Calcutta, of all places, is playing host to the ?first ever acquisition or merger? in the Indian multiplex space. INOX Leisure Limited has just entered into ?an all-share-swap deal? with Calcutta Cinema Private Limited (CCPL) for acquiring CCPL and merging its operations. In simpler terms, within six months, when all the paperwork is taken care of, all the 89 Cinemas properties ? both existing and proposed? will be branded INOX multiplexes.

In terms of numbers, the proposed merger will take INOX?s plex count to 13 in Bengal and eight in Calcutta once all the under-construction properties are fully ready. In the city, INOX already has two operational plexes ? at Forum and City Centre ? and 89 Cinemas has one in Swabhumi. Add to these two five-screen INOX properties coming up in Diamond City and Jessore Road and three four-screen 89 Cinemas holdings being readied in Hazra, Howrah and Rajarhat.

?Every industry goes through a growth phase first and then enters into consolidation,? Deepak Asher, director of INOX Leisure Limited, tells Metro. ?This acquisition can be called the first transaction of the consolidation phase for INOX. By taking over already existing properties, we are going for a faster trajectory than building new properties from scratch.?

It?s also a win-win situation for 89 Cinemas, which has its fair share of loyalists but has been unable to match the INOX sway over the city. ?It?s a merger of the strengths of either side,? claims Debashis Ghosal, CEO and MD of 89 Cinemas. ?Our positioning in eastern India is giving INOX the strength to consolidate in the region while their national presence is adding value to our shareholders and stakeholders. Even our employees are getting absorbed under the same conditions in a bigger company format.?

But why have 89 Cinemas (Swabhumi) and INOX (City Centre) in the same catchment area? ?With both the properties now coming under the same management, we are confident of providing a synergy between the two,? says Asher. ?Also, the programming can be done differently in the two properties so as not to clash with each other. Anyway, you have to look at this acquisition from a macro perspective, rather than only at the operational Swabhumi multiplex.?

With INOX taking over the 89 Cinemas properties, Fame (Hiland Park) remains the only non-INOX operational multiplex in the city. ?I am sure other players are going to venture into Calcutta and eastern India soon, but yes, by making an early move we do have a distinctive advantage. INOX is already the most profitable multiplex chain in the country and we want to continue our run,? adds Asher.

Pratim D. Gupta

A man one step ahead

Makrand Deshpande at the Odeon 2006 seminar at ITC Sonar Bangla on Friday evening. Picture by Aranya Sen

Striped multi-coloured shirt, off-white sleeveless jacket and dark jeans with fancy patches seem an unlikely dress code for someone called Makrand Deshpande. The mark of the maverick, his flowing unruly mop, was kept firmly in place by a blue band. But then that?s Makrand for you ? straddling extremes with ease, producing surreal fantasies on stage and playing cameos in saas-bahu serials.

?One can?t be a purist 24 hours a day. When so many people like seeing the K-serials, you can?t say there?s no substance in them,? says Makrand, smiling from the corners of his intense eyes on Saturday afternoon.

On his first visit to Calcutta, Makrand has come down with his play Ek Kadam Aage for the Odeon theatre festival, to be staged at GD Birla Sabhagar, 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm, on June 25. The play finds its roots in Makrand?s struggling days as an actor, when his daily ritual was waking up and calling people for work from a local STD booth.

?We used to wait for our calls, waiting for our dreams to come true. But we never bothered about the man who managed the booth, a person with speech impairment. I felt I had some kind of an association with him, and Ek Kadam Aage took off from there,? says Makrand, who steers his Mumbai-based theatre company Ansh and is known for his fondness for bringing the surreal to the stage. ?But Ek Kadam Aage is closer to reality than my other plays. I can do this piece anywhere and connect with the audiences.?

First produced in 1998, Ek Kadam Aage focuses on a struggling actor who wants to become a superstar, and a singer who wants to make it big. The play with the dominant theme of humour features G. Santosh, Anil Yadav and Nivedita Bhattacharya, apart from Makrand himself. ?I play the Dreamman,? he says softly.

The comic angle is common to all his plays ? the Sir Sir Sarla trilogy, for one ? and also extends to his screen persona. ?The comic element is there even when I play a villain. I find humour everywhere, in everything we do.?

But for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, of course, he breathed fire as the menacing lawyer Vijay Saxena, having been coaxed into playing the role by Ekta Kapoor. ?I have been getting calls from Balaji for the past two-three years but the only reason I didn?t do it is because TV serials demand a lot of your time. This time I agreed as it was a limited-episode assignment. But I actually enjoyed doing it. Now Ekta is planning to bring me back after the 20-year leap,? laughs Makrand.

Several films are on hand ? some on the floors, a few ready for release ? but Makrand is also busy planning his next theatre production. ?It?s called S2G2!? he smiles.

Reshmi Sengupta