Swagath, Kempegowda to make way for malls

Swagath, Kempegowda to make way for malls
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Here is good news for cine-buffs who want to watch movies in a quality environment. More and more entertainment companies are planning multiplex theatres in the city.

GT Cinema is all set to construct a mall with a multiplex having seven screens, at Jayanagar. The Swagath theatre will be demolished and the new complex will come up on the site. ‘‘An agreement has signed by both parties,’’ said a source.

The Kempegowda theatre, which has been closed for quite a long time, may also make way for a mall. ‘‘A multiplex with three screens, will be constructed,’’ he says adding that multiplex boom may not hamper single screen theatres business.

If the buzz is anything to go by, Wave Cinemas, too, have a mega plan to construct multiplex theatres with 12 screens at Koramangala. ‘‘Plans are afoot to convert a vacant space at Prasanna and Pramod complex for a multiplex,’’ the source says.

Single screen theatres like Minerva, Geetha, Alankar, Prabhath, Bharath, Sivaji, Himalaya, Central, Swastik, Ashoka, Shree, Lakshmi, Maruthi, Lido, Sujatha, Super, Liberty, BRV, Galaxy, Bluemoon, Blue Diamond, Imperial, Sangam and Opera have been converted into shopping complexes.

‘‘Bangalore had a population of not more than 30 lakh when these theatres were built. Now it has crossed the one crore-mark. I think the multiplexes will be the order of the day in the future,’’ says a distributor.

Except a few theatres on KG Road, other theatres are situated on leased land. After the expiry of the lease period, the landowner will be at his discretion to convert the land into a shopping complex or a multiplex.

All in all, more multiplex theatres will come up on KG Road, as there is an acute shortage of theatres. ‘‘We are finding it difficult to get a theatre on upmarket KG Road to screen our film,’’ says Manjunath, producer of ‘Deadly Soma’.

Forum Mall Bangalore

Forum Mall is the first of its kind in Bangalore. This place boasts of being the only mall to have an 11-screen multiplex, brought to bangalore by PVR Cinemas.

The Forum Mall also has 3 floors of shopping area including a massive bookstore 'Landmark', a food court called Transit. Westside, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Tommy Hilfiger, Planet Fashion, Fabmall, Cafe Coffee Day, Sahib Sindh Sultan (a fine dining, themed restaurant), Firangi Paani (English style pub), Nik Nish (sells mostly made-in-china stuff), Bose, Apple, Sangeetha (for cell phones), Cookie Man and a host of other single brand stores from Levis, Wrangler, Arrow, Scullers etc.