I?m not one of those to give up with a whimper,? roars Arijit Dutta, even as he looks at the new sketches proposed for the inside of Globe hall . Yes, the Lindsay Street landmark, which was supposed to be closed down by October 2005, has been thrown a Rs 1.2-crore renovation lifeline.

?I have done a rethinking of my options and decided to give it another shot,? says Dutta, owner of halls like Priya, Metro and Mitra apart from Globe. ?We are planning to spend Rs 1.2 crore on the whole revival project and we are replacing everything rather than just cleaning things up.?

The air-conditioning is already changed to improve the efficiency of electricity. Xenon projectors are being installed in the coming week. All the old wiring is being done away with and everything from new amplifiers to decoders are being put in place.

?The Priya hall has this universe look if you sit inside and look up and around. For Globe, we are planning to achieve the underwater effect. It will be as if you are sitting inside a bubble and there?s water all around you. There is very little I can do about the outside area of Globe, at least we can make the interiors look good,? says Dutta.

Even the old, worn out seats inside are being replaced by brand new ones. Every week 40 seats are being changed. ?We are also planning to extend the lobby space, so that when there is an overflow, which happens during the weekends, there is enough space. It?s a four-month project that we are into and I?m hoping that by Poila Baisakh, there will be a brand new Globe for the Calcutta film lover,? smiles Dutta.

And what will play in the new-look-and-feel theatre? It will be a nice mix of all kinds of cinema, assures Dutta. ?We?ll obviously bring the best of international cinema to Globe alongside quality Bengali films, not the commercial ones. Occasionally, we?ll have a good Hindi film also. I?m not really worried about the programming with 80 per cent of the films coming to the city under my distribution.?

The man behind Piyali Films is also hopeful about the Parkomat and pedestrian plaza slated to come up in front of New Market. ?Once that happens, more people will just walk across and catch films at the new Globe,? feels Dutta.

?And once Globe becomes a heritage structure, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation will hopefully evict all the hawkers in the vicinity and allow a free flow of public vehicles in front of the hall,? he adds.