Kolkata is all set to see at least four more multiplexes this financial year at a cumulative investment of at least Rs 15 crore, thanks to improvement in consumer sentiment which has boosted developers’ and multiplex owners’ confidence in investing in the city.

Year 2008 and the first half of 2009 was lack-lustre for the industry due to the terrorist attacks, strife between multiplex owners and movie producers, as well as poor content, leading to a 50 per cent drop in business for the multiplex owners. However, for the rest of 2009, big-ticket releases and overall surge in consumer sentiments have acted as a booster for the multiplex industry.

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To begin with, Movie Time Multiplex, which has close to 10 multiplexes and 50 screens operational in India, has opened its first multiplex in Kolkata this week and plans to open one more in Salt Lake soon.

“Our first multiplex in Kolkata is at Ballygunge Phari. We have invested close to Rs 2 crore in the 350-seater, two-screen multiplex. We would price the tickets between Rs 50 and Rs 150,” informed Lalit Kapur, managing director of Movie Time Multiplex.

“We have also got land in Salt Lake, close to the stadium, to build another four-screen, 917-seater multiplex. We are investing close to Rs 8 crore in the second property,” Kapur added. Movie Time is also planning to invest up to Rs 50 crore nationally to double its properties.

Fun Cinemas, the Essel Group-managed multiplex chain, will foray into eastern India in 2009-2010.

According to Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Multiplex, "We are planning to set up close to 40 screens over the next three years in Eastern India with our brands Fun Cinemas and Talkie Town. Fun Cinemas is positioned as a lifestyle brand and Talkie Town a value brand with ticket prices at 50 per cent cheaper than Fun Cinemas. We will invest around Rs 1 to 1.5 crore per property in this expansion. Areas like Durgapur, Howrah and Asansol have been identified where Talkie Town would be functional in the next one year."

Fun has signed on two properties in Kolkata, in Axis Mall and Lake Mall. Each property will be a 5-screen, 1200-seater multiplex, and entail an investment of close to Rs 7 crore for each.

Talkie Town will also look at acquiring some of the standalone dilapidated theatres and rebrand them into either a 4-screen plex or a standalone theatre.

Currently the company has 10 Talkie Town in the country which are all revamped models of dilapidated standalone theatres.

"We are looking at standalone properties in Kolkata for acquiring and rebranding them as Talkie Town but most properties in the city are rather small. Our smallest Talkie Town is a 200-seater, while the largest is around 1200-seater. We would therefore look at smaller cities for setting up the Talkie Town brand, in places like Durgapur, Howrah, Asansol, Jharkhand, etc," Kapur of Fun Multiplex explained.

Currently the company operates 63 screens in 20 locations in India. The company has already signed additional 200 screens in approximately 36 cities across the country which will be operational by the end of 2009. The company also plans to acquire 300 screens during 2008-09 under both formats, totaling its screen count to 550 by 2011.

Cinemax, on its part, is planning two more properties in Kolkata, one in a shopping mall in Salt Lake. "We have also bought over the Hind cinema hall in Central Kolkata where another Cinemax will come up. Depending on how promptly the shopping malls are completed, we expect the new Cinemax multiplexes to start in 2009-10," Devang Sampat, VP-marketing and programming of Cinemax, said.

Cinemax inaugurated its first multiplex in Kolkata's Mani Square mall in 2008 which witnessed 12,000 walk-ins in the first five days.

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