HYDERABAD: Come Friday, RTC X Roads gets jam-packed at very specific timings – read movie show-timings. And if it was a super star’s movie, more so. Such is the craze for watching commercial flicks in these single screens, first-day first show in Hyderabad. One such theatre that is an active part of this movie-going culture is Sudarshan 35 mm. Four decades since its inception, Sudarshan maintains a stronghold in the hearts of Hyderabadi Telugu film fanatics for watching their favourite star’s movie in all its glory. Reiterating the same, Big Cine Expo Awards 2017, felicitated Sudarshan 35mm as The Best Single Screen Theatre in India. Dr. Nandagopal Tadla, Director, believes it is their unwavering motto of providing “the best movie-watching experience” that has got them this honour.
An unexpected call
“We got a call from Bangalore one day telling us that Sudarshan has been awarded the best single screen a few weeks ago. We had no idea!” shares Nandagopal. Without sending any nominations or intimations, Nandagopal says, they were called to Chennai to recieve the award by the company early this month. “We started the theatre 42 years ago with the aim to provide the best experience to those who come to watch the movie. The costs have changed, the types of movies have changed, the people have changed, but we still stick to making sure we give the best to those who sit in our theatre,” he says fondly.
Being one of the first theatres to install 4k projection, and state-of-the-art sound systems, he says Sudarshan stayed updated.
Explaining in simpler terms why Telugu audience keep coming back to Sudarshan, he says, “Now the movie that we are playing in our theatre might be playing in another 100 theatres in the city. But there are people who come particularly to our theatre for the experience. Meanwhile, some are here because it’s closer or more convenient. Either way, we keep them coming.”
We are a ‘megaplex’
Despite the influx of multiplexes in the city’s scene, there is a certain appeal for star movies to be watched in single screens. Particularly, those which are considered a sentiment to the heroes themselves. Stars like Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu, Venkatesh, and Nagarjuna, not only make sure their movies are released in Sudarshan, but some of them also make it to the theatre on the first day to watch it with the masses as a sentiment. “We never considered multiplexes as a threat or a competiotion. Their appeal, their audience, their content and even their challenges are not the same as ours,” Nandagopal explains in detail. He adds, “In fact, I like to call ourselves a megaplex. Multiplex are more screens with fewer seats while ours is one screen with about 1,200 seats.”
Love unchanged
So what has changed in these four decades, we ask. Nandgopal says jovially, “The costs changed! There was a time when a ticket barely costed `2.” He adds, “On a more serious note, the technology has advanced so much. The content keeps changing like seasons and so does the business based on what is playing.” As an afterthought he adds, “All said and done, what hasnt changed is our city’s love for movies and our motto to keep giving audience their best movie-watching experience.”