By Correspondent, Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad’s C.G. Road has got its first multiplex movie theater at the top floor of CG Square mall.

The multiplex has been opened by Mumbai based Gujarati Dhirubhai Shah led Time Cinemas and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Time Cinema is a part of Time Audio-Video-Films Group.

The multiplex has total seating capacity of 372 seats in its four theater halls(72 seats, 84 seats, 108 seats, 108 seats). Screen 1 and 2 are D-cinema or digital cinema while screen 3 and 4 are e-cinema or electronic cinema with HD projection. All theaters are having 7.1 Dolby surround sound. For the first time two screens are made 2.8 gain brightest silver screens in Asia while other two are white screens. The screens are having latest 2k resolution. Projection sets are installed in a way that 4K replacement in future will be easy.

Dhirubhai during media interaction today said that four elements were taken into consideration while building this facility – ambience, sound, picture quality and comfort level. He showcased several movie trailers before media to make a point that the screen was capable to showcase even minute detail to audience.

He said the impact of 3D projection will be unmatched in this multiplex thanks to silver screens in theater 1 and 2 which shall offer utmost depth of picture.

Dhirbhai said the new facility created by him is witnessing on an average 70% occupancy post it opening in last four days. He said people from nearby residential locality are overwhelmingly welcoming the facility.

Throwing light on some of the unique features of this multiplex, Dhirubhai said: Water bottle will be available for Rs 20 here and not Rs 50 like other theaters. Food items will also be available at lower cost compared to other multiplexes. We believe in adopting the latest technology and therefore we have for the first time introduced M-ticket. One who has M-ticket will not need to visit booking window to get ticket. He/she will be able to enter the theater directly just by showing M-ticket and get the bar-code scanned. Group booking of over 20 tickets will 10% discount by contacting manager. Parking at two-level basement in CG Square is free for cars and two-wheelers contrary to other theaters and multiplexes where parking costs double digit bucks.

The facility is wheel-chair friendly and therefore suitable for divyang people. The facility has debit and credit card payment facility.

When asked about demonetization impact to his business, Dhirubhai replied: We do business through only cheque. We have even paid labourers through cheque and therefore we didn’t face any impact of demonetization while developing this facility. On audience part, the visitors to our facility are from this particular area where demonetization impact is not felt much. However, going to cinema is not first priority for people and therefore some impact has been felt of course.

Dhirubhai also spoke about challenge while developing this facility in CG Square mall due to low height of ceiling. He said the mall owners contacted several interested parties but ceiling height remained an issue. However, on our visit to this property, we found it possible to develop a multiplex and we have done it.

He said Time Cinemas and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. has 14 screens at present including 4 at CG Square, 3 at Anand, 2 at Idar and 1 at Patan. 4 more will be opened at Surat on January 26 next year while 4 more will be opened at Vadodara in June next year. The company according to him aspires to open 100 cinema screens in Gujarat in next three years, of which 30 will be opened only in Ahmedabad.

He said he intends to make sure that 1 screen in his all multiplexes in Gujarat remain available for suitable Gujarati movie in order to encourage the makers.

Time Cinema is a part of Time Audio-Video-Films grop, country’s first home video company with an experience of over 30 years in audio, video, cable TV, satellite TV, movie production and distribution. Time Group has produced and presented over 25 Hindi blockbusters from Vijay-Path to The Hero and distributed number of films in Mumbai circuit including Gaddar-Ek Prem Katha. Apart from that over 3500 titles have been published for home video under the brand names Time and Gold and released numerous titles on audio cassettes and CDs under the brand name Time. Furthermore, Time Group has created a huge content library for cable television, satellite broadcasting and terrestrial television and exploited/trade through government and private sector owned channels, which heralded a long term relationship with key players in the media and entertainment industry.

DeshGujarat