Now, apex rates at Fun Republic

As the multiplex market gets increasingly competitive, owners are finding new ways for creating separate niches. Fun Republic, the multiplex run by E-City Ventures, the entertainment arm of the Essel group, which plans to enter Delhi with its multiplex next month, has some innovative offers for moviegoers.

Initially, the focus seems to be simply on making sure that more people come in. So, the audience will be offered apex rates which, like the fares offered by airlines, will be lower for those booking tickets in advance.

Another initiative is about setting up Fun ATMs near the box office which will allow visitors to buy tickets without the bother of standing in the queue. This move will be test-marketed in Delhi.

"Fun Republic is working at improving the level of services offered to its customers and these are some of the initiatives that we will be test-marketed in Delhi before launching them in other parts of the country," Atul Goel, chief operation officer, Fun Cinemas, told Business Standard.

Some of the other initiatives from the company include a loyalty programme in Mumbai as well as SOS (service on seats), where refreshments are served to patrons on their seats.

"At present, we see 30 per cent of our ticket sales through our loyalty programmes," says Goel, an obvious indicator that the programme has gone down well with the audience. He further added that Fun Republic is aiming at reaching 180 screens by 2008 from its current three multiplexes with 18 screens.

Film festivals are another popular way of increasing footfalls, although very often there are no entry charges for many of the events. Currently, Fun Republic has lined up a French Noir festival, and Fame Adlabs has also announced a range of alternative programming such as the ongoing digital film festival to bring in the audience.

How competitive the multiplex market in Mumbai has become can be judged by the decline in footfalls at Fun Republic. Within a month of Cinemax starting operations in the same area which already had two multiplexes, a decline in sales from 4,000 to 2,500 a day was seen at Fun Republic.