George Bernard Shaw in the nineteenth century made a funny quote about Cricket as a game played by eleven fools watched by eleven thousand fools. But in this 21st century not just thousands but lakhs of fans are lingering in the cricket grounds to watch their all time favorite Cricket!
Here is a good news for all those Cricket lovers. No need of going to Cricket Ground to watch IPL matches, you can watch it in Cinema Halls.
UFO Movies, the pioneers of digital satellite cinema technology, will show matches of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) 2010 live across theatres in the country, with the two semi-finals and the final to be shown in 3-D in Mumbai.
While interacting with reporters here on Tuesday, UFO Movies India Ltd Strategic Advisor Charuhas Satam said for the first time, all the matches of the IPL, slated to begin next month, would be beamed to the theatres digitally over satellite, using technology that has revolutionised film distribution.
The telecast will not have commercial breaks between overs and the picture quality will be excellent, making it a better experience than watching the game on television at home, he said.
''To provide unique entertainment value and keep the IPL magic alive, a carnival and a stadium-like atmosphere will be created across select screens. The theatres will have cricket related merchandise, gifts, food stalls, and some screens will have cheerleaders and live bands'', Mr Charuhas said. Commercials would be shown only at the beginning, during the two strategic breaks after the first ten overs of either inning, during lunch break, and finally after the match ends till the prize distribution ceremony begins, he said.
Mr Charuhas said the participating theatres will work out the ticket rates and packages, if any. ''The gross revenue from ticket sales will be shared equally by UFO and the theatre. UFO will keep the revenue from advertising, and will also bear the expenditure for the additional facilities like merchandise and cheerleaders'', he said.
It would be up to the individual theatres to decide which matches to show, Mr Charuhas said. UFO hoped to enlist a total of 1,000 theatres, including 250 multiplexes, in 500 cities and towns in India for such telecast, and has already entered into agreements with 27 in the 11 districts of Vidarbha, he also said. UFO has entered into a strategic alliance with multiplex chains like Cinemax, INOX, Fame and PVR, among others, for screening the matches, he added.
The two semi-finals and the final match will be shown in 3-D to enhance the experience in 50 theatres in Mumbai, Mr Charuhas said, adding they hoped to show the matches in 3-D in 300 to 400 theatres in the country next year. The first semi-final is to be played in Mumbai on April 21, the second at Bangalore the next day, and the final in Navi Mumbai on April 25.
UFO Movies beams digitally mastered movie images through satellite directly to cinema halls, facilitating wide release without additional costs for prints. It is a chain of 1,700 satellite-based digital cinemas in India, and has screened 3.1 million shows so far.
According to Mr Charuhas, UFO holds the patent for the technology, and there has been no major release since 2005 that has not been shown through this platform. Nearly 40 per cent of box office revenue is through this technology, he added.
- Asian Tribune -
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