Sathyam Cinemas, the famous Chennai-based movie exhibition company would soon enter Bengaluru.
Bangalore Mirror reports that, the theatre complex, which would be called The Cinema, will come up in six months in Magadi Road.
Bengaluru will be the first city outside of Tamil Nadu to launch Chennai’s premier cinema company.
It was set up in 1974, and remains popular in Chennai as ‘Sathyam’ even after it was renamed as SPI Cinemas. Sathyam Cinemas has often been lauded for its top-class screening and inexpensive pricing.
"It's too early to talk about the project. Yes, construction is going on and we are happy to come to Bengaluru. It will come up on a newly built mall on Magadi Road," Preetha Ramaswamy, marketing manager, SPI Cinemas, confirmed to Mirror.
"We have been looking to expand further, particularly in South. Obviously, Bengaluru is a natural choice," said Preetha added.
When asked about pricing, the marketing manager told the newspaper that the company policy did not allow charging exorbitant rates.
She said, "As a company, our policy is not to have exorbitant rates. The very idea of having a theatre is to draw more and more people. We want masses to come in and enjoy our unique cinematic experience. The pricing and other modalities will be worked out later."
According to the newspaper report, sources also said the theatre complex on Magadi Road will have five screens. SPI is the first mutiplex operator in India to equip its screens with Dolby Atmos and Auro 11.1 sound systems.
Many cinema giants have tried to acquire Sathyam, which is relatively a smaller rival.
In January 2015, shares of PVR cinemas touched a 52-week high after there were rumours that the group was planning to acquire SPI Cinemas.
In 2014, there were reports that Inox, India’s second largest multiplex chain, wanted to buy Satyam for Rs.220 crores.
The quality of screening has wooed many Indian and foreign directors. Ang Lee, director of Oscar-winning movie, Life of Pi was surprised by the 3D experience during the screening in 2012.
Indian directors like Mani Ratnam and Adoor Gopalakrishnan prefer to have their movies premiered at Sathyam Cinemas.