Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Looking Ahead - 2007

Yesterday, I looked back, now allow me to look ahead, albeit narrowly, only through 2007.

World: Iraq will continue to unravel
Iraq situation will go from bad to worse and will continue to embroil US. This will become a hot presidential election issue in US and the course correction will happen only after a new President comes on board.

World: Iran will go nuclear (or very close to it)
Iran will take firm steps to becoming nuclear, much to the chagrin of US, Israel and its allies. India's position on this issue will become an contentious issue in the domestic politics with the Left parties raising the imperialist bogey.

World: Internet will spread even further
Web will continue to proliferate and connect people, communities & countries as never before. In India, broad band will get entrenched and will continue become cheaper (already, it is one of the cheapest in the world). However, some Governments (like China, Saudi Arabia) will continue to curtail and censor access to information.

India: Kashmir issue will remain unsolved
India and Pakistan will continue to do everything but solve the core issue. More precious lives will continue to be lost in the name of Kashmir.

India: Mobile Revolution Phase-II
Mobile Phones will become cheaper and will spread to towns and villages. Mobile technology may have been invented elsewhere, but 'missed call' and 'free incoming calls' will continue to fuel unprecedented growth.

India: Year of Retail revolution
If 2006 was the year of mobile phones, 2007 will be remembered for organized Retail sector explosion. Reliance, Bharti / Walmart and Big Bazzar will change the landscape for ever. Chennai got its first Big Bazzar last week and Reliance is all set to open outlets in the first quarter.

Chennai: More Multiplexes & Malls
More Cinema multiplexes and malls will open 2007 and will change the movie going and shopping experience even further. I have been keenly waiting for INOX to open near my place, but that has been delayed to Tamil Nadu Government's interference in the ticket pricing. But, this issue will be sorted out and multiplexes will bloom this year.

Chennai:Roads will continue to be choked
Chennaites will have more two wheelers and four wheelers making the roads impassable. Any remaining side walks will vanish and will be taken over by squatters and /or vehicles. Being a pedestrian on busy roads will become a perilous venture.

Chennai: Rajani - Kamal will fight it out
Much awaited Rajani, Kamal movies (Sivaji & Dasavatharam) will fight it out in the box office, but only one will hit the jackpot. I am going with Sivaji.. How about you?

3 comments:

  1. GO GO GO FOR MULTIPLEXES IN CHENNAI.WE NEED ATLEAST A FEW IN SUCH A BIG CITY LIKE CHENNAI.INOX AND PVR ARE SURE TO BRING SO MUCH JOY TO THE CITY MAD AFTER MOVIES AND CINEMAS.GOVERMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE MODERN CINEMAS REVELUTION AND HAVE A SPERATRE POLICY FRAMED FOR MULTIPLEXES.MALL AND MULTIPLEX REVOLUTION IS JUST BEGINING IN CHENNAI AFTER MUMBAI,DELHI AND BANGALORE

    ReplyDelete
  2. INOX multiplex @ Chennai Citi Centre Mall is great place to watch a movie. I loved the entire movie going experience. The ambience of the multiplex is A+ grade and finally,finally we Chennaiates have atleast one true modern multiplex in all senses. Sathyam is good, okay. Its just and old theatre built in 1976 thats been getting renovation after renovation. It s biggest problem apart from parking is that its not inside a mall. So doesn’t have all the added entertainment for the whole family like having an international food court, large retail stores of all kinds, modern games zones and mega fun city. Mayajaal is quite far from the city center and its quite below par in ambience and experience is not top class. Its lacks any kinda class in its finishes nor does it offer the kinda comfort provided by say a national multiplex operator for the same price. Mayajaal is local setup and has a long way to go to catch up with INOX,PVR or Sathyam. It would have been good had it been given more attention to detail, which is what separates the men from the boys. The only problem i have with INOX is that it is always packed esp on weekends. Hardly can I get seats on weekends.The 4 screens prooves to be too less for such a large city like Chennai as its Chennai's first true multiplex in all sense and first one inside a mall. They should have had atleast 6 or 7 screens. But then again judging by the parking provision made i think 4 screens just abt fits ok. I hope INOX will open a few more multiplexes in other parts of Chennai like Anna Nagar, T.Nagar, Nungambakkam, Omr, Ecr etc. Chennai needs many more such top notch national multiplexes to set up their operations.The demand for quality multiplex far out strips the little supply availaible today. What the city needs is a large mall 7 or 8 lakh sq.ft with atleast 10 screens like what Bangalore has. Hum are there any such malls coming up atall in Chennai?? Chennai Citi Centre is not a very big mall atall and the INOX inside is quite small but in line with the mall size. I’m hoping Ampa Mall will open very soon, as per schedule this year and te much awaited PVR Cinemas, India's very best multiplex chain will finally launch in Chennai by mid-end 2007. Chennai among all metros is Cinemas crazy be it English, Tamil, or Hindi and one of the best possibly available markets for modern multiplexes esp inside quality well planned malls. Tamil Nadu among all states in India has the greatest potential for multiplexes and its demand far outstrips little supply and so I believe the government ought to co-operate and comes up with a separate multiplex policy for Tamil Nadu separate from tradional stand alone theatres laying down guidelines for what constitutes multiplexes.It must encourage the multiplex industry by giving soaps to multiplex operators national and local like entertainment tax exemption for 5 years. Its must surely do remove price caps and also must methodologically try and have the 10 Rupee tickets allocations made compulsory only here in all of India removed slowly from multiplexes. Its like saying in Taj Cormandel or Park Sheraton hotel you must compulsorily serve Rs 10 rupee meals or maximum you can sell rooms is say Rs 1000. Prices should be determined by the Market forces and not government and the consumer must be given the choice to either see a movie at Rs 40-50 in a ordinary or/and run down theatre or watch the same movie in an world-class state of the art multiplex paying premium anywhere from Rs.120-250 depending on the kind of facilities offered in the multiplex. Provide more facilities and you must be given to choice then to price more for those facilities. Chennaiaites today are willing to pay to get the entire 21st century cinema experience in a world-class and comfortable ambience. It does not make much sense to fix caps. Laying down more guidelines for meeting higher pricing is better. Else Chennai can never have the Gold Class Cinemas so enjoyed by Bangaloreans and Delhites. Are’nt they lucky to have the choice?? I hope the government will look into this quite seriously and make the necessary logical amendments to formulate a separate policy to encourage the multiplex industry, the cinemas of the 21st century and make Tamil Nadu, which is one India's most progressive state in almost all sectors, the most progressive state too when it comes to embracing multiplexes as it has always beeen a land of cinemas and cinemas mad people of all classes

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chennai is one city where modern mall development has been slow.It has the greatest unmet demand for mall among all cities in India today.Going by its size the number of quality malls are very few and far between.There is no mall the size of Inorbit,Maland nor even Forum.Its sad how developers have not been able to still yet bring out a well planned,large size,modernly designed mall in this Gateway city of South India.I hope people are reading and will act upon this humangous demand prevailing in this largest of metro in the South.It has just 2 malls one Spencers which is big,given that but decade old,poorly designed interiors inside,badly maintained not in tune with todays standards,and most importantly for its long term life has no entertainment anchor like a world class multiplex inside and there is Citi Centre which is new and hep but has a very poor retail mix,poor retail layout design and very tight parking.

    ReplyDelete