Movie at multiplex, trained babysitter, for Rs75 a pop
India’s first themed theatre near Kolkata seems to be easy on the pocket.
If people can get married or have meetings underwater, why can’t they watch a movie? In West Bengal, a new multiplex plans to give people something closer to that.
There will be no water in the theatre but you will get to sit in a blue, ocean-themed theatre and watch a film. If you have a kid, you can bring her along too. She can go to another screen and watch cartoons while trained babysitters watch over her. What’s more, the movie ticket includes the freebies and will cost you Rs75.
Bioscope, the first “themeplex” of the country in Rajarhat near Kolkata, will offer from mid-April the full multiplex experience and a bit more at a price everybody’s bound to like.
There will be six screens at Bioscope and each will have a theme.
For instance, there will be an Egypt-themed screen showing pyramids and another called Depths of the Ocean which will give an underwater feel. Screens themed galaxy and 180 BC will have planets and stars and cave paintings.
There will be one screen for children without traditional seating arrangements. The sixth auditorium will be hired to theatre groups for rehearsals.
Priya Entertainment, which owns the iconic Star Theatre in Kolkata and the single-screen movie auditorium Priya, is entering the multiplex space but by tweaking the strategy through a “convergence of commerce and culture”.
If it is successful, its next stop could be southern India, Arijit Dutta, managing director of Priya Entertainment, told DNA. Dutta is already supervising another soon-to-be-opened themeplex in Bhutan and is in talks with the government of Ethiopia for similar plans in Adis Ababa, the capital.
People in the film distribution circle in Kolkata feel this could be a challenge to other multiplex operators in a price-conscious city where tickets cost between Rs150-200.
Dutta said he adopted the pricing strategy because his target is the middle-income group (MIG). But a source in a leading multiplex brand in the city said tickets are priced keeping in mind the hinterland and other factors. They feel there is no reason to play around with the pricing and they see no threat from Bioscope.