did Sullurpet turn out to be the choice of place out of the whole of India?

Naveen: Initially, there were few choices and most of them had constraints on the amount of land required and the economics of the same and the demographics of the place. Post shortlisting out of the many on the list, Sullurpeta was felt to be the best choice made considering it being very close to or all the more on the border of two states; Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for which served us an added advantage as we could play movies in multiple languages.

Elaborate on the time frame that went into getting this ultra-mega project into work mode.

Sury: At Qube Cinema we have been incubating and fine-tuning the EPIQ format for more than six years. It was our Premium Large Format (PLF) offering for the cost-sensitive Indian cinema market, which included the video & audio specs, design & seating layout, screen size & aspect ratio (Flat or 1:1.89) and finally and most importantly, our ability to re-master December 2019 - February 2020

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• S P E C I A L F E AT U R E • the content to make it just right for this format. When we were ready to launch, we found V-Celluloid to be all the more passionate and enthusiastic about this project as well. They were not only keen on the project but had also found the right space for the project that was planned in accordance with such an ambitious and grand scale.

Tell us about the ornate architecture and the luxurious designing of the cinema Sury: For EPIQ, we had the luxury of space, so considering the size of the screen we designed the space around it to complement its scale. Since V-Celluloid is committed to bringing the premium cinema experience to smaller towns, we ensured that every aspect of the design and execution reflected quality and grandeur.

In line with this thought, we ensured outstanding projection through BARCO’s Flagship True RGB Laser projection technology, the high gain SPECTRO screen and the theatre interiors that were thoughtfully designed to support the best visual impact.

We didn’t want any design elements inside the screen to distract the audience while watching the movie, so we chose to have a complete grey shell internally. All the breath-taking designs and glittering grandeur was incorporated into the lobby spaces.

With regards to the sound, we wanted a format that would complement the large-scale picture experience and completely immerse

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WORLD'S TOP 5 LARGEST SCREENS Name & Location 1

Panasonic IMAX Theatre

Screen Size (wxh) Feet Metre 117 x 97

35.7 x 29.5

113.5 x 87.9

34.6 x 26.8

Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia 2

SUZHOU PINGJIANG WANDA & IMAX Jiangsu, China

3

IMAX Melbourne Museum Melbourne, Australia

105 x 75

32 x 23

4

V-EPIQ Andhra Pradesh, India

100 x 54

30.4 x 16.4

5

CGV's Starium Theatre

103 x 42.7

31.4 x 13

Seoul, South Korea

“As the home of the largest screen in South Asia, right here in Sullurpet, we are proud to be at the forefront of revolutionizing how India experiences cinema beyond the big cities. V-EPIQ will take our mission forward, bringing an extraordinary ambience and superior technological quality to more audiences than ever before” - Vamsi Krishna, Owner, V Celluloid and Acclaimed Film Producer

• SPECIAL FEATURE •

Jayendra P and Senthil Kumar, Co-founders, QUBE Cinema

The Dynamic Team Behind V-EPIQ

the audience in the movie. Hence Dolby Atmos was our choice for the Epiq auditorium with its 54-channel configuration. To configure and design a perfect sounding theatre, we chose the speakers and amps with utmost care to compliment the acoustics. Seating design is an important aspect of the perfect immersive EPIQ experience. All the seats were positioned in such a way that it was comfortable to watch the movie, irrespective of the seating location.

Naveen: Initially, the planning for the auditoriums was very important; Sury sir had ensured that every detail would be taken into account. With concerns to the acoustics, each and every sound coming from outside had to be blocked. Therefore, we did additional acoustic isolation so that the customers won’t have any disturbance while watching the movie. While the primary design was done by Sury, Baskar Architects did the final design drawings for statutory bodies & to execute the project. The structural design was done by Srinivasalu / Padmanab and the execution & project management was done by Sai Prasad Reddy, Jayam Consultants Chennai. A lot of attention was given to the structure as this location is prone to heavy wind and rain. The interiors for the lobby and exteriors of the building were put into place by Ravinderan Reddy who is an Art Director in the Telugu Film Industry. The lobby was designed with a unique concept planned to keep the elements of Sky, Water, and Earth.

“Qube EPIQ is driven by a passion to show movie buffs what the perfect movie experience can be and every aspect of the auditorium, the acoustics, the projection and the sound is designed and calibrated to achieve this ideal so that the audience can truly experience the movie rather than just watch it. V Celluloids shares this passion and spared no effort in achieving it, thus creating this magnificent V-EPIQ screen” - Senthil Kumar, Co-founder, Qube Cinema We wanted to make sure that every customer who walks in, would feel at home and they can carry this back. If you see the number of selfies being taken, we can say that we have achieved what we wanted to.

Speaking of the acoustics, you’ve got the highway on 1 side and the railway track on the other. How did you manage to overcome as

this would have been extremely challenging?

Sury: It was quite an interesting challenge to design the acoustics for this standalone large space. As you mentioned, the noise from the train track and highway had a significant impact on the design and materials chosen for the screen. On one side of the building when we measured the

December 2019 - February 2020

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• S P E C I A L F E AT U R E •

TheatreWorld visits V-EPIQ (Left-Right): Shireen Mariam - Deputy Editor, TheatreWorld; K. M. Suryanarayanan, Head - Technical Design & Services of Qube Design; Naveen Kumar Eada, Senior Vice President, V Celluloid and Raghav, Editor-Publisher of TheatreWorld

decibels of the train whistle, it was close to 103-110 dB. On the other side of the building is the main highway with a constant thunder of passing heavy vehicles and added to this is the noise and chaos of a major intersection nearly. So, our main challenge was to ensure that none of these sounds disturbed the movie experience.

We needed at least an NC35 to NC40 inside the screen which means that there needed to be a sound reduction of about 55 to 65 dB from outside to inside. Hence the measurement of STC was calculated and we chose acoustic isolation materials accordingly. Additionally,

for the auditorium of that size, we had to be especially sensitive about the internal acoustic treatment as reverb needs to be addressed to ensure that there is no dialogue or sound echoed. This was measured and corrected right through the design and execution phases, till the final calibration.

