Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Getting digital wrong in Mumbai from a distance

Never let facts get in the way of a good story, or better, of a daring piece of analysis. That is the only conclusion I can draw from the following breathless pronouncement by my colleague Nick Dagger over at Digital Cinema Report:

July 15, 2008 | Issue #131

A recent press release from Digital Projection International highlighted the news that the company is supplying the projectors for all of the 1,000 digital screens in UFO Moviez’s digital cinema network in Mumbai, India. While that is admittedly a significant announcement for DPI, I think it represents an even more significant development for the global digital cinema marketplace. My reasoning? The projectors are all 720P HD, which means that – for now, and by choice – the largest digital theatre chain in the largest city in the world will not be showing first run Hollywood movies digitally.
Interesting if it was true, but it is not. Simple research would have thrown up two glaring errors in this claim. The first is that Mumbai is the largest city on earth. It is not. From Wikipedia:

It is not the biggest, it just feels like the most crowded.

Secondly, there are not 1,000 UFO screens using DPI projectors in Mumbai. There aren't even 1,000 digital screens by any and all operators combined. In fact, there aren't 1,000 cinema screens in Mumbai full stop.

A quick visit to UFO Moviez's website would have confirmed it, as they helpfully provide a list of all their screens everywhere in India by state:


According to this list Maharastra (the state in which Mumbai is located) had a total of 257 screens installed. Of these I counted 46 screens in Mumbai (if we include Navi Mumbai). So well short of the 1,000 claimed.

You do not need to live in Mumbai to know this - an Internet connection and a healthy dose of skepticism about outlandish digital claims is all that is required. But he is right that UFO will not be showing Hollywood films on the e-cinema screens. However, a little bird tells me that they have a surprise in store.

5 comments:

Pulsurge said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pulsurge said...

Rather the press has got it wrong to say the cinemas are in Mumbai. UFO with its HO in Mumbai, it is from where UFO controls its all-India operations.

About exhibition of Hollywood films, you're right on the surprise part. Just a matter of time.

Regards,

Deepak

DCinemaCompliance_Guy said...

I had an accountant who pointed out that she triple triple checked anything with round numbers (especially my expense account.)

Same should apply for writers who have a responsibility to research and tell us facts.

...as I've said a thousand times.

Pulsurge said...

Hahaha....you're right.

But you went ahead and posted it. You did cross check on UFO's website- you might have concluded the confusion there. BTW in the end the company's website has the right figures, doesnt it?

Unknown said...

mumbai has over 300 screens. although i dont know the exact number. some recent films released in mumbai, have been come out on over 250 screens simultaneously.

India is much more film crazy than to get by with under 50 screens in Mumbai!