Big cinemas to add 100 more screens by 2010

Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS) Big Cinemas, a subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), plans to add around 100 more screens to its existing network by next year.

'Big cinemas today is India's largest cinema chain with a dominant network of over 213 screens spread across 66 cities. The company is proposing to scale up the network by adding 100 more screens by next year leading to a presence across 85 cities and would cater to more than 35 million customers annually in India,' said a company statement released here Thursday.

Part of Adlabs Films Limited (soon to be renamed Reliance MediaWorks Ltd), the group has also announced the re-organisation of Big Cinemas operations to expand its regional market penetration in India and to adequately support the growth momentum while providing an enhanced movie going experience to the audience, said the statement.

The north, east and central India operations will be looked after by Tushar Dhingra, COO, Big Cinemas and Ashish Saksena will be the COO of the west and south India.

Adlabs operates multiplexes under the BIG Cinemas and has a global footprint of 459 screens spread across India, the US, Malaysia and the Netherlands.

It also has a dominant presence in film services like motion picture processing, visual effects, film restoration and image enhancement in addition to having digital mastering studios and equipment rentals with facilities located in the US and India.