Naveen: Being this all-steel structure, it took us quite a lot of time to put up in the midst of the weather we had during the core structure work. The interior and exterior scaffolding took away quite a lot of time, approx. 25 days to setup scaffolding to a height of 60 ft. so had to take the utmost safety

measures being a windy place. It is completely hard to even believe a total 500 kilos of speakers being lifted to 60 ft. height, the screen came all the way from South Korea as we couldn’t procure it from India since there wasnt any manufacturing facility of the screen to this size available here. Around 40 people had to come work with the Spectro’s South Korean technicians to help out untie the large screen and to fix it on the frame. It took about nearly 12 hours to set the screen and tie it up on the frame. And it was a massive experience to bring the screen itself; the screen came a lot earlier than expected. Therefore, we had to store the screen. It was a rolled-up screen that was 100 ft. long, and to see it to that it wouldn’t get affected, we had to constantly keep a close check on it for closely for about 8 months.

Elaborate on the induced features of the property that makes it stand out in the highly competitive cinema exhibition market today Sury: This is the largest screen in South Asia, which in itself is the USP of V-EPIQ. The sheer size and scale of the cinema experience whether it is picture or sound is simply breathtaking. The design of the screen has some interesting features, one being that every seat has an optimal viewing angle. Inside the theater, a lot of space at the back has been left empty. This space has the potential for another 100 seats but that has not been used because we wanted every last person to enjoy the best with stunning visual and sound experience.

Talking about the screen, would you like to add on aspects with regards to its size, and its making?

Sury: Considering the size of the screen it needed special design and careful implementation at every stage from fabricating the frame to installing the screen. The screen frame of this size had to have an

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• S P E C I A L F E AT U R E • isolated metal structure from the ground up and utmost care had to be taken to the finish of the frame before rigging the screen.

The process was very critical because one tiny speck on the screen was enough to damage the whole viewing experience. The challenge was to find a manufacturer who could make a screen of this size with the required gain specification.

After a long search, Spectro from South Korea was shortlisted based on their quality and experience manufacturing giant screens. We decided that the large screen would be a 2D screen with the best picture quality and we have done it. People come here just to watch a movie from over a 100 km radius, from as far as Chennai, Nellore, Tirupati, and Kalahasti.

Any expansion plans of having many more such screens?

Sury: Definitely Yes! V Celluloid itself is interested in having many more such screens to get more audience to the cinema theatres. We undoubtedly have to outdo what already exists.

The occupancy rate at this property is a testimony to the fact that people love to come to watch their favourite movies on this grand screen and in this beautiful ambiance.

Naveen: Yes in our future projects in strategic locations we are certainly

"When audiences go to the cinema, they prefer a premium entertainment experience, which includes seeing the best image on screen. Today, the mark of visual excellence is powered by Laser projection. The industry continues to grow in terms of the number of screens and moviegoer attendance, and we know it is - in part - fueled by Laser and the benefits it offers. We are proud to offer the industry's biggest and highest-performing portfolio of Barco laser projectors and work with V-EPIQ Cinemas and other leading exhibitors from around the world to drive the next generation of the moviegoing experience."

- Wim Buyens, CEO, Cinionic

looking into PLFs. We are currently a 50 screen entity. Our goal is to reach 100 screens by 2021. Now we are stretching out to Telangana.

We are already coming up in Chennai. We also do have functional plans to slowly expand into metro cities as well.

There is a unique aspect mentioned earlier about the F&B segment. Tell us more on the same.

Naveen: As we started to increase the number of screens, we felt the quality of the food being served at some cinemas weren’t up to the standards expected. Hence, we decided to have our own kitchen

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• SPECIAL FEATURE • firstly. I also was asked, “Constructing the screens in Sullurpeta? do you think people will spend that much money to travel?” A lot of people asked why we didn’t find a space in or close to the city and why Sullurpeta? The hype was crazy, people used to curse us at first, that we were crazy to spend money in a place like Sullurpeta.

wherein we could prepare the dishes in-house and cater the same to all our branches. This way we can maintain the quality of the food and also we’ll be able to change the menu frequently. Samosas, rolls, egg puffs, pizzas, kati rolls, bubble teas, and many other such creative and fun-filled delicacies and not to forget the popcorn and the colas. We are very conscious about the taste and quality of these served for surprisingly reasonable rates.

The launch of the cinema was no less than a celebration. Elaborate more on the same and on how the response has been ever since.

Naveen: We started off with ‘Saaho’ and having this movie from our own production, we had a few celebrities and politicians who came down and even before we started there has been a big craze to this cinema opening and people were waiting for it to start. People poured into the property in buses and trucks. We had quite a tough time to manage the crowd as there were too many people.

650 seats have all been sold out.

We have had a few incidents when people who had bought tickets for the small screen and come into the big screen just to see it, post that they wanted to stay on to watch the movie in it even if it meant sitting on the side steps to watch it (laughs).

On one hand, it was a tough situation to handle and on the other, we experienced the happiness of winning a million hearts.

How has the occupancy growth been?

Naveen: Till date, we’ve been doing close to 72% occupancy on weekends and we’re doing good SPH, so people are not reluctant to spend on the experience. Many asked when we said V Celluloid is coming up with the largest screen in such a place and they surely couldn’t understand where this place was

We had 1 year of tedious work on drawing boards and spread sheets, how much returns could be made and one year we contemplated the whole thing after seeing the details we started off and though there was a bit of delay in the project, we were bang on target for ‘Saaho’ movie.

Even 2 days before the scheduled launch of this movie, we were unsure if we could make it. With faith in V Celluloid’s and Qube Cinema promoters, we started off this project.

Now, this has put us on the world map.

An alternative media distribution network announcement is coming up with first-day first show plans.

Would that affect the industry?

What’s your say on this Naveen: It mainly depends on the content that they bring out on the first day. How the distribution will be affected by this; I’m not sure about it.

But experiencing a movie on a cell phone or TV at home or home theatre is way different from experiencing the same in larger cinemas.

Sury: I stood at the entrance of the V-EPIQ screen during the launch of the theatre, when the audiences streamed in to watch ‘Saaho’ and later during the release of ‘Sye Raa’ to gauge the audience’s reaction to this space. It suffices to say that they were certainly awestruck, and it took them some time to acclimatize to space. I have come back here every weekend since then to see that the December 2019 - February 2020

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• INDIA PLEXING •

Maxus Cinemas:

A Record in its Own Self

One of the fastest growing multiplexes and most loved by its audience in the bustling city of Bhayandar, Mumbai since 2008.The quickest to adapt new tech specs in the market for its patrons. The screens are now being renovated to the latest technology available in the cinema exhibition market with the world-class comfortable seating arrangement.

