Is Goa ready for state-of-the-art, hi-fi entertainment at Rs. 100per ticket and Rs. 30 for a pack of caramel popcorn? Wonders TARA NARAYAN.

 THE DUST has still to settle down the Campal promenade but Goans can look forward to their first “Live the Movie” experience at the new ultra modern four-screened multiplex theatre built by Inox Leisure Ltd. in Goa’s first city, Panaji, come Nov.12 when it opens for business. Speaking at a press conference at the multiplex this week the Chief Executive Officer of Inox Leisure Ltd., Shishir Baijal,  shared a moment of pride in achievement  with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for having completed the controversial multiplex in a record time of 180 days from excavation to commission. With only final finishing touches being carried out currently the gleaming white box-styled airy looking multiplex is all set to host the forthcoming 12-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI) later in the month from Nov.29. Located right behind the stately and definitely more enduring old GMC building (a heritage building) which has received a makeover and a new plan of usage the new multiplex is a study in contrast vis-à-vis architecture and philosophy old and new.

 The modern-day multiplex is just a giant white cube with a crescent-shaped frontage opening to a see-through courtyard. The lobby is all spit and polish and brightly interior decorated. High up picturesque colour panels detail forthcoming filmi attractions, while below refreshment counters dispense drinks (Pepsi) and snacks (pretty packs of freshly caramelized popcorn for a start, there’s a detailed list of snacks Goan and international available by and by). Ah yes, the loo facilities too are state-of-the-art at least in the imported perfectly round France-made “Jaguar” wash basins, never mind if the toilets are quick-fix cubicles. According to Mr. Baijal there is no reason why a theatre should not be akin to a five-star hotel and generally speaking a multi-dimensional experience. 

 Media persons who were given a preview of the new multiplex reacted quite favourably although one senior scribe was heard to exclaim, “Oh, I hate the loud acoustics of these new-fangled theatres and screen images practically smashing into your face. It gives me palpitations…perhaps only young hearts can take the excitement of such state-of-the-art acoustic systems!” Each of the four auditoriums is equipped with “Christie’s projection, Dobly Digital Ex-Three-way surround sound, DTS technology, Harkness Screens and automated masking”, whatever that means only time will tell if Goans who’re hooked to their traditional live khell tiatr will now choose to see modern-day Bollywood potboilers like Veer Zaara or Aitraaz or Naach…or Prince Jacob Production’s Goencho Saib and Menino De Bandar’s Dha Lakh or Roseferns Tum Assom Sor in vibrant native Konkani! Is it true that for such state-of-the-art multiplexes even films have to be specially produced to complement the technology (a technology which more than one critic says only budgeons or lulls the senses like yet another escapist drug)?

 The fact is multiplexes arrived some time ago in the metros of the country and are being well received by young people who seek places for a date in a hard-pressed urban milieu. The multiplexes in suburban Mumbai offer a treat for the middle-class young who seek a moment of privacy and communication. It is largely college students who thrive on the come-lately multiplex culture – a quick film, a bit of canoodling and snacks and fizzy drinks galore within close quarters. Old world theatres may not be doing well but multiplexes are, even if they don’t come cheap. The informal, breezy atmosphere of multiplexes is much sought after by teenagers with generous allowances given by doting parents. Only time will tell if Goa’s first real multiplex – bankrolled by the government of Manohar Parrikar courtesy the State exchequer and literally delivered on  a platter to  Inox to manage for the time being at least, will bomb or boom. After all Goa is not a star-struck state like Maharashtra, courtesy Mumbai.

 The Chief Minister repeatedly stresses that the multiplex is a requirement for IFFI and hence the investment, but more than a few Goans are asking if it is more important to have IFFI or to provide state-of-the-art  bijli, pani and sadak to every Goan first? Isn’t it a bit like putting the cart before the horse? Something educated and techno-savvy chief ministers are doing in state after state, stressing on metro-based progress and development at the expense of impoverishment and death for rural areas (not to mention the proliferation of urban slums). For young Goans who’re far too hard pressed looking for a decent job in Mumbai or Bangalore or abroad it’s anyone’s guess if they will want to earn a “five-figure salary” for doing glorified menial jobs like wishing visitors to the multiplex “Good-morning”, “Good-night”, “Have a nice day, Sir!” The new multiplex management  boasts of having offered jobs to 40-odd young Goans to look after the “hospitality and housekeeping aspects” of the multiplex. According to Vice President-Operations, Inox, Mr. Gurinderjit Singh, they are getting five-figure salaries.

 But to address questions being asked about what will happen to the multiplex after the  freebie of IFFI in a jiffy is over, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar says, don’t be pessimistic and negative and he is not going to let anybody take him for a foolish ride! Only the pseudo media is negative all the time! And  Inox Leisure Ltd.’s Mr. Baijal says his company is a 100 percent growth company which will rake in a Rs.560 crore turnover by the year’s end, it is already running successfully multiplexes in Pune, Vadodarea, Kolkota and Mumbai and have plans to expand in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Cochin and Allahabad to establish a national presence,  “Multiplexes offer a multiplicity of choices and break the myth of time and choice of films…there’ll be a film starting every half-an-hour, so nobody needs to return home disappointed…we were first to introduce software to the show business and our multiplexes are like a one-stop shop in destination entertainment.”

 The Inox Panaji Multiplex is their sixth multiplex and has special extra special features incorporated like a 16 mm projection facility for screening old films (something none of their other multiplexes have) and the multiplex is fire-proof of course with the use of fire-retardant materials in its construction. The four auditoriums can seat 517, 315, 230 and 210 people at a sitting and can screen one or different films simultaneously. The screens and sound acoustics of course offer viewers what is described as “a lifelike movie experience” which is luring people back to stepping out of the house to go see a film in a theatre or multiplex. They will be managing the multiplex for a while (six months? One year?) and the government stands to benefit by 12 or 15 percent on revenue collections. But whether Goa really takes to the thrilling experience of multiplex theatre film viewing is left to be seen.

 And for the time being at least nobody is asking Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar: If you were a businessman in Goa would you shell out your own money – a whopping Rs.24.92 Crores to invest in a multiplex in Panaji or Goa? Goa is the first government in the country which has spent such a huge sum from its own public exchequeur to bankroll a multiplex, a commercial enterprise which may or not pay off in the long run. It is not clear who will collect on the profits but it is quite clear who will suffer on losses! It helps to be the Chief Minister of Goa with a dream to fulfill…more on the lines of telling the people, if there is no bijli, pani and sadak, so what? Go and see a film at the new multiplex and escape from your more urgent needs and frustrations for a while! That is of course if you can afford it. It is also left to be seen if tourists come to Goa for some serious rest and recreation or to see films. Although, of course, seeing films is also part and parcel of rest and recreation except for one false note…do tourists who come from such big-time cities like New York and London and Singapore or Mumbai or Ahmedabad or Delhi want to come all the way to Goa to see a film??? For answers just hang in there for a few more months down the line! The onus of multiplex success now really rests on the government of Goa. And when it gets some time in between perhaps it will take care of the St.Inez creek running through Panaji and which has been reduced to a filth-choked gutter…why is it an achievement to give the people of Goa a multiplex? But not a one-time pleasant, water-filled creek, restored so that Goan children may swim and fish in it once again?

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