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Only theatre to screen ‘Interstellar’ in original format is Hyderabad’s IMAX
Sci-fi fans and, especially, Nolan fans have all the reason to rejoice. The rest of India would have to hop onto a plane to watch Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ the way its creator intends it to be seen.
Sci-fi fans and, especially, Nolan fans have all the reason to rejoice. The rest of India would have to hop onto a plane to watch Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ the way its creator intends it to be seen.
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Hyderabad’s Prasads IMAX has the only screen in the country where the space exploration drama can be watched on 70mm film and in the immersive format. ‘Interstellar’ opens in India on November 7, two days after its release in the US. The movie stars Mathew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as astronauts who burrow through a wormhole to look for an alternative planet to earth.
Nolan, a big advocate of celluloid in the digital age, is an ardent proponent of preserving older film projection methods and of pushing the boundaries of filmmaking technology.
“David Lean dragged 65-millimeter cameras into the desert (for ‘Lawrence of Arabia’) and I don’t know why we shouldn’t have similar aspirations,” Nolan told the New York Times in an interview.
He shot Interstellar on 35mm stock as well on 70mm in the IMAX format, an acronym for Image Maximum to magnify the cinematic experience. But since cinemas around the world have been replacing outdated 35mm projection with digital alternatives, the film will be released in six formats, including 35mm, IMAX as well as 70mm on IMAX.
In India, 95 per cent of the single-screen and multiplex cinemas have switched to digital, according to this year’s FICCI-KPMG report on trends in the media and entertainment industries. The country is estimated to have between 12,000 and 13,000 screens. Of these, only Prasad’s IMAX has the 70mm projection equipment.
“Prasad’s IMAX is part of a multiplex complex built in 2003, and its management has retained its capacity to screen in different formats,” said T Srikanth, general manager, operations, Prasad’s IMAX. “We have a capacity of 630 seats, and our IMAX screen is 92 ft by 72 ft and the biggest in the country. The size of the average multiplex screen is 24 ft by 55 feet, so we stand out in terms of sheer size.”
Srikanth added that he has been fielding inquiries from as far away as Delhi and Bangalore for show timings and tickets. “The IMAX theatre generally does very well for us – for instance, ‘Avatar’ ran for almost a year and was watched by over 3.75 lakh people. We are really lucky to be screening ‘Interstellar’,” he added.