After achieving great success in the field of real estate atthe sub-urban Mumbai, Jagdish M. Mistry and Manharlal B. Mehta, the founders of the Maxus group were on a mission to expand their business to other sectors. Realising the greater probabilities of opportunities lying within the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities concerning a dearth for multiplexes; projects with regards to retail malls

and cinemas in 2008 were thus taking into consideration. With a clear vision to provide cost-effective premium entertainment to people, the partners introduced Maxus Cinemas: the most talked-about venture in two locations Bhayandar in Mumbai and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

Maxus cinemas is certainly the most loved & the fastest growing

multiplexes in India since 2008 and the quickest to adapt to new technologies for its patrons. The royal lounge was introduced back in 2014 at Maxus Bhavnagar with a seating capacity of 100+ seats with all of them being recliners holding the record of the highest number ever to be made in the western belt of India.

A Vision Foreseen Maxus Cinemas plans to be a big player in the multiplex business segment with over high-tech and luxurious yet affordable 100+ screens in the metropolitan and Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities across India by 2021.

Thus the aim has ever since been to emerge as India's leading multiplex operator in all the metropolitan cities in the country.

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• INDIA PLEXING • Along with the cinemas and keeping in mind the tougher competition this industry comes with, we are also working towards providing wholesome family entertainment zones with our own chain of food courts and recreational facilities.

Maxus intends to create a niche for itself in the segment by capitalising not only on a large number of regional movies releasing in the country but also on the shortage of quality movie screens in the latter belts. Recently, Maxus has earmarked Gujarat in Northern India for a bigger expansion programme and setting up world-class family entertainment retail centers in the state. The market sentiment in various cities and towns of Gujarat is promising and as a part of thecurrent expansion plans, Maxus lays focus on swift penetration and expansion in profound states further.

The Gold Class seating option is introduced with world-class recliners

in the Mumbai suburbs of Bhayandar making it one of the rarest multiplex to achieve the feat in time considering the very limited optionsof luxurious yet affordable multiplexes in the area. Today all the screens at Maxus Cinemas Bhayandar are being renovated to the latest technology available in the cinema exhibition market starting with

Dolby Digital Sound in Audi 1 with the world-class comfortable seating arrangement.

The Audience Report The multiplex has always been appreciated with responses of the property having one of the greatest viewing experiences with world-class

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• INDIA PLEXING • sound and visual technology with the utmost comfort in its opulent ambiance. The combination of large screen size, sound quality, luxury, gourmet food & wide range of seats to choose from, including the recliners, sofas, premium plus, premium & loungers has always attracted the cosmopolitan crowd of Mumbai suburban. Our audience has always been a mixture of teens, couples, families, kids and we are proud that we are able to match every age group to have them always enjoying the Maxus experience.

Rising Stars of Maxus Group: The Directors The new generation of leaders with modern visions is pushing their limits in all sectors. The young, passionate and dynamic directors with renewed focus, key transforming strategies and core principles of value creation for the customer have taken the business a notch higher. They are leading the next phase of growth and writing new stories of success for the group.

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"At Galalite our aim is to take the innovative cinema screen experience to every part of the world, opening new avenues for us. Maxus Cinema has been a part of our journey for a long time now. Over the years we have maintained a strong relationship and we continue to do so by providing quality cinema experience. Mirage 2.7 screens are innovative and new-age technology cinema screens widely known and presented at almost every cinema expo in India and worldwide. Mirage 2.7 ensures better uniformity, and enhanced contrast and colour in both, 2D and polarized 3D applications. It is also whiter than any other silver screen in the market, and offers wider viewing angles for a superb cinema experience."

- Yusuf Galabhaiwala, Director of Operations, Galalite Screens

• INDIA PLEXING •

RemPham'Ly Cinema:

First Premium Cinema in Mizoram Equipped with Christie's 3rd Generation 2K Projector - CP 2308 and Dolby's IMS 3000, the theatre is spacious and currently houses 52 seats. To serve an add-on, the cinema that is located in the foothills of Mizoram gives a spectacular hill view lounge for its patrons to relax about that simply stand out from its competitors in the market.

Mizoram, a state with the most serene hills situated in the North Eastern India, it shares its borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar on each side and neighbours with states of Manipur and Tripura. The population is around 11 lakhs under which nearly 3 lakh residents live in Aizawl, its capital.

Cinemas had already been set up in Aizawl dating back to around the 1950s, and later on, places exterior to the city started developing cinemas.

However, around in the late 90's, the implying of Cable TV, VCD library and other media entertainment became popular slowly turning cinemas to be non-existent and

the theatre halls left barren.

Lack of audience, content, the right technology and the growth experience led to the shutters brought down for these cinemas all across Mizoram. As time passed by, RemPham'Ly acknowledged the needs of the younger generations and began to make a move in every

conceivable way around 2010.

By 2012, 5D theatre and Blu-ray 3D cinema had been established and upgraded occasionally ever since then, knowing that RemPham'Ly would face budgetary problems but still forged its way through the financial hardships. Meanwhile, the urge for watching a movie on the premiere date among younger generations grew more and more.

RemPham'Ly had to learn a lot about the industry as digital cinemas are not the same to those of the 5D Theatres or BluRay 3D parlours. Rempuia Ralte, the man behind this initiative started interacting with different solution providers of the Industry to understand what they had to offer on the concept for cinema he had in mind. He was invited to the first edition of Big Cine Expo in the year 2016 by Allied Enterprises that took place in Chennai. Wherein, he got to learn about the right kind of technology that had to be implemented in his cinema. He also got the opportunity to interact with the vendors, manufacturers and

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• INDIA PLEXING •

“RemPham'Ly Cinema has been a unique and a special project for our team. Rempuia has been connected with us since 2016. At that time his cinema was in planning stage but we got involved in the project when he needed the Audio Video solution for the theatre. This project wasn't easy to implement for the obvious reason that it is the first Digital Cinema of Mizoram, the design wasn't conventional and we had to work with the existing equipments and environment.

