The city, which has already has eight multiplexes, expects to have 37 more in few a years
The city, which has already has eight multiplexes, expects to have 37 more in few a yearsThere is going to be a spurt in the rise of multiplexes in the city.
Though the economic slowdown had stalled work on around 37 multi-crore projects (a combination of malls and theatres) for the time being, these projects are expected to get resurrected soon and may be operational in 3-4 years.
"The current situation may change in the near future and many such big multiplex projects will be revived, mainly in the suburbs," said Pradeep Giri, architect and consultant in acoustics.
According to Giri, six multiplexes each had been planned in Yerawada and Baner, while the other sites were Nagar Road, Sholapur Road, Pashan, Aundh, Kothrud and Sinhagad Road.
"Asia's biggest multiplex with 16 screens and a huge mall had also been planned at Satara Road, but the project was postponed," he said.
Once the economy gets back on track, corporates including INOX, Reliance, Adlabs and PVR are expected to invest more than Rs 150 crore, he added.
Dr Kishore Ganatra, joint MD, E-Square Pvt Ltd, confirmed that his company has plans to expand in and around the city. He added, "We are the ones who initiated the 'multiplex-with-mall-culture' in Pune six years ago.
This pattern was a hit with families who got together to have fun shopping andu00a0 watching movies. I believe this format will only become more popular in the years to come."
Agreed Giri, "In the future, the city will have a new model of malls and multiplexes altogether. Stand-alone malls or even multiplexes do not make much of a profit, but a blend of both works very well."
Arvind Chaphalkar, partner of City Pride and Mangala Multiplex, said, "The city certainly has great potential for many such multiplexes."
However, he admitted that the picture will become clearer once the profit sharing issue between film producers and distributors is resolved and the economy recovers.
Multiplex cultureIt started in 2001 with City Pride, which was set up by Chaphalkar Brothers on Satara Road.
The city now boasts of multiplexes like INOX (Cantonment), E-Square (Pune University Road), Gold Adlabs (Kalyani Nagar) Adlabs (Chinchwad) and Jai Ganesh Vision (Akurdi).
