Tom Hanks stars in Apollo 13, released in IMAX format

The sight: screen-size 10 times bigger than usual. The sound: 14,000 watts of pulsating digital surround.

The ?world?s most powerful? and immersive cinematic experience will soon put Calcutta in the picture. IMAX, with its revolutionary, proprietary IMAX DMR (digital re-mastering) technology ? that makes it possible for virtually any 35mm live-action film to be transformed into a larger-than-life format ? is hitting home by end-2006.

The IMAX giant-screen theatre is being housed at the retail-entertainment-IT combo Mani Square, close to Apollo Gleneagles, on the EM Bypass. It is being brought to town by the Aeren RJ Group and the Mani Group. This will be the fourth IMAX in India after Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, while the Mani Square theatre will be the second flat-screen GT IMAX theatre after Hyderabad.

?Calcutta is seeing the next realty boom after Delhi and Mumbai. It is emerging as the next IT hub with the retail-entertainment sector evolving fast,? Sujit Kumar, CEO, Aeren RJ Group, which has the Indian rights for IMAX, tells Metro. The Bypass theatre will seat 550, with a screen size of approximately 72 ft/96 ft.

Kumar feels the Bypass, one of the ?fastest developing commercial hubs?, offers the perfect pad for IMAX. Ticket prices at IMAX theatres usually command a premium thrice that of a 35 mm audi screening the same film. ?But in Calcutta, we are working out a very reasonable price structure with some premium on prevailing 35 mm rates,? Kumar promises.

Mani Group CEO Sanjay Jhunjhunwala feels the entry of IMAX will ?once again trigger a churn in the movie-going experience for Calcuttans?.

So, what?s the kind of film fare in the offing? Several Hollywood blockbusters are being digitally re-mastered and released simultaneously in IMAX DMR format. Sony Pictures has explored it with Spider-Man 2, with phenomenal results. ?In India, out of the total box-office collections for the movie, half was from the two IMAX theatres in Mumbai and Hyderabad,? reveals Kumar.