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Our Bureau

Pune , March 17

ENTERTAINMENT company Adlabs Films Ltd plans to invest over Rs 45 crore this year to expand its network of multiplexes in metro cities to emerge the leader in this segment.

The company is also simultaneously pushing forward with its plans to digitise theatres in B and C class towns and is in the process of installing latest technology equipment to kickstart the project in 70 theatres before tackling fresh markets in Gujarat and Delhi, Mr Manmohan Shetty, Chairman, Adlabs Films, said here.

Adlabs Films is also in the process of launching its first international movie, a bilingual film, Marigold, (Hindi, English) starring Salman Khan among others, in collaboration with Hyperion Pictures, Mr Shetty told reporters here at the launch of its multiplex in Pune, Gold Adlabs.

``We are putting in $2 million out of the total cost of $6 million and are gearing up to launch it by the end of March,'' Mr Shetty said, adding that this could be the first step towards venturing into making films in Hollywood. ``Any growth into international film production will depend on how this film fares at the box office,'' he added. Marigold, incidentally, will also be processed at the company's film processing lab.

Adlabs Films, which is a dominant player in film production, distribution and exhibition segments is on the verge of an ambitious growth plan for its multiplex business where it plans to add an additional five multiplexes this year to the existing four (three in Mumbai and one in Nashik), Ms Pooja Shetty, Director, said.

The five new multiplexes are scheduled to open in Mangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune this year taking the company's total tally of screens to 36 at the end of the year. The Rs 10-crore Pune multiplex, incidentally, is the company's largest yet and will have three screens with a total of 1,100 seats. The company also owns and runs the IMAX Adlab which has four screens and the unique dome theatre in Mumbai and plans to soon launch the city's vintage Metro theatre as the 5-screen Metro Adlabs multiplex soon, Ms Shetty said.

``We hope to end the current fiscal with revenues of Rs 101 croreand expect to take this to the level of touch Rs 154 crore by end 2006,' she added.

Meanwhile, the company is now in the process of re-starting its project to digitise cinemas in B and C class centres in collaboration with Mukta Arts, according to Mr Shetty who said new technology equipment is now being installed in these cinemas. The project had run into trouble due to issues related to equipment incompatibility but the company is now reviving it with investments of Rs 10 crore already made on it, Mr Shetty said.

The digitising project will dramatically reduce the costs involved in distributing films, will ensure that new films hit cinemas in these towns almost simultaneously with the launch in metros and thus reduce the piracy menace.

The company is also currently in the process of evaluating the feasibility of entering the business of television content and has made recruitments towards this end, according to Mr Shetty who pointed out that a clearer picture on the proposed new business will only emerge an year from now. The company's films production business, meanwhile, is revving up with plans now being to launch at least 3-4movies every year. Adlabs Films will launch two films starring Amitabh Bachchan, Wagt and Dil Jo Bhi Kahe in the next couple of months while Aapaharan, a Prakash Jha film, starring Ajay Devgan and Nana Patekar, will be launched in June this year.

``We will invest Rs 17-18 crore for film production this year,'' Mr Shetty said pointing out that the company's revenues from multiplexes will shoot up from the current level of 30 per cent of total turnover to 55 per cent one the new multiplexes are in place.

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Adlabs Films draws up Rs 45-cr expansion plan

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