Mangala goes multiplex

PUNE will soon get its third multiplex cinema. This time it is at Mangala theatre, adjoining the Nava Pul area, where elaborate arrangements for parking, utility shopping and restaurants will be underway in a month or so. Entering its silver jubilee year, Mangala theatre will undergo a facelift as five cinema halls take the place of one at the complex.
The four-cinema theatre complex of City Pride and the recently inaugurated Inox have already introduced ‘multiplex culture’ into the city.Mangala is already seeking permission from the government, and reconstruction work on the 60,000 square foot area will start within the next two months, says Prakash Chaphalkar, one of the partners at the theatre.
The cinema halls at the proposed multiplex will seat 650, 350, 250, 250 and 100 persons and, Chaphalkar claims, it will be the biggest in the city. “We have already expanded an existing airconditioning plant and enhanced the size of the electric transformer to cater to the multi-fold requirements of the future,� he said.
Without disturbing the existing cinema hall, one more theatre will be available for the viewing public by the year end, if all goes according to plan, added Chaphalkar. The Chaphalkar family, originally from Sangli, own a total of 22 cinema halls in Maharashtra. Plans for the palatial multiplex have been drawn up by architect Sudhir Godbole, also the architect of City Pride.
A huge entertainment lobby at the entrance will have long escalators, video games and music to attract teenagers and young citizens, Chaphalkar said.