By Lamphrang Nongspung
SHILLONG: At long last Shillong has its own PVR Gold Class movie hall like those in malls and multiplexes in the cities. PVR Gold Class cinemas brought in a whole new paradigm shift to the cinema viewing experience with high class seating, state-of-the-art screens and fantastic audio-visual systems. The Gold Cinema is being set up in the renovated old Dreamland Cinema Hall complex.
This fully air conditioned theatre with a total seating capacity of 200 is expected to be inaugurated very soon.
At present, the tradition of families going to a cinema hall in the city has dwindled.
The poor facilities and bad hygiene in all the existing halls have forced the families to stick to their big screen televisions.
The other reason why families stay away from the theatres is that the atmosphere inside the hall is not conducive. Because the tickets are cheap, the crowd is also indisciplined. They smoke and spit inside the hall and use filthy language, which is not palatable for families.
The launching of this new fully air-conditioned 200-seater hall would definitely attract families back to the theatres to watch their favourite movies.
Owner of Gold Cinema screen in Shillong Pankaj Agarwal said the theatre is fully air conditioned, equipped with the latest Dolby 8.1 surround sound and complete push back seats.
” Most movies these days are having 6.1 Dolby surround sound. But we have gone ahead and installed the latest 8.1 surround sound for future requirements,” Agarwal said while speaking to The Shillong Times here on Thursday.
He also informed that the projection system in the theatre is directly linked through satellite (united films organization) with crystal clear sound and picture quality.
Agarwal however admitted that it was difficult for them to get one of the major players in the entertainment sector “Gold” to come and setup a venture like this in Shillong.
“But we expect that more big players would venture into Meghalaya either directly or by way of franchise or joint ventures. This would help to generate employments for the youths of the State,” Agarwal said.
The present initiative is a joint venture with Gold cinema and Raves Entertainment, he said while adding that Gold has already set up 5 screens in Assam and almost 200 screens across India. “We were ready to open since last year but have had to wait for the Cabinet approval on the policy for giving entertainment tax holiday for a period of five years,” the theatre owner said.
The Assam Government is also following this same policy, he said. After the introduction of this policy, many new multiplexes and single screen air conditioned theatres have come up in Assam.
“We are hoping many new players would also be coming to the State to set up their theatres after adoption of this policy,” Agarwal said while adding that they require the support of the Government to recover their investment in setting up these theatres. He said the plan is to put up four shows in a day (11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm and 8 pm).
“We are doing this with the sole intention of reviving film viewing in big screen in Meghalaya. We want families to come back and watch movies on the big screen,” the theatre owner said, adding that now in Shillong there is almost no entertainment outlet in the evening.
When asked about the rate of tickets, Agarwal said that the tickets would be in the range of Rs 100- 200.
When contacted, a senior government official said that the State Government is under an active consideration on the proposal of Gold Cinema to give entertainment tax holiday for a period of five years.
“The matter would soon be tabled in the Cabinet for its approval,” the senior government official added.
Many who know of the impending launch of the movie hall wonder why the Government should prolong its decision thereby preventing people from enjoying a good movie in a first class hall.