BANGALORE: Funmax Family Entertainment (Funmax) opened its fifth 4D SFX Theatre in Bangalore today.
Funmax already has two 4D SFX theatres in Hyderabad and one each in New Delhi and Visakhapatnam, besides which it has set up two theatres in Saudi Arabia and one in Jordan.
The company plans to add another ten 4D SFX screens in India as well as abroad by the end of this fiscal. According to Funmax technical director B Abraham, there are currently only about 100 4D SFX screens in the world, with the USA leading with the most number of screens.
Though similar theatres are present in India, including one at the Innovative film city in Bangalore, Funmax’s USP is that it has developed the entire equipment and infrastructure in India by the Funmax team which has resulted in cost savings of about 60 per cent over the existing theatres that have been set up with imported equipment.
Another major differentiator is that Funmax plans to change the movie every quarter in each theatre as opposed to the long running content that other players exhibit.
Funmax already has a library of a handful of films and expects to have another nine movies created by global leaders in 3D and 4D content Mwave. The Bangalore theatre that opened today has a seating capacity of 32 and the first three shows were fully booked at a steep weekend price of Rs 150 per person for a 15-20 minute show. The weekday price is Rs 120 per ticket.
Funmax claims that it is a pioneer in themed environment at malls and amusement parks with a variety family entertainment options such as mirror maze, spintrix, horror house, 4D Theatre, Playpen, Food court, Amazing Children play area, etc.
Quite like the themed theatres in the west, Funmax’s Hyderabad 4d SFX theatre is themed as a Funzone Water Park, while the one in Visakhapatnam is themed as Funzone Jungle Adventure. Space restrictions have not allowed Funmax too much of leeway for a theme at Bangalore, but the promoters are planning to make it a family entertainment spot with a children’s play and themed birthday celebration area.