First concern was that he had partially selected and installed the equipment as per his knowledge.

He had already purchased small home theatre speakers and subwoofers in the ATMOS configuration to comply with the volume of the room, Denon AVR to support the configuration and handle the amplification and IMS 3000. To make the selection work we had to help him and make Denon AVR work with IMS 3000 without changing the selection of the equipment. This concern was discussed with all major convertors and processor manufacturers of the world but we could find a very basic solution in New Zealand and sourced the converter to act as an interface between IMS 3000 and Denon AVR.

The second concern was the placement of Christie CP2308 inside the auditorium and giving the right environment for the trouble free functioning of it.

Allied's design team helped Rempuia to make some changes in the seating and help hang the projection inside the room without changing the number of seats and hence to get the right experience from each seat in the cinema.

Rempuia has been very co-operative throughout and helped us in each and every step of the process. RemPham'Ly has been his dream project for him and his family. He wanted to make this cinema for the people of his city and wanted them to have the best of the experiences of movies without compromising in the quality. Rempuia had gone through some of the most challenging times to make his dream come true. Seeing the cinema do real well today in the city makes us feel very proud to be a part of this project. One must visit Aiwzawl to see how differently RemPham'Ly Cinema is made with an out of the box idea.”

– Samarth Gandhi, President, Allied Enterprises

solution providers catering to the different areas of Cinema Exhibition.

Using this knowledge shared and gathered post interacting with various vendors at the event, Rempuia began to draft a sketch of how he wanted his cinema to be before he could further execute it into reality. Considering the hardships on the monetary funds required before approaching the designers and architects for his dream project, he thus set out to begin the designing and the layout all by himself with the help of his team and

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Advertisement and Café Ideas thereafter respectively. Having received the required loans from the bank, in 2018, with the help of Mandeep and Harish Gandhi, Managing Partner, Allied Enterprises, the foundation for the project had begun.

In July 2019, Mizoram finally acquired a finer entertainment world. A cinema theatre that every generation in the locality had hoped for, that seemed to have existed only in the metropolitan cities, is now been officially recognised in Mizoram by RemPham'Ly Cinema.

The Salvation Army Territorial Commander Commr. Lalzamlova cut the ribbon on the day of the inaugural ceremony of the 'First Digital Theatre of Mizoram', hosted

by Major Chawnghluna.

The theatre is spacious and currently houses 52 seats. All seats have an individual hand/arm rest, and the seats can be adjusted according to viewer's choice too. Couple seats are all powered recliner seats. Viewers can push the button below the lamp to request any assistance from the hostess.The cinema equipment is more advanced than most cinema theatres. It is acclaimed to have the mostpremium class style, arranged and designed accordingly to the state. The cinema features: •

3rd Generation of Christie 2K Projector - CP2308

family. A very basic idea of a waiting lounge made out of Mizoram Bamboo to showcase their roots and culture. The lounge faces the city towards the hills only to give away an amazing view to its patrons that boastfully would certainly not be achieved by any projects in those of the metropolitan cities.

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High Gain silver screen

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2D and 3D option

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Dolby's IMS 3000

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Denon AVR

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Arvus' convertor

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Luxury reclining seats

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Button to call Staff to order food and drinks

The team from Allied Enterprises and Mandeep helped their way out when there were sceptical decisions and planning to be made on AV design alongside on how the content could be procured and for the Content,

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Plush Wash Rooms

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Hill view lounge

Showtimes are arranged so that they're accessible for the majority of the people.

• INDIA PLEXING •

UGM Cinemas:

First Multiplex in Ettumanoor

The town is now beaming with delight with its all new cinema right at its centre with the highlight of the structure being that of steel fabrication which has never really been common in the state so far. The property consists of 3 main auditoriums with a seating capacity of 268, 171, and 168 accordingly, amplified with JBL speakers, Galalite screen and Dolby 750 processor.

Kottayam, one of the most prominent cities in the state of Kerala often also referred to as the city of Letters, Lakes and Latex. Within this lies the town of Akshayanagari which was recognised as the first 100% literate one in India and houses more than a dozen publishing houses and newspaper companies. Hailed as the administrative capital of Kerala, its unique characteristics make it the most sought after travel destination whilst in the state. A few major neighbouring key places with equal relevance takes us to Ettumanoor,

the place famous for its Shiva temple, the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Kshetram, widely recognised for the 'Ezhara Ponnana' festival.

Hardly 15 kms away from Kottayam, Ettumanoor never had a releasing centre for cinemas and the audience had to travel to Kottayam or Thalayolaparambu. This was until UGM, one of the major production companies in Kerala declared about them setting foot into the field of cinema exhibition. The managing partners Margareta George, Dr. Zachariah Thomas, and Alwin Antony declared the opening of their first major releasing theatre for movies in Ettumanoor. The project kicked off by November 2018 and

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• INDIA PLEXING • barring the unexpected heavy rains and consequent flood situation that created chaotic conditions in the state at that time, a hassle free completion of the project was done.

The highlight of the structure is its usage of steel fabrication which has never really been common in the state as far as construction of cinemas go.

The building has 3 main auditoriums with a capacity of 268, 171, and 168 respectively. The entry to each is managed with Q-manager set on a podium. Instead of the conventional ticket tearing, sophisticated scanners are being used. Audi 1 has a BARCO 4K Projection and Dolby Atmos Sound. Crown Amplifiers with JBL speakers. Galalite Screen 2.7 gain are provided by Joji of Sanjos with screen size 40"x20". Audi 2 and 3 has NEC 1000 2K projector with 2.4 gain Galalite screen and Dolby 750 processor. Crown Amplifiers used with JBL speakers.

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• INDIA PLEXING • Adding to the blend of these qualities is the lobby and concessionaire at the centre where an open forum method is adopted.

Tickets can be availed from the eatery and also a dedicated box office team in front of the theatre as well as the lobby. This has excited a popular response among the cinema going population of the city in addition to the screening of all major language movies on their release dates.

UGM cinemas is expected to do well in the coming days with its captivating ambience and excellent movie watching experience as opposed to any other in Ettumanoor.

