Lucknow theaters gear up to take on multiplexes

The cinema theatres, which once were the epicentre for movie lovers, are now reduced to mere landmarks. But the situation for these cinema halls is not that intricate.

These halls are gearing up to give a tough fight to the multiplexes. They have invested a lot in providing modern amenities in their halls.

Huge investments are also made on spruce up the ambience marked by these halls to give viewers a better movie experience. The owner of a famous cinema hall in the city has spent over Rs 50 lakh on restructuring the interiors of his movie theatre.

"The viewers are very particular these days. It is also because of the varied choices, ranging from numerable cinema halls to multiplexes, they have. A viewer will only opt for a movie hall where he gets the best of comfort," said senior manager of an eminent cinema hall in Lucknow.

Novelty, Mayfair, Sahu, Rajshri Talkies, Prathibha Theatre, Shubham, Umrao and Anand are some of the famous cinema halls in the city besides over a dozen more small ones operating in different areas of the capital as well.

Almost all the top notch multiplex chains have their establishments in Lucknow. Fun Cinema, PVR Movie, Inox and Wave Cinema are operating in full swing. Also in the pipe line are a few more multiplex projects.

These multi-screen cinema halls are housed primarily in a shopping mall which spreads over an area of over a few thousand square feet. These shopping malls have on an average footfall nearing 50,000 a day.

These new age cinema halls have also changed the age-old concept of three hour long morning, matinee, evening and night shows. The flexible time slotting is an essential character that makes them being accessed more.

The owner of a famous cinema theatre on the basis of anonymity told Business Standard,"We are not undergoing any tough time but given the competition from multiplexes, surely we are working towards value addition to our single screen cinema hall."

The traditional cinema halls, also known as