Cinepolis attracts crowds as City Centre gets revised Fire NOC

Mangalore, December 12: “Every safety and security measure has been implemented in the City Centre complex at present, and the cinema license for Cinepolis was issued by the District Magistrate once the Fire Service Department issued the revised NOC for the building,” said CEO of Mohtisham Complexes Pvt Ltd Dharmaraj.

Speaking at a press conference at City Centre Mall here on Tuesday night, he tried to clear doubts about the licenses procured for the City Centre Mall and Cinepolis multiplex, and said that the opening of the latter had been pending merely due to technicalities.

“Every regulation under the Karnataka Cinema (Regulation) Act was fulfilled, and certificates from various departments had been obtained as per section 11 of the Act, which are applicable for a building where cinemas are shown, including 'Multiplex Complex'. The NOCs from Public Works Department (PWD), Health Department as well as the Fire Service Department (FSD) had been obtained for launching Cinepolis. However, the setback was encountered because the District Magistrate refused to issue license for the cinema, stating that he could not issue it on the grounds that the FSD had refused to issue the revised NOC for the entire complex,” he said.

Detailing the two-year long ordeal over legal requirements, he said that the FSD had cancelled the license for the complex stating few 'arbitrary' conditions, and found violations in the construction of the building, even though these conditions were not prescribed in any Act or Rules. “While applying for the revised license for the complex, Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had clarified that there had been no violations had been found in the complex under the KC(R) Act and overruled them. The FSD finally decided to get a legal opinion from the Law Department, based on which it finally revoked the cancellation of the building license and issued a revised NOC for the complex. Hence, the District Magistrate has issued the license to run the multiplex. We should have actually got it two years ago,” he said.

Opening of Cinepolis

Acclaiming its popularity, Devang Sampath from Cinepolis said that without a single published announcement, Cinepolis Mangalore, which opened on Saturday, recorded a sale of 2,000 tickets over the weekend.

“It is a remarkable opening and a grand success, even without a single promotional advertisement, which means that the Multiplex will continue to draw crowds in the coming days. It is the first international and exclusive cinema chain,” he said.

With regard to the upcoming mega-malls in the city, Director of Mohtisham Complexes Pvt Ltd S M Sawood said that although there was bound to be competition with other malls, City Centre had an advantage over them. The mall's strategic location, its infrastructure and facilities, together with big brands already featured here gives it a tremendous advantage over others. Moreover, having been the first in the city, it has gained popularity among the city-goers, he said.

President elect of CREDAI Pushparaj Jain, Vice president of CREDAI D B Mehta, President of Architect Guild Venkatesh Pai and ACCE President Vijay Vishnu Mayya were also present.