[Urbanstudy] student Stpendship 2007third posting. Cinematic landscape of Ghaziabad.

[ipsita sahu]

Hello All,

My third posting is a comparative analysis of the cinema theatres in
Ghaziabad. I am mostly looking at the exhibition patterns of these
theatres to see how different theatres regulate audience flow, and
function as conscious agents of social stratification

A mere revamping of exhibition spaces in the form of the multiplexes
and cineplexes, has revolutionized the cinematic experience in India.
These new forms have not only salvaged the moribund state of Indian
theatrical sector and cinema industry from the onslaught of piracy,
VCD and cable television, but also imbued cinema viewing with a new
legitimacy by making it an exclusively bourgeoisie form of
entertainment. Finally the infamy of cinema as an 'uncongenial space'
unfit for the upper class and women has been lifted, by cleansing the
theatre space of its nuisance creating elements. The very
grandioseness of cinema viewing in these luxurious spaces has shifted
the emphasis from the film alone to the sensorial experience of the
space,  In the changed scenario watching a film is subsumed within a
larger goal of an 'outing', which includes not only the thrill of
entertainment but also the pleasures of experiencing luxury. And in
this sense the refurbishment of cinema theatre through gentrification
and spectacularisation has successfully revitalized cinema viewing by
hoisting it in the public imaginary as a signifier of bourgeoisie
lifestyle.

 As far as the built landscape is concerned like in the case of the
mall, even multiplexes, in the social realm, function as divisive
structures of class contestation and conscious agents of social
stratification. These built forms function as homogeneous units of the
rich by enabling the congregation of the gentry and exclusion of the
poor. Also within themselves they maintain a hierarchy and divide the
affluent class by creating stratification among the high-income group
both inside the auditorium through the seating arrangement as well as
in the overall targeting of specific audience groups.

 Like malls, the fortification and security system of the multiplex
successfully insulates the premise against contamination by the lower
income groups. Also by maintaining high ticket rates in comparison to
the traditional single cinema hall, and making them unaffordable for
the lower income groups these exhibition centers have succeeded in
keeping the unwanted poor out of the glitzy premises, making cinema
entertainment the privilege of the affluent consumer class. As for
regulating the inflow of those who can afford the high prices, the
same strategy is adopted by the multiplexes as malls of choosing their
location according to the type of audience they seek to target. Also
by dividing seats into different categories, for different classes and
fixing different ticket prices for these, according to the
affordability of each class, these theatres maintain class hierarchies
inside the auditorium. This system was prevalent even in the
traditional single screen cinema hall. However, the difference now is
that the current system creates divisions even amongst the gentries.
The most recent intervention in this regard can be seen in the new
kind of hierarchiasing amongst the elites in the multiplexes today
with the creation of exclusive lounges for the upper class audience.
These lounges have a separate entry and exit enabling absolute
seclusion of the patrons of this section from the rest of the
audience. The tickets for these seats are exorbitant ranging from five
hundred to eight hundred rupees. Hence one sees that as a hind side of
the process of maximizing consumption, new trends are emerging to
build hierarchies amongst the elite through spatial segregation, also
enabling super elites to lead and flaunt extravagant lifestyles.

Now in the built landscape of Ghaziabad a definite pattern can be
discerned in the spatial layout of the exhibition spaces in the
region, which is produced by and hence also reflective of the
socio-political dynamics of urban planning. The locational arrangement
of these built forms like the malls mirrors the socio-economic
condition of the area. Big formats are located in the elite
neighborhoods, smaller ones in the fringe areas and near lower middle
class neighborhoods and the single screen cinema halls are in the old
development area catering to only the lower income groups. I will now
delineate a sketchy outline of the exhibition patterns of the cinema
theatres in Ghaziabad to reveal the underlying logic of exhibition
with an aim to illustrate the divisionary role of exhibition centers
in the socio-economic realm.

In the past four years, Ghaziabad has witnessed a rapid proliferation
of exhibition spaces, as multiplexes have mushroomed up in the area
under the Ghaziabad development scheme of providing adequate
commercial recreation to the new population brought to the area by the
real estate sector. This explosion has primarily occurred under the
new government entertainment policy regime to provide tax exemption
for five years to multiplex projects and also due to the cheaper land
rates of the region as compared to the downtown and other areas of the
NCR. Thus it becomes a viable option for developers to set up projects
in the outskirt regions, as land rates in the central city is so high
that even reasonable commercial returns never adequately make up for
the huge investment costs.

