`Multiplexes are the key for niche films'

mumbai: you can be dead sure that oscar winners like a beautiful mind and lord of the rings will be milking it in city theatres, quick to cash in on the awards hype. it will be a slower sashay into the city for the oscar-nominated french film amelie, but don''t fret yet. the film''s rights have been bought by shringar films. they expect to show it soon in the new five-screen multiplex fame adlabs in andheri__run in collaboration with manmohan shetty of adlabs__ which opened last week.
however, the multiplex (with 286 seats per screen) didn''t open, as expected, with a mix of mainstream and off-beat cinema from india and abroad.it showed the hindi blockbuster aankhen on four screens and black hawk down on the fifth. however, shravan shroff, director, shringar films and shringar cinemas, says, ``we are distributing amelie and the iranian majid majidi''s baran, and will soon show mani ratnam''s tamil film kannathil muthamittal with english sub-titles.
``we opened with aankhen because it''s a big film and we wanted to cream it,'''' he continues. ``later, we will mix and match films. i don''t plan to have one screen dedicated to off-beat cinema only, but want to show good cinema on all five screens.''''
many ''burbies are delighted. ``for those whose lives are centred around north mumbai like me, it will be great to have an opportunity to see offbeat films regularly in the suburbs,'''' says film lover kalpana subramaniam. ``but the key is having a regular screen for offbeat films that one can watch out for. otherwise, it will be as irregular as our film festivals.''''
exhibitors anticipate a growing hunger for more multiplexes. according to manmohan shetty, ``in the next two years, there will be at least 200-400 new screens across india, 100 of them in mumbai alone.'''' the shroffs already control 14 screens in the city, and mr shroff says that in another year, they plan to open two more multiplexes in mumbai, including one with eight screens. e-city entertainment (essel group) and inox leisure are among the other players setting up multiplexes here.
if the boom can be sustained, the hunger for theatres will obviously translate into pangs for more good films. as mr shetty observes, ``theatres are going to need more good films. we may get 15-20 big films like aankhen a year, but the rest of the screens will need smaller films, different kinds of films. otherwise, there may be more screens than films available.''''
accordingly, we can soon expect to see niche films from france, iran, korea and hong kong__apart from the u.s. and u.k., of course. amelie is only one of nine french films recently acquired by indian distributors. the others include asterix and obelix versus cesar by claude zidi (with gerard depardieu and roberto benigni), crimson rivers by mathieu kassovitz, selon matthieu by xavier beauvois, belphegor-phantom of the louvre by jean-paul salome and heist by gerard pires.
says inderjeet singh bhatia of innovision, who is distributing asterix and obelix versus cesar, ``although it is a french film, we plan to release 50 prints with dubbed versions in english, hindi, tamil and telugu. it''s got characters who are widely loved, great comedy and special effects. we will release it in big theatres as well as multiplexes.''''
vikramjit roy of sony pictures entertainment adds, ``we start off with the big theatres in south mumbai, but eventually, all our films go to suburban multiplexes. with good promotion, we were able to make niche films like crouching tiger, hidden dragon and monsoon wedding mainstream films.''''
divya pathak, marketing manager, columbia tristar, adds, ``multiplexes are the key for niche films. in big theatres, exhibitors can knock off a great film quickly. but with a smaller screen, there is much more time to let the film grow by word of mouth and give it a fair chance.''''
indian film-makers who, for decades, have been making non-mainstream cinema that usually rots in cans after doing the film festival chukker, have their hopes pinned on multiplexes for securing an indian release. but many of them may be in for a rude shock. says mr shetty, ``it''s worth giving them a try. low budget film-makers who had been complaining that they never got a release may now get a chance to find out the truth about whether there is an audience for their films or not. however, many of these films have already been shown on satellite tv. my feeling is, whatever was worth seeing has already been seen.''''