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• TECHNICAL •

Cinépolis:

Helming Forward with Strength Extending a contemporary approach which seamlessly weaves the entire range of cherry-picked cinema formats from across the world under one roof offering an unmatched experience to all movie patrons, the brand is all set to get rolling with its new launch at the DSL Virtue Mall in the IT Hub of East Hyderabad.

Cinépolis, India's 1st international and the world's 2nd largest movie theatre circuit in terms of attendees launches a new cinema at the recently opened DSL Virtue Mall in the IT Hub of East Hyderabad. This new 6 screen theatre has been designed with an endeavour to offer best-in-cinema experience through state-of-the-art technology.

With the opening of Cinépolis DSL Virtue, the brand's total screen-count now stands at 383 screens with 94 cinemas across India. The brand aims to offer a differentiated and exceptional cinema viewing experience to its patrons in and across Hyderabad through the cinema.

The theatre will offer innovative technology such as (RealD 3D, all digital projection and our famous rocker seating) to enrich the theatre viewing experience like never-before.

The flagship F&B offering from Cinépolis - Coffee Tree, offering gourmet food will also be the added experience for patrons to enjoy the whole movie-watching experience.

Speaking on the occasion, Javier Sotomayor, Managing Director, Cinépolis Asia & Middle East said, "We are delighted to launch yet another cinema in the beautiful city of Hyderabad. This is our fifth outlet

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in the city and it reinforces our proposition of offering good-quality entertainment at accessible locations.

This launch is in line with our mission to expand our offerings and strengthen our presence across India.

"Speaking on the occasion, Devang Sampat, Director - Strategic Initiatives, Cinépolis India said "With the launch of Cinépolis DSL Virtue, we continue to bring cuttingedge entertainment technology combined with a perfect blend of integrated sound systems is sure to ensure an immersive cinematic experience. Making the movie experience complete, our consumers can also enjoy gourmet offerings from our exclusive F&B offering Coffee Tree."

Manoj Agarwal, Managing Director, DSL Virtue Mall said, "We are excited to have a global and iconic cinema chain open a megaplex in at the DSL Virtue Mall, Hyderabad. Located at one of the most prime locations, we aspire to bring the best and most premium brands to our consumers here. We look forward to the new entertainment experience along with the F&B highlight of Coffee Tree that will be offered to our customers here."

Cinépolis extends a contemporary approach which seamlessly weaves the entire range of cherry-picked cinema formats from across the world under one roof offering an unmatched experience to all movie patrons. The brand also offers a continuous customer engagement program through 'Club Cinépolis Program' that allows the patron to earn and burn points on movie tickets and F&B, and has exclusive benefits of special screenings, meet and greet with stars and much more.

Adding to the endeavor to uplift the in-theatre experience, the flagship F&B brand from Cinépolis, Coffee Tree offers a gourmet menu of delectable food and beverages offering a plethora of cuisines from Italian to Mexican.

• TECHNICAL •

INOX Megaplex:

World's First Multiplex with Maximum Formats Mumbai City's largest multiplex is a 11-screen spectacle with 5 grand lobbies, spread over 60,000 Sq. ft. and 1586 seats and is the world's first ever multiplex to house 6 experiential cinema formats under one roof. INOX's biggest multiplex till date, 'Megaplex', is an architectural marvel, a remarkable food destination and an advertiser's delight offering abundant advertising opportunities with very high footfalls, 60 shows per day, ample LED displays and 5 lobbies INOX Leisure Ltd. (INOX), the fastest growing multiplex chain of the country, launched 'Megaplex', world's first multiplex with maximum number of movie viewing formats and experiences at Inorbit Mall Malad in Mumbai. The 11-screen spectacle built over 60,000 sq. ft. with a total seating capacity of 1586 seats, is Mumbai City's largest multiplex. Megaplex, with 6 experiential cinema formats, is easily the largest assortment of cinema experiences in the world, and has the capability to screen 60 shows and entertain an audience size of 6000 guests every day.

Inspired by its brand proposition of "LIVE the MOVIE", INOX has created this massive experience-driven entertainment destination, which potentially will become the most popular multiplex in the country in the times to come. Designed to deliver lifestyle experiences, the

Megaplex will stand as an epitome of 'Luxury', 'Service' & 'Technology', fulfilling the cinema needs of viewers of all age groups.

Across the 11 screens, the Megaplex offers an attractive mix of internationally acclaimed and INOX's homegrown formats.

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• TECHNICAL • •

IMAX: the most immersive movie experience in the world, with heart pounding audio, 40% larger image, a dual projection system, highest quality 3D and remarkably striking interiors.

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Samsung Onyx LED: World's first cinema LED technology, with 10 times brighter visuals and JBL's surround sound.

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Dolby ATMOS sound and Laser Projection in the mainstream auditoriums complete the cinematic offering.

Alok Tandon, CEO, INOX Leisure Ltd. and Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Group

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INSIGNIA: INOX's 7-star format offering the most luxurious movie viewing experience with leather recliners, butler on call, laser projection and an exceptional dining catalogue, serviced by a LIVE kitchen.

Kiddles: A format specially curated for the little guests, Kiddles has bright & vibrant seats and interiors, along with a lobby, where kids can even rejoice and celebrate.

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ScreenX: World's first multiprojection technology, offering a 270 degree panoramic viewing experience, with projection on three walls of the auditorium.

MX4D: The format which offers the most advanced immersive environment where viewers feel the action happening on screen from the 14 built-in motions and effects programmed in the seats and the theatre walls.

Megaplex will also be a go to destination for innovative F&B concepts and an elaborate gourmet selection. The menu possesses cuisines ranging from Indian, Lebanese, American, Oriental, Italian, Grill and Thai, besides a whole range of beverages, pop corns and nachos.

From in-cinema fine dining experience at INSIGNIA serviced by a Live kitchen, to the Onyx Diner,

INOX's First ScreenX Theatre Now in Bengal The fastest growing multiplex chain of the country, INOX Leisure Ltd (INOX), launched Bengal's first ScreenX theatre at its multiplex at Quest Mall, Kolkata. ScreenX technology offers a panoramic 270-degree movie watching experience to the audience.

ScreenX allows the audience to go beyond theme of the traditional movie screen, utilizing a proprietary system to expand select scenes of feature films to the left and right walls on each side.

ScreenX is the world's first multiprojection theatre technology designed to enhance the moviegoing experience.