At present  there are in total fourteen multiplexes in Ghaziabad, and
several others in the pipeline, creating a congested scenario with 5
multiplexes, PVR cinemas, Adlab/Imax Pacific Mall, Adlab Ansal Plaza,
Wave and Fun Cinema, situated within a 6 km radius , and six more
under construction within the same area. In a situation where supply
is fast exceeding demand, there is stiff intercentre competition
between these multiplexes with only the big format multiplexes
flourishing and the smaller ones already making huge losses.

 The Ghaziabad cinema theatres may be broadly classified into three
categories based on location and the class of audience that the
theatres target and cater to. The first category includes the high
profile multiplexes that largely target the elite population. The
Adlab theatre in Ansal Plaza, Adlab with Imax theatre in Pacific Mall,
Jam Shipra in Shipra Mall, MMX and PVR Plaza in EDM belong to this
category. Situated in the traffic zones of the new development area
and close to elite neighborhoods, these four are the most successfully
running theatres . Mainly because of the combo format of mall come
multiplex, these theatres incur the maximum footfall as compared to
solo multiplexes.

 Since in the combo format the multiplex shares its identity with the
mall, by virtue of sharing the same complex, the mall significantly
determines the success rates and type of crowd coming to the
multiplex. People's preference for a particular multiplex is to a
great degree based on their liking for the mall, since in most cases,
a visit to the theatre often also entails a tour of the mall . Also
since the Shopping mall cinema theatre draws a large part of its
clientele from the shopping crowd, so therefore the type of crowd,
which the mall attracts, is also the type of crowd that the multiplex
must settle for. Hence the success of Jam Shipra and its elite
clientele may be seen as caused due the general high consumer traffic
of the mall and the mall's capacity to attract the elite population of
Indirapuram, Vaishali and Kaushambi. Similarly EDM's general
popularity with the lesser elite ensures a good profit for the PVR
cinemas as it draws a big crowd by catering to the lesser affluent
class of consumers of the new development area of Ghaziabad.

However within their own limited capacity, shopping mall cinema
theatres try to function more autonomously despite the dependency on
the mall, to create their own audience type, in some cases like PVR
EDM, even different from the mall's shopping crowd. Ticket range,
promotional schemes and advertising strategies are the means by which
multiplex theatres tend to attract and regulate audience
configuration. For instance the PVR cinemas in EDM claims to target an
assorted audience comprising of the lower middle class which comes
from the mall crowd, and also the higher class population by
advertising its brand value and hiking ticket prices.

The youth crowd is generally given a low priority in these theatres
which prefer to have more of a family audience, primarily because
'indecent' behavior of young couples spoils the ambiance in these
places which also deters other kinds of audience from coming to the
theatre due to the 'lewd' environment. Hence special measures are
taken to keep the two-audience type separated. Morning shows are
reserved specifically for the youth crowd, as the show timings do not
suit the working patrons and housewives. The ticket rates for these
shows are lower than the other shows so as to induce the youth crowd
to come for these shows. By providing them with special incentives,
the upper class gentries are targeted for the evening shows. For eg,
apart from the usual snack bars, these theatres also have play ground
spaces with sitters where parents can leave their kids and enjoy the
film in peace. PVR EDM offers special kid care provisions during the
Sunday evening shows comprising of dim lighting in the hall so that
babies are not scared of the dark and can sleep peacefully, nappy
changing facilities, kid playing zone in the cafeteria area. JAM
Shipra has a separate U Kids zone, which apart from screening special
children movies also has other recreation facilities such as story
telling, video games, mazes etc. This provision not only ensures a
good family audience but also prevents inconvenience to the audience
from children by keeping them out of the auditorium.

Platinum and Gold lounges are built in all these theatres to attract
the super elites by offering them extravagant treatment for exorbitant
prices. These lounges are different from the other auditoriums in
offering reclining seats, three-course meal, in house service, and a
separate entry and exit. Seemingly modeled on the lines of the
ostentatious economy class seats of the flights, following their
footsteps, the next thing would probably be to provide massage
treatments to the patrons while they are watching the film! PVR
Cinemas offer the provision of mobile booking in which case payments
have to be made through credit cards. JAM Shipra is also planning to
offer provisions for online ticket booking. Hence one sees that the
exhibition patterns are taking a direction, which seeks to cater to
and suit only the most affluent classes. Gentrification may be said to
be taking place on a higher lever as it were.

