Journey from Mumbai - Hyderabad - Prasads - Interstellar & Back!!
To begin with, I am a Cinema Junkie & an Avid visitor to Cinema Halls, Its one place where i believe magic truly happens, Its like temple to me, everytime i enter i utter a small prayer in my mind, few of my friends have noticed while others i am sure no one has or hasn't pointed to me directly, I have a strong assumption about the audience who walks in a cinema hall comes out as a changed person, every movie experience irrespective of the fact how good or bad a film is, it certainly leaves an impact to the audience, I have been experiencing this from my childhood, every time i go in & come out with a different thought, a different meaning, it has always been a learning curve. I Fancy those Big Screens, Loud Sound, The Smell of Seats, Cinema Hall even today plays quite an important role in projecting the cinema to its audience and changing mindsets. Here's one such experience i have been wanting write down and share for quite sometime.
First thing firsts The Article :
It was about a week before Christopher Nolan's Interstellar was about to hit screens and every other fan (Including Me) was awaiting for it, I Enquired about IMAX in mumbai and they said bookings will start soon, asked few friends to tag along which they did, it was decided we are watching the film in IMAX Wadala (Mumbai) for sure.
The Next Day while browsing online one article that caught my eye and when i clicked the first thing i read was
Full Article: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/maximum-fun-in-the-city/article6552598.ece
I was shocked to read, somehow something died in me, only one question popped in my head repetitively "Why Hyderabad? Why there? Why not Mumbai?" as mumbai being the hub of hindi cinema, it has everything, reading along i realised more & more about Prasads Cinema in Hyderabad. In my mind somewhere in the back i made sure i visit this place soon and watch interstellar.
Second Interstellar Released :
i was so much passionate that i started following prasads Interstellar showtimes weekly, on twitter i followed their handle, i even started to search #PrasadsInterstellar where i used to read people's experiences there.
I dug deeper to find out its Asia's Largest IMAX Screen & World's 2nd Largest IMAX Screen. This Blew my Mind, by this time i had seen Interstellar in Mumbai's IMAX & was completely blown away by the visuals, Now i had one thing clear in my mind, "I Have to Visit Hyderabad For Sure & Watch Interstellar at Prasad's IMAX in 70MM Format"
I Started to understand the technicalities of the print and the difference between a normal print & an IMAX 70mm Print. Curiosity reached to next level as to why Nolan said to watch it in IMAX 70mm Film Print? What bigger difference would it make? and the only cinema who caters is Prasads Hyderabad. It's there in our country, and It's not that far from Mumbai, something was bugging me inside till i found out this explanation.
This Explanation cleared up everything and i was all set to leave for Hyderabad.
Time went by, i was planning but nothing worked out. something or the other was coming in between and the trip was getting delayed again & again, asked few friends to join, but after some negative responses, my hopes ran down. Nothing seemed to work out, i finally thought its not going to happen, The last thing which its there is sooner going to be extinct/History ie 70mm IMAX Film Print at Prasads Hyderabad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwHVtAan38&feature=youtu.be
A Month Passed by & I was active on twitter & was following Prasad's twitter handle daily, and they posted this -
That's it, this article somehow gave me an adrenaline rush, Searched online for tickets, booked for 9th Train & return on 10th by train. My Only Objective was to reach Hyderabad on 10th Morning, Watch the movie in afternoon & leave for mumbai on 10th night, That's Exactly what happened.
Reached Hyderabad in the early hours and my happiness knew no bounds. Stayed at Cousins place and was off to Prasads.
FIVE, PRASADS Hyderabad :
I had done an advance booking to get the best view, all this while one thing was in my head, another excerpt from the article
Now the technical bug in me started & expectations were sky high, i somehow reached near the screen gate and was waiting for it to open, started noticing the crowd, it was almost a full house show, which even surprised me more, a month later on a weekday afternoon show so much turnup, quite amazed with the thought & came across this,
Bought some food & was the first person to enter the auditorium, Yes, That Level of Excitement, because first there are hardly any pictures of that auditorium, 2nd was very keen to experience the 70mm IMAX Format.
So first of all they have an entry from the bottom of the auditorium, entered to see the auditorium and was stunned to see the sight that i can't describe, it took me couple of seconds to actually believe that this is happening, To a Regular Cinema Hall Visitor, there is some level of excitement every time they visit an unfamiliar cinema place, this was one of them i was keen to visit, be there and experience, Sat down on my seat and discovered the 70mm IMAX SCREEN, at that time nothing was on display, My eyes did a quick scan of the auditorium and was now impatient, looked in my watch and there were couple of minutes still left.
Stadium Style Seating, Dimly Lit Auditorium, I Thought to Myself "Oh Boy, I am in For Some Show Today". Then after few trailers and commercials, INTERSTELLAR Began, in the first 5 Minutes I knew the difference between the regular IMAX (Which i saw in Mumbai) & Here at PRASADS 70mm IMAX Screen. Uncompressed Sound, whereas Picture Quality Perfect, Brightness to perfection, the IMAX Sequences were breathtaking and gave me an in film experience, I Have never been closer to cinema like this before, This was one experience, for the entire movie my eyes were gazed at the screen, it swept me with the movie, i cried wherever it was necessary, i was thrilled wherever it was needed & I was amazed everytime the IMAX Sequences were on, 170 Mins of film that has never been experienced before, I was left speechless and was silent after i walked through the exit door, in my mind i thanked Nolan Million Times for this cinema, which is the last time one would see on screen.
I Met Krish Kishan who is the head of marketing with Prasads Entertainment and had a brief talk about my experience here & congratulated him & team for pulling off the show brilliantly, He was polite, humble and was more happy to give more insights about the cinema & their working culture, he also took me to meet the owner of Prasads Mr. Ramesh Prasad, he met me briefly and was amazed to hear about my journey to prasads all the way from mumbai, he was a gem of a person i congratulated him and thanked him & Krish many times for meeting me and giving me their precious time. First the Interstellar Experience and then meeting them was so much for me that i can't even write down here. Finally i bid goodbye to the place and promised to be back soon on a happy note and lifetime memories, Thank you.
The Journey is incomplete without eating the famous hyderabadi biryani, and boarded the train to mumbai.
The Different formats of Interstellar:
Some More Pics of Prasads IMAX
70MM IMAX SCREEN, It's Practically impossible to capture the entire screen on a phone camera.
The Screen Size is even bigger, this is just for the end credits.
The IMAX Sequences look amazing on this 70mm Screen
Stadium Style Seating inside the auditorium also known as Prasads Large Screen.
It's Still Playing there, and i wish it would continue to play longer, This Week 23rd Jan 2015 The Showtimes are 10:45 am & 7:45pm ticket prices 250 rupees. You can book tickets from www.bookmyshow.com or www.prasadz.com. I Kindly apologize for the delay in posting and if i miss out on someone & somebody without you all it wasn't possible Kindly do watch the film for a lifetime of an experience.
