Science City’s IMAX

If things go as planned, the world’s most powerful technologies for big-screen cinema projection – the IMAX giant theatre – at Science City in Ahmedabad will see a transformation.

More than 20 years after it was started with much fanfare, financial complications and technical constraints have led the authorities to consider a switch to digital IMAX technology.

Operated by the Gujarat Council of Science City under the Government of Gujarat, Science City’s IMAX has been limited to screening only science-fiction films for the past three to four years.

Moreover, as Asia’s last surviving 3D giant theatre, it requires substantial financial and technical investments.

Officials in the know reveal that the council aims to switch to a digital equivalent within a year.

‘Show must go on’

Currently, the IMAX theatre hosts not more than two shows a day, running on a rare technology patented by the IMAX company in Canada.

Explaining the move towards digital, Jitendra B Vadar, executive director of Gujarat Council of Science City (he was recently transferred to another department), said: “The IMAX company currently undertakes the maintenance of this technology under a contract. Once that contract runs out, maintenance would be a tremendously complicated task.”

The department has a $90,000 (₹75,86,000) per year maintenance contract with IMAX, which covers quarterly upkeep.

“They also send us necessary spare parts, making us totally dependent on them,” Vadar elaborates.

Another reason for going digital, he adds, is that, “production companies have almost stopped producing films in reel format, creating a major shortage of titles for our shows.”

Science City’s IMAX has screened films like Titanic and Avatar in 3D in the past. Vadar attributes the current limitations to IMAX, which no longer provides reels for popular films.

He explains: “We communicated our desire in screening Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, and the second part of Avatar. We were willing to purchase the reel if available, but IMAX even charges a fee to check availability, limiting our options.” 

The council intends to continue this partnership, and hopes to secure better movie options for around a year before they shift towards digital.

‘Real IMAX’ goes down as an exhibit

Considered a spectacle, the IMAX theatre will lose its ‘real IMAX’ status after digital conversion.

Reel-based technology offers 18K resolution, regarded as the true IMAX format for 3D. Globally, only Melbourne, Australia, currently achieves these specifications.

As the council transitions to digital, Vadar said that they are “considering setting up an exhibit on the premises to showcase this iconic technology as an attraction”.

He added, “Cinema enthusiasts will be able to experience the reel-based IMAX through this exhibit, which could keep its legacy alive.”

When asked about the exhibit’s feasibility, Vadar remarked, “Although the technology is patented, the machine is eventually our property.”

IMAX Specs

The IMAX uses the super rare 15x70mm film reel for 3D projection.

Science City’s IMAX can seat 647 people, and boasts the largest IMAX projection screen in Asia, measuring 67 feet long and 97 feet wide.

Bhavik Trivedi, who manages the IMAX projector room, explains that every show is projected using two Xenon lamps of 15,000 watts each.