The second category of theatres comprises of smaller format
multiplexes-the solo multiplexes, i.e the ones not allied to malls and
those with only a few retail showrooms inside the same complex. SM
World, Fun Cinemas, Silver City, M4U, Movie Palace, Movie World, Wave,
Galaxy, and AEZ fall within this category. Most of these i.e apart
from Wave Kaushambi and AEZ, are not located close to the elite
neighborhoods, and therefore cater to mostly a lower middle class
population. In comparison to the shopping mall multiplexes, which are
in proximity to elite neighborhoods and target audiences specifically
from within a radius of 5 km, these other multiplexes attempt to
obtain a wider catchment area and target all classes and especially
the lower middle class since the upper classes are already divided
between the big formats.

The solo multiplexes are facing stiff competition from the Shopping
Mall multiplexes and have lost most of the upper class patrons to
them.  To keep the lower middle class patrons from getting similarly
deflected, these multiplexes have considerably lowered their ticket
rates. As a result they are barely able to avail much profit since the
little return that they get goes in meeting equipment maintenance,
housekeeping and security charges . The multiplexes in the border
areas, such as Movie World, and those away from the Shopping mall
multiplexes, such as Galaxy, Silver City are in a still better
position, while those in the new development area close to the
Mall-Multiplexes, like Wave Kaushambi and AEZ are the worst affected.

The story of the single screen cinema halls is even more deplorable as
slowly these are getting extinct unable to cope with the onslaught of
new exhibition forms. All of these are located in the old development
area of Ghaziabad as they were the first few entertainment centers in
the area. Vasant, Urvashi, Manohar, Apsara, Star, Navrang, Pawan,
Choudhary, Manochitralek belong to this category. Urvashi closed down
in 2006 and Pawan and Choudhary in 2005. The rest are teetering with
losses and in a few years these remaining theatres are expected to
close down as well.

The government in sharp contrast to its attitude towards the
multiplexes is rather hostile and unsympathetic towards the situation
of these old theatres. In fact the governmental schemes are favoring
and aiding the process of 'cleansing', by giving incentives to old
theatres to reconvert into multiplexes. Choudhary for eg, is being
broken down and rebuilt into a multiplex. The reason as stated by the
Entertainment Officer of the Ghaziabad Entertainment Department, is
that the entertainment revenue from the multiplexes is much more as
compared to single screen theatres. There is also a non-economic cause
for this discrimination. Town Planner of GDA, Mr S.C Gaur, expressed
his approval of the changing scenario by stating that cinema
exhibition in its traditional form had been more of a problem than a
source of revenue for the government. As there were specific
non-parrallel show timings in single screen halls, when the show
broke, the sudden rampage of audience crowd created traffic problem
near the market areas. Since the multiplexes are more 'organized',
providing their own parking areas and since security concerns are also
taken care of by the multiplex management, so it saves much trouble
for the government. Also Mr S.C Gaur commented that 'thanks to the
multiplexes, theatres are being cleared of the uncouth miscreants who
were responsible for the bad image of cinema theatres'. Hence also for
its new 'gentry' look, multiplexes seem to incur state favor.

As a result, the old cinema theatres of Ghaziabad are in a state of
decay. As they have lost their earlier middle class and lower middle
class audience, who are now catered by the solo multiplexes, these
theatres now cater to the labour class population. Ticket rates are
therefore maintained within a cheap range. Vasant has the highest
ticket rates amongst these theatres- 40/-, 25/- and 15/- for balcony,
dress circle and front circle respectively. Star, Navrang and Apsara
offer the cheapest prices- 8/- and 10/- in Star and Navrang and 6/-
and 12/- in Apsara. As the ticket prices are so low, the owners are
hardly able to afford distribution and print costs of the A grade
films. Vasant is still able to show one or two A grade films a month
but largely restricts to B category films. The others can only afford
C grade films. Sometimes these theatres also screen Blue films to
attract crowd and if caught are debarred of license. Navrang had to
close down for a fortnight in the month of June for this reason.

In the public realm these theatres are seen as unsafe and 'immoral'
spaces much like the theatres of Nigeria spoken of by Brian Larkin.
They have an ominous identity in the public imaginary. None of the
lower middle class people enter these areas and women keep away from
their shadows even. But what is important to understand is that these
spaces were not always like this. The labor classes visited these
theatres even before, but the standard of films shown were not bad.
The gentry shun these spaces due to their present illicit nature, but
it must also be acknowledged that it is them who are responsibile in
bringing about this state of affairs.