KOCHI: As the pandemic battered cinema ecosystem is on the path to revival, the city is going to witness a boom of multiplexes in the coming months.
Apart from the existing three major multiplex theatres in different shopping malls, three more would come up in the city and its suburbs soon.
A new nine-screen multiplex is coming up in a new mall at Maradu municipality limits and another multiplex is going to be opened in an upcoming 15-storied mall located between Palarivattom and Vyttila. The 11-screen Cinepolis multiplex in the shopping mall on MG Road would be opened soon, after renovation.
Another multiplex is also proposed as part of Chithranjali project at Kakkanad and another project is in the offing at Kalamassery.
After more than 50 years of screening thousands of cinemas in its 120mm Vistarama projection screen, the iconic Shenoy’s theatre was transformed into a five-screen multiplex theatre recently. The new Shenoy’s multiplex and other state-of-the art facilities managed to attract a large number of moviegoers after the pandemic.
“Our multiplex is doing well as it offers good facilities. Though the ticket price is high, families give preference to multiplex theatres. Facilities such as advance booking before two weeks, online payment system, other help desk services, etc., are the major reasons for people preferring multiplexes even as many movies are being released on OTT platforms,” said managing partner of Shenoy’s Theatre Suresh Shenoy.
The growth of malls has often been linked to the rise of multiplexes, as both feed off each other’s footfalls. It is to be noted that many prominent one-time prestigious malls in many cities in the state which don’t have multiplexes are now struggling to function as top retailers have shut shop.
Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) state president of Vijayakumar said that unlike other standalone big screen theatres, multiplexes in shopping malls can easily survive even during the crisis period, as the footfall in the theatres is depending upon the footfall in the shopping mall. “When big theatres are struggling to screen a movie with 10% seat occupancy, the multiplexes can screen such movies in their small theatres and they have freedom to shift a movie from one screen to another according to the response from the audience,” he said.
“If we provide good facilities, people will come to theatres. We offer good seating arrangements and good food along with others. We are hopeful that the city has the potential to have more multiplexes” said a Source of Cinepolis, which is renovating its eight ordinary screens and three VIP screens in Centre Square mall.
