Saad Sharif, General Manager Marketing & Operations – Cinegold Plex, talks about Bahria Town’s luxury cinema project and evolutionary concepts in cinema entertainment.
Synergyzer: Please give details about the Cinegold Plex project?
Saad Sharif: Cinegold Plex is a project of Bahria Town and Pakistan’s first Gold Class luxury cinema. It is a state of the art cinema equipped with the most modern 3D screens and sound systems. At the moment, we have one cinema with two screens and one gold class restaurant. The screens are classified into Red and Gold.
Our Red Screen has a capacity of 202 seats with 2 VIP boxes, with 7 seats per box, and an exclusive 14 seat gallery. The VIP boxes and the gallery are equipped with luxury sofa recliners and provide privacy for the families. The large screen size of the hall enhances the 3D quality and effects that have not been witnessed in any other cinema of Pakistan so far.
The Gold Lounge is Pakistan’s first Gold Class screen that is equipped with 96 sofa recliners. The Gold Lounge has 3 separate VIP Boxes on the first floor of the theatre hall that have a total seating capacity of 18 persons along with an in-house Gold Restaurant that serves delectable cuisines, deserts and drinks.
Our target market is the high-end segment of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Synergyzer: How will these cinemas be different from other modern cinema structures being installed?
Saad: We at Cinegold Plex literally believe in the word “grand”. From the construction to the interior and finishing, we have invested in the top designers and materials to ensure the movie experience for our customers is grand in every sense of the word. We are very particular about the selection of the equipment as the picture and sound quality is the essence of an amazing movie experience. We have installed the latest Digital 3D Barco Projectors along with 7.1 QSC Digital Surround System.
Our Gold Lounge Restaurant can accommodate 60 people along with a wide variety of snacks, desserts and mocktails. This makes us the first cinema in Pakistan to have a built-in restaurant different from the concession food stands to give our customers a truly gold class experience.
Synergyzer: What will be the pricing structure of these cinemas?
Saad: Our Red Screen seats are priced at Rs. 500 a seat. The VIP boxes are available for Rs. 7,000 per box. The seats at the VIP gallery are priced at Rs. 1,000 for each seat.
The recliners at the Gold Screen auditorium are available for Rs. 1,000 each, and the VIP boxes are available for Rs. 7000 per box.
Synergyzer: Why has Bahria Town undertaken the construction and installation of modern cinema structures?
Saad: Bahria Town works on the concept of creating a self-sufficient community and providing all amenities to its residents. Cinema construction was started as one of the amenities for the healthy entertainment to Bahria Town, Rawalpindi’s residents. The standard of our cinema resulted in an overwhelming response from the Bahria Town residents, as well as the neighboring city residents. This eventually led to the exploration of the huge potential the cinema business holds and ultimately more cinema projects in the pipeline.
Synergyzer: What is Bahria Town’s vision with the construction of these cinemas?
Saad: The vision for all projects of Bahria Town, including the cinema, is to provide world class amenities, while ensuring the highest international standards, timely delivery, and lifelong customer satisfaction.
This is the foundation of every project that Bahria Town undertakes and our mission and vision revolves around these core principles.
Synergyzer: There are already investments being made in the twin cities on modern cinemas, with Cinepax and Centaurus Cinemas already active. How will this affect your footfall?
Saad: We do not believe that the construction of more cinemas in the twin cities would affect our footfall. If we calculate the number of cinema visitors to screen ratio then we do need more quality cinemas in the city as the demand is still higher than the supply. Regardless of that, we believe the level of standard and service that we provide has already marked us as the cinema of choice for movie enthusiasts.
Synergyzer: Is there any investment in the film distribution network also by Bahria Town?
Saad: With the number of cinema projects Bahria Town is investing in, it makes sense to explore the film distribution network. We do have plans to invest in this business in future but at the moment our focus is on building world class cinemas across major cities of Pakistan.