A sound & light show

If a revolution has swept through movie theatres, it's because theatre owners have invested in digital projectors, better sound system and screens.

Call centre executive Kavita Sharma stays at Virar, a distant Mumbai suburb, but travels 12 km to watch movies at Fame Adlabs in Andheri, another Mumbai suburb. Says Sharma: " The screen is brighter and the sound effects are amazing."

What Sharma does't know is that Fame Adlabs has installed a state-of-the-art Dolby surround system, Harkness Hall Perlux screens (these provide bright pictures, high contrast and generous viewing angles) and imported Christie projectors.

Nor does she really have to travel so far to experience all this; theatres near most neighbourhoods are investing in technology to bring international standards to Indian cinema theatres.

According to one estimate, theatre owners have invested as much as Rs 120 crore in Mumbai alone. The days of flickering and jaded screens and mono speakers are over.

S.R. Iyer, general manager at Cinecita Private Limited, the 45-year-old company that sells projectors to theatres such as Fun Republic and Devi Multiplex, Ahmedabad, explains the revolution that has swept through the theatre business: "The days when a carbon arc projector used to light up the screen are over. These projectors are automated, use Xenon bulbs which ensure constant light for the projector and deliver superior picture quality. The film reels are laid out on a disc that is then automatically transferred, doing away with all manual labour."

Adds Atul Goel, managing director of E City Entertainment Ltd, which owns the Fun Republic group of theatres: "The projectors also have loop technology that allows the same movie to be screened on more than one screen at the same time." Most projectors are imported from companies such as Christie (the US), Kinoton (Germany) and Strong Inc (the US).

Nor is the revolution confined to screens. Digital sound projectors have replaced analog ones and theatre owners are employing sound consultants who design the acoustics for each screen and for the theatre as a whole.

Jal Mistry, auditorium designer and acoustical consultant who designed the sound system at the Fun Republic and Cineline Theatres, explains the difference between analog and digital sound projectors.

Says he: " Analog speakers could never eliminate the recording sound. Dolby digital speakers can catch sounds in the range of 28-18,000 hertz; human beings cannot hear both the extremes." Today, speakers catch sound even below 28 hertz, which is why even a murmur is as clear as someone talking.

The speakers are aided by woofers and sub woofers "� separate devices attached to the speaker that help reproduce sounds which are beyond the human hearing range.

Brands like Dolby and JBL from Harman International of the US are preferred by most.

Says Ranjit Thakur, a director at MRH Systems, a company that provides audio and video equipments to cinemas: "We even go to the extent of using 3-way speakers which are tri-amplified, digital cross-overs and extra sub woofers. Hence even the drop of a pin or the swoosh of a sword can be heard clearly on the big screen."

Why are theatre owners putting money into all this? That's partly due to the films that are being screened. Explains Anil Chopra, editor of "Sound Systems," a magazine on audio and video projection: " It is very necessary for the theatres to upgrade their screens or else a director's effort will go waste. Every film has a texture to it. A film like 'Psycho' needs a dark projection, unlike a Karan Johar movie that needs brightness."

Owners of single screen theatres also face competition from multiplexes. Multiplexes were established with modern equipment, forcing owners of theatres with single screens to upgrade their projection and sound systems.

Examples: The Shringar Films-owned Fame Adlabs and Fame Malad in Mumbai have Christie and Kinoton projectors and Dolby processors with JBL sound speakers.

INOX Leisure Ltd, the company that runs the INOX theatres in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Baroda, also uses Christie projectors, Dolby and digital surround sound, JBL speakers and Harkness Hall Perlux screens.

The technology revolution is still confined to a few theatres "� only 350 of India's 12,000 screens have a Xenon bulb screen. Also, the cost of acquiring state-of-the-art technology does not come cheap.

While Shroff puts the figure at Rs 35 lakh per screen, Shishir Baijal , CEO of Inox Leisure, says the screen installations complete with sound accounts for 10-12 per cent of the total investment in a theatre.

But better technology doesn't guarantee bigger movie going crowds. As Chopra points out, even good sound and video projection cannot guarantee crowds if the film is bad.

Theatre owners, meanwhile, agree that benchmarks have been set with respect to the infrastructure that any new player has to buy. And the technology will only get better "� digital cinema technology will hit theatres soon, but theatre owners are not worried; all that it requires is a Digital Light Processor (DLP).

Movie goers are clearly in for better times. So the next time Kavita Sharma watches a movie, she'd do well to look out for that digital surround sign.