The deployment of ScreenX technology would allow the movie scene to spread beyond the cinema screen on to the left and right walls of the cinema hall and offer a spectacular panoramic view. While offering a maximized

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immersive experience, the 2700 view would not only amplify the emotional aspect, but also enhance the entertainment value of the content. INOX had signed a deal with CJ 4DPLEX earlier this year to bring the first ScreenX to India and became the first multiplex operator in the country to introduce this technology when it launched India's first ScreenX Theatre in Inorbit Mall, Mumbai.

Prasenjit Chatterjee said "We have always spoken about technology enriching lives of consumers and there cannot be a better example than ScreenX. The kind of experience I just had is unbelievable as it just transported me into the visual and made me feel as if I was a part of the story. I would like to congratulate INOX for introducing such a marvelous technology, which will not only enhance the viewer experience, but make cinema viewing more and more gorgeous."

Amitava Guha Thakurta, Regional Director - East, INOX Leisure Ltd added "Ensuring a great viewing experience for our patrons has always been our foremost priority, which inspires us to continuously reinvent & innovate and bring the best technology for them. Further to this endeavour, we are proud to announce the launch of Bengal's first ScreenX, which will enable us to offer an unprecedented 270 degree cinema-viewing experience on three walls of the theatre. This new form of storytelling would deliver the narrative in a more convincing manner, leaving the audience breathless. This is a massive milestone in the glorious history of Indian cinemas and we are proud to be the ushers of this new technology."

• TECHNICAL •

India's first single serve buffet spread in a multiplex; the options are varied.

Another range of food offering comes from Café Unwind, which serves freshly brewed coffee, detox juices, burgers, sandwiches, ice cream and even waffles. While the F&B counter in the Kiddles lounge would delight with a kids-only menu, the counters operated by some handpicked food brands will complete the gourmet journey, which is highlighted by more than 12 cuisines and around 250 preparations to choose from.

As an architectural masterpiece in the cinema space, Megaplex lays a perfect example of encapsulating a remarkable design diversity while revolving around its festive and exuberant feel, which neatly stitches together, its 5 expansive lobbies.

The high street inspired interiors with ample open spaces will offer a delightful experience to the movie buffs as they walk up to their auditoriums. The biggest design

TheatreWorld and INOX team for a special screening at the INOX Megaplex

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• TECHNICAL • attraction stands in the form of a stunning installation made of golden colored gilded pipes. The structure oozes grandeur and adds an element of infinity to the destination.

With 11 screens, potentially casting 60 shows, and entertaining an audience size of 6000 guests every day, Megaplex will offer a huge opportunities for advertisers.

The abundant LED displays and the 5 expansive lobbies will allow the advertisers to run experiential campaigns integrated with on-screen advertising.

Speaking at the launch, Siddharth Jain, Director - INOX Group said, "Megaplex is a momentous leap, not only in the Indian cinema's rich landscape, but even in a global context. As the multiplex with the largest assortment of cinema formats in the world, Megaplex solidifies INOX's position as a force in the global cinema business.

With its strong touristic appeal, Megaplex will potentially become a must-visit destination in Mumbai for cinema lovers across the world. I also take this opportunity to thank all our technology partners for their

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contribution in this journey. I also congratulate my team, which has done an exceptional job of putting this marvel together."

Alok Tandon, Chief Executive Officer at Inox Leisure Ltd. said, "The launch of Megaplex at Mumbai is an extremely important and strategic business milestone for us as it paves the way for more such large format

experience drive entertainment destinations. The 11 screens will allow is to cast about 60 shows and entertain about 6000 guests in a day.

As a cornerstone of our 'experience' strategy, Megaplex would strengthen our bond with our patrons, while offering them grand and global formats, tantalizing dining options and above all, happy memories."

• BUSINESS TREND •

Mukta A2 Cinemas:

Bhilai's Ultimate Visual Experience

Critically acclaimed as one of the fastest growing cinema chains in India with its prime focus being on providing the audience a supreme quality cinema experience at affordable rates, the chain is growing its presence in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The new property, boasts 2 screens and a seating capacity of 459 people with the seats of the utmost comfort. With the movie lovers having showered their love and faith to this cinema chain, the brand sets no boundaries to render the moviegoing experience they promised.

Being one of the leaders and pioneers in the cinema business, Mukta A2 Cinemas is all set to unveil its new property in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. With this launch, the company will expand its network of Cinema houses to 32 locations and 68 screens that includes a 6-screen multiplex in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Owned by Mukta Arts Ltd., it is one of the fastest growing cinema chains in India. With the prime focus being on providing the audience a supreme quality cinema experience at affordable rates, the chain is growing its presence in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Mukta A2 Cinemas is known for taking over old cinemas and giving them a makeover by revamping the screens, adding modern features to the infrastructure hereby giving a modern and attractive look.

The honourable Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the Cabinet Minister Guru Rudra, Mukta A2 Cinemas Co-Founder Rajiv Malhotra, the owner of Babyloon Mall Lalit Jain and the Business Head of Mukta A2 Cinemas Sachidanand Shetty were

present at the launch of the cinema.

The new property, boasts 2 screens and a seating capacity of 459 people with the seats of the utmost comfort.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Puri, Managing Director, Mukta A2 Cinemas said, "We are really excited to expand our presence in Chhattisgarh with this launch.

It will help us reach out to a larger audience and serve them with more

movies and entertainment options.

At Mukta, we believe in providing the highest quality and all the ultramodern facilities to our customers, and this property will tick all those boxes perfectly well. Our aim is to make pocket friendly, high quality cinematic experience accessible to everyone through our cinemas."

Cinema lovers have shown a lot of faith and love to Mukta A2 Cinemas since the very beginning owing to its superior quality services and state of the art infrastructure across all locations at pocket friendly prices.

This makes it one of the most sought after cinema chains amongst audience. The new property at Bhilai will serve the viewers of the city to a similar experience.

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•BUSINESS TREND •

Recliners India:

A Humble Beginning Decoded!

Founded in 1996 with the vision of providing comfortable seating products to the great Indian Marketplace; A vision dreamt of at a very tender age, today is a brand that sells in over 24 countries across the globe. Donning the title of being the second highest globally installed base for Cinema Recliners, over 25 Design & Technology Patents and 250 points of sale across the planet, Recliners India has evolved as a brand which stands for - Style, Comfort, Quality & Innovation ever since.

