Shiv Talkies, an Ashram Road landmark where movie fantasies have flickered for decades, was paling into oblivion with the advent of multiplexes — but it will now fight back in a multi-screen avatar. The single-screened Shiv will be equipped with three screens, by Cinemax India Ltd, a Mumbai-based company which has taken over the property on lease for nearly 20 years. The company, promoted by Kanakia group, also plans to open more such theatres in different cities of Gujarat.
The senior vice-president of Cinemax, Devang Sampat, who was in the city to launch the group’s fifth multiplex in the state and the third in the city, said, “For our group, Gujarat holds great potential.” He said Ahmedabad led other cities in the state in the entertainment business. As for the new Cinemax-owned Shiv Talkies, it will have around 750 seats, most of them being recliners.
The makeover of Shiv exemplifies the intense heat being felt by single-screen theatres. The president of the Multiplex Owners’ Association of Gujarat, Rakesh Patel, said “Because of competition, the owners of most of the single-screen theaters are selling their property.” Or, they are tying up with multiplex chains to lease out their properties, he said.
Single-screen theatres are finding it difficult to stay in business because of the competition from multiplexes. It is perhaps for this reason that the owners of Shiv Talkies, a single-screen movie theatre on Ashram Road, decided to give the theatre premises on a long lease to Cinemax India Ltd, a Mumbai-based company that owns many multiplexes in the country.
The president of Multiplex Owners' Association of Gujarat, Rakesh Patel, said owners of single-screen theatres were leasing out their properties to multiplex chains because people prefer watching movies in multiplexes. “Multiplexes offer more options to viewers and a good ambience too," Patel said, The senior vice-president of Cinemax, Devang Sampat, said they had plans to launch around 25 screens in Gujarat by the end of this year.
"There is a huge gap in the entertainment market which needs to be filled," he said. "If we capitalize on this fact, we can capture a large market share." Sampat was speaking at the opening ceremony of their multiplex, Red Carpet, on SG Highway. Sampat added that they had kept the cost of morning show tickets at Rs40-Rs60 at Red Carpet while tickets for night shows will be priced at Rs70-Rs90. "But this will be an inaugural offer," he said. "Depending on the response, we will decide the final prices of tickets."
The group opened its four-screen multiplex at Red Carpet theatre on Friday. It will be opening another five screens in two-three months. Of these, three will be at Shiv theatre which will now be known as Cinemax. The other two screens will be opened at Vadodara. Sampat said all the new screens will have recliner seats.
