MULTIPLE CHOICE SPELLS BIGGER GAINS: The Inox foyer

Niche films — “hatke” — are in, like Jogger’s Park, Mumbai Matinee and Mr & Mrs Iyer, as is offbeat Bollywood fare. And while English films have gone down a few notches in the interest scale of Calcutta viewers, quality Bengali movies, like Patalghar, Abar Aranye, Chokher Bali and Bombaiyer Bombetey, are gaining ground by leaps and bounds.

The reason: they have the “visibility, collection and appreciation” of larger audiences. So, advantage multiplex.

The topic under discussion was cinema, but the focus was on cinema halls. And all were in agreement of one thing — that cine-goers in Calcutta are flocking to the big screen once again, and the winner, hands down, is Tollywood. “A few years ago, of the halls in the state, 400 would show Bengali films and 400 would screen English and Hindi. Now, only about 150 show Hindi and English,” explained Arijit Dutta, president, Eastern India Motion Pictures Association.

The subject of the discussion at Inox, organised by the multiplex in coordination with Bengal Film Journalists Association, at Forum, on Thursday, was ‘Advent of Multiplex — Impact on the Bengal Film Industry’. The panellists were film-makers Goutam Ghose and Anindita Sarbadhicary, Inox CEO Shishir Baijal and Dutta. It was moderated by Vikramjit Roy of Columbia Tristar.

The points raised by Ghose were carried forward by the other speakers — the fact that multiplexes are catching on, bringing irregular movie-goers back to the halls, because the middle-class has the means to pay for the experience. Proof — the spread of multiplexes to the districts, with one in Durgapur lined up by Inox (“Burdwan is the 17th richest district in the country, so the buying power is obviously there,” added Dutta). “Give them something they don’t enjoy on the small screen,” was the parting shot from the maker of Abar Aranye.

“According to Unesco, currently, there are about 12,900 screens in India, with the space for around 20,000 more,” said Roy. So, the potential audience is also ripe for the picking by multiplexes. As Baijal elaborated, the occupancy at Inox for the past year speaks for itself — Chokher Bali has been running for over three months, and has so far earned Rs 26 lakh, while Bombaiyer Bombetey is calling in the crowds at over 92 per cent occupancy. Baghban, released on October 2 and still showing, has earned Rs 31 lakh, while Kal Ho Naa Ho is going full house. Although it wasn’t really a year for Hollywood, at least in Calcutta, Finding Nemo was a resounding success, with 70 per cent occupancy for the six weeks it was at Inox.

An experience, of which light, sound, projection, comfort and ambience are all an integral part, is the key to making viewers go to cinema halls. While a few members of the audience objected to the “expensive” prices of tickets at Inox, — “other halls show the same films at cheaper rates” — the movie men who matter had this to say: “People obviously don’t mind, because they keep coming back. It’s the viewing pleasure that matters most.”

Sarbadhicary added that cinema is now “easily available”, and that multiplexes are “opening doors to newer concepts and recreating the magic of movies”. Or simply, as Roy pointed out: “It’s paisa vasool timepass.”