Recliners India was founded in 1996 with the vision of providing comfortable seating products to the great Indian Marketplace - a country where sitting with your feet up is part of the Indian DNA. It all started with a dream the founders had when they were just 8-12 years young.

Since its humble beginnings 'Recliners India' is now a brand sold in 24 Countries across the Globe, has the second highest global installed base for Cinema Recliners, over 25 Design & Technology Patents, over 250 points of sale across the planet and growing. 'Recliners India'has evolved as a brand which stands for- Style, Comfort, Quality and Innovation.

Since the inception the Company has focused on providing customers with Seating Solutions - a solution customised for Cinema Operators-

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to meet differentiated market needs, adapted to consumer preferences in different parts of the world, developing and innovating designs and accessories which enhance consumer comfort, ergonomics, functional requirements and increase Cinema Operators margins and customer satisfaction. Our sourcing team travels around the globe for finding the best raw materials which

to improve product quality, reliability and ROI for the Cinema Operator.

As a market leader we will continue to innovate and create new industry benchmarks in luxury as well as value product categories.

We enjoy a strong brand position in the Indian Motion furniture industry with cumulative growth at over 25%.

Our strong business relations with

• BUSINESS TREND • our customers and their trust in us are our most valued assets - we have been winning trust of several customers for recurring business over 15 years.

INNOVATION - The Essence of Our Business We work with a futuristic approach with a focus on 3 things- how to increase our customers profitability or how to overcome our customer challenges or how to increase consumer comfort and functionality.

This has led to building an innovation centric Company.

'Recliners India' was the first to introduce the Double Swivel Table bringing F&B close to your stomach, the Back-lit Acrylic Cup Holder- to increase beverage consumption and reduce spillage, a range of customised switches, lamps and reading lights, capacitive touch panel, introduction of the head rest motor to improve ergonomics, call systems and call analytics with a focus on improving customer service for Cinema Operators etc. We have the world's largest offering of options and features.

Being the pioneers of motion furniture and luxury seating in India we continue to set new benchmarks in comfort, in ergonomics, in design, in technology and in our products.

Our wide range of options, each designed to serve specific needs, with looks that please one's appetite for aesthetics helps us offer high performance products. We proudly

claim to be a one stop solution for cinema seating.

Technology - The Future We strongly believe that technology must be integrated into the seating solutions in order to allow consumers to customise & control their seat for the 2-3 hour movie show and also for the Cinema Operators to reduce Operating Costs and Challenges.

Our biggest innovation has been "Reclinology" - the world's first Internet of Things (IoT) ready Cinema Seats. This technology-based solution was developed over 4 years and continues to be upgraded dynamically. Reclinology will revolutionise the Luxury Cinema Marketplace by allowing consumer to set their favourite position during one show and return to the same

position when they visit the cinema next time. It allows customers to control their seats (upto 4 motors), control lighting, call a waiter and soon the ability to place an order directly to the concessions. It allows Operations Team to get all Recliners to home position or to house keeping position with just one tap on an app - all this on wifi. Operators can even track occupancy of each seat during the show.

Design - Ergonomics Ergonomics and aesthetics are the key drivers for every new seat developed at Recliners India.

We strive to achieve a perfect lumbar support, a comfortable head support across all positions, appropriate cushion support at the core and at the comfort layer, adequate spring

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•BUSINESS TREND • support for the right comfort, perfecting the angles of the back knee - hip joint etc. It's not just important to build a comfortable seat with good ergonomics, it also needs to be sustainable for commercial use and abuse. We use the strongest and toughest polyvinyl chloride upholstery covers.

Reliability At Recliners India a lot of research& testing is done to assess and analyse raw materials - whether it is mechanisms, motors, upholstery materials, polyurethane foams, options or accessories - before execution on the market. Yes, based on market experience we sometime have to upgrade the product/ assembly or make design changes to overcome the challenges faced.

However, our focus on providing reliability in our products has always beenat the top of our agenda.

Research & Development Recliners India has one of the highest percentages of revenue allocation to R&D in the furniture industry. It has invested in the latest hardware and software tools to design, analyse, model and build prototypes. Our design lab has improved several older options and accessories and has developed several new products and

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options. Each of these new developments are tested for load analysis, reliability over time etc.

This is a key differentiator between Recliners India and our competition this gives us the strength to stay ahead and continue as leaders in the Industry.

Why Recliners India?

Our seating solutions offer the best of everything. We understand that the definition of comfort could be different to everyone. Each customer has a unique requirement. That is why we act like a library of features to choose from that can make a recliner just what the customer is looking for.

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Customer Satisfaction Our customers are of supreme importance to us. We aim to achieve not just customers satisfaction but customer delight.

Our customer support team takes care of the customer demands

• BUSINESS TREND • right from the beginning of the business deal, to the installation and continues with its prompt after sale services.

We truly believe that the key to the growth of the brand is customershappiness. Critical customer feedback is analysed for correction in our processes and products/services. Feedback is our learning university. We seek responses from our customers as it helps us to get better at our work.

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Customisation Options Our idea of comfortable seating, is not limited to a comfy and cozy seat but also everything that is required to make it a truly luxurious experience.

We customise our recliners as per customer requirements. You can choose from specialised accessories, unmatched upgrading options and a variety of price points. Options like Power Headrest, Double swivel table, Cup Holders, Wireless Charger, USB ports and foot strip lights are only a few of the customisation options we offer.

Feel free to become the designer of your recliner as per your theater requirement by picking your choice of fabric, arm style, finish and more. Customise the recliner, so that you have an

exclusive product and story just for your cinema.

allows the patrons to operate the chair with just a touch. Now, adjusting head rest, extension of footrest or a call for the service, everything is just a touch away.

These back lit capacitive touch panels (design registered and technology patent of Recliners India)are the new Industry Bench Mark in Luxury Cinemas.

How Our Recliners Benefit the Theatre Owners •

The Ergonomic Products Our ergonomically designed recliners take care of the body posture of the user, hence providing comfort & relaxation.

The comfortable seating makes movie watching a pleasurable experience. Comfortable seating is one of the most important reasons for patrons to choose a movie theatre, as such it is extremely important to ensure comfort and relaxation in the seat we build.

