Regent cinema. Telegraph picture

Patna, Aug. 8: Movie buffs in the state capital can now forget about long queues at ticket counters in cinemas. They will now be able to buy passes for the silver screen outings of their favourite actors at kiosks across the city.

Regent — the oldest cinema of the state that recently completed 83 years — will set up smart ticketing kiosks at four different locations in the city. Suman Kumar Sinha, the owner of Regent, told The Telegraph: “This is for the benefit of movie lovers. They won’t need to come to the theatre to buy tickets. They can buy passes from smart ticket kiosks of Regent.”

Four places have been identified for the kiosks — Rajabazaar (west), Patliputra Colony (north), Kankerbagh (south) and Patna City (east). The service will start by the end of this month. The cinema already has an online ticket purchasing facility. However, those of you who are not Net-savvy will find the kiosks to your liking.

“People can just go to the kiosk and buy the tickets. It will be similar to the process of purchasing tickets online,” said Sinha. If you have a debit or credit card, well and good. If not, there is nothing to worry about either: Regent will issue entertainment cards for as well. “There are two ways to purchase the ticket: You could use your debit or credit card. You could also use the entertainment card that will be sold by the cinema. You have to buy it only once and refill it as required. This facility will help people who do not have a debit or credit card,” added Sinha.

He also said: “Tickets can be purchased seven days in advance. The slip issued by the kiosk machines will be treated as tickets. Apart from helping people in buying tickets, the machines will also allow them to choose their seats in the hall.” Kankerbagh resident Naiteek Kumar, a regular at cinemas, said: “It is really a great idea. It will surely be a hit in Patna. We often have to return disappointed from cinemas, as we don’t get tickets. These kiosks will help us save time. “To brave the traffic and go to Regent from my home is a hard job. Thank god, they have finally started to think of our problems.”

Naiteek may not remember but this is not the first time that residents have been treated to such a facility.

When Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park was released in 1993, Regent had opened a number of outlets at various places in the city, where tickets of the film could be purchased. Impressed by this marketing strategy, a senior executive of Paramount Pictures had flown down to Patna from London. “Yes, a senior official of Paramount Pictures had visited Patna. Later, in 1994, when James Cameron’s film with Arnold Schwarzenegger —True Lies was released, we repeated the same strategy. The theatre received an overwhelming response. In fact, the official of Paramount Pictures was so impressed that he sent me to Singapore to take part in a film exhibition to learn the art of filmmaking,” said Sinha.

He added: “I want to make the cinema friendlier for movie lovers. This is popular cinema. We want to provide international standards at reasonable rates.”