Will Chandigarh have one theatre too many?

CHANDIGARH: Is the city going overboard with the entertainment boom? What with at least three cinemas expressing their intentions of converting into multiplexes and a fourth multi-screen theatre as a part of the planned shopping mall in sector 44, is it going to be one screen too many?
Going by the successful run of Fun Republic, the city''s first multiplex in Manimajra, a multiplex does seem a lucrative option to the cinema owners.The concept has been accepted as the way forward in the cinema business the world over.
Smaller theatres combined with the income from leasing out space to business establishments has resulted in enhanced economic gains.
Industry insiders, however, say that owing to the size of the city population, presence of too many players may result in commercial unviability of the entertainment centres.
As per a survey conducted by E-City Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the company behind Fun Republic, out of the 10 lakh population of the city, only 40 per cent are cinema goers.
The survey also pegged the average occupancy levels of cinemas at 20 per cent.
"Even Delhi as of now has five or six multiplexes catering to a population of one crore. To sustain five multiplexes, we need to have a population base of at least 30 lakhs," says Girish Pande, business and operation head, Fun Republic.
The high prices of land in the city are also considered as a big negative. "High property prices can jack up the overall costs of the project substantially," Pande says.
This in turn leads to an increase in the gestation period of the project. Pande puts the sustainable number of multi-screen complexes at two or three.
The smooth run of Fun Republic may also be partly attributed to its ''curiosity value'' — something that wears off with passage of time.
However, the high property prices will not be a consideration for the cinema owners as they are required to pay only the conversion charges (which they say are very much on the higher side).
The new players can also take heart from the fact that cities like New Delhi and Ghaziabad too are in for a boom in the multiplexes.
For a population of 30 lakh, around 14 multiplexes have been planned to be set up in Ghaziabad. Similarly, New Delhi too is set to get around 40 new multiplexes/shopping malls in the coming times.
The high per capita income of the city is another factor that also weighs in the favour of such enterprises.