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This innovation promises features like improved service and reduced waiting times, response monitoring, allows discreet communication between staff and patron and enables the patrons to call waiters directly from the seat. Our Call System is cost effective and a low maintenance product. It is wireless, hence very easy to install.

Touch Panel Enabled Recliners A custom designed Touch panel is a must have for movie theatre recliners to upgrade the comfort and convenience factor.

The panel in the recliner arm

Call Button Derivative on Touch Panel

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Designed to Increase F&B Revenue Additional features like Cup Holders and Table encourage the spectators to opt for cinema dining. Our seats are designed to provide convenience required during movie watching and enhance the cinema dining experience.

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One of our Latest Launches Include "Reclinology" The technological advancement aims to reduce operating costs and improve operational efficiency by offering options like one button-controlled opening and closing of seats and many more impressive features to help you save operational cost.

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• BUSINESS TREND • Series 3 & 4 of 12

Cinema Design Guide – K M Suryanarayanan Where you sit in a cinema theatre can affect the ticket price, your view and your enjoyment of the show. In this issue, we will be looking and two critical aspects of theatre design - seating and interiors& lighting. An important aspect of seating design is the optimal sightline, which is the line-of-sight between the audience and the screen. Good seating design will have superior sightlines that give the audiences an un-obstructed view of the screen. In accordance with this, there is immense scope for the Designer to play with lighting as well. With the advancement of LED lighting technology, there is an immense amount of potential to convert a static space into a dynamic interior and here's looking more into it.

SERIES

3. Seating - Soothing Comfort

IN PREVIOUS ISSUES 1.

Architecture – The ultimate experience

2.

Acoustics – Hear it right

IN THIS ISSUE 3.

Seating – Soothing Comfort

4.

Lighting & Interior – Make it perfect

IN UPCOMING ISSUES 5.

Projection Room / Booth – Heart of the cinemas

6.

Electrical – Power for uninterrupted business

7.

Central Server Room & Connectivity – The neural system of cinemas

8.

Automation / TMS – Life with perfect shows at ease

9.

Picture – Get impressed

10. Sound – Get immersed 11. Lobby Space – Get indulged 12. PLF – The BIG experience & Future Trends

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Theatre seating is a precise art that needs a thorough understanding of audience seating ergonomics, clear sight lines with respect to the screen and convenient accessibility. Designing the seating with the best viewing angle is of prime importance.

An important aspect of seating design is the optimal sightline, which is the line-of-sight between the audience and the screen. Good seating design will have superior sightlines that give the audiences an unobstructed view of the screen. If there is a bad seating arrangement it will translate into inferior sightlines and the viewers will have to keep shifting their positions to see the screen from between the heads of people seated ahead of them. It is ideal to design the seating in such a way that every seat has a full-screen coverage. Stadium based seating arrangement with some angling of the seats which are close to the side walls will help to

• BUSINESS TREND • achieve this. Local governments have regulations for seating layouts and these need to be taken into consideration at the design stage.

The seating design should ensure that the eyes, neck, shoulders, and back are not strained while watching a movie. It is also critical that the vertical coverage height of the image does not exceed 30 degrees on the upper side and the head does not tilt up more than 5 degrees. Similarly, the horizontal pan of the head should not be more than 15 degrees from the center of the screen.

It is a common perception, that the last row is the best row, however, this is not the case. The best position to watch a movie is from the sweet spot seats, which are near the center of the seating area and located at a two-thirds distance from the screen. This is also the position used for visual and sound calibration. That is why ideally these seats should be the premium seats in the theatre, with premium ticket rates.

When it comes to the kinesthetic part of the movie experience, seating has to be designed in such a way that the body is completely relaxed and

comfortable to be able to immerse in the audio-visual spectacle. The market has evolved a lot in terms of seating from wooden benches to plush recliners, and a range of models from basic comfort seats to recliners are available to choose from. The seats which have a standard cup holder that can also turn into a tray holder are a standard requirement these days. This is an area where the theatre owner should not compromise, as it is the third most important element of the cinema experience, after visual and audio.

4. Lighting & Interior – Make it perfect The interiors of theatres give it a distinct mood and character that prepares the audience for the cinema experience. The creative designs of theatres give them a distinctive personality and make them stand out in the crowd. The design should be done by an expert who knows how to enhance rather than disturb the cinema viewing experience.

It is important to decide on the right wall cladding, the ideal one would be a single grey tone, matte fabric on the walls that will not disturb the colors on the screen. Another option is a dual-tone grey with a deeper shade of grey and subtle design elements. It is also imperative that there is no reflection of the light from the screen on the walls or on the design elements in the theatre.

Architects and Interior Designers should show their creativity by using designs, elements, and materials that are non-intrusive and do not reflect light or sound. For example, it will be

advisable to avoid chandeliers and hanging lights in the theatres as they are not only reflective but also very distracting during the movie. So the basic rule is to avoid reflective surfaces on the ceiling as they distract the most. The hero of the theatre should always be the screen. The arena to impress the public and for experimentation with reflective material and dazzling designs are the lobbies and the hall-ways.

There is immense scope for the Designer to play with lighting. With the advancement of LED lighting technology, there is an immense amount of potential to convert a static space into a dynamic interior.

There is also an option of tri-color LED lighting with plenty of design and programmable options.

Emergency Exit and Exit signage should be legible but at the same time, not be bright so as to distract the audience while watching the movie. A similar rule applies to the

step lights, row labels and seat numbers, they should be legible but not intrusive. As per the government norms the emergency lights should be fixed in the required places. It is also important that there are sufficient house lights for the audience to move in and out of the theatre and for the housekeeping personnel to do their job. To conclude, the architects can play around more with lighting and have grey color static interiors.

The author K M Suryanarayanan (a) Sury is a passionate designer of sound and audio visual related space. He has been a key part of the above said credentials.

Post his graduation from Film Institute of Tamil Nadu in 1989, he started his career in sound recording and engineering and has won a National Award for best sound.

Sury heads an experienced design team at QDC that undertakes projects of larger magnitudes. He can be contacted on +91 98400 22880 / sury@qubecinema.com.

QDC will be happy to collaborate with investors/Cinema exhibitors to design their theatres and offer the audience a high quality immersive cinema experience.

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