Sathyam Cinemas - Chennai

Sathyam Cinemas is Chennai’s hottest entertainment destination for people from all walks of life, across a wide age group and user profile. At any time of the year, Sathyam Cinemas averages about 70% occupancy at its 6 screens in the heart of Chennai city, among the highest in the country. More facts about Sathyam are given below:

* 6 screens – total 2378 seats
* 250,000 tickets sold for movies on a average every month
* An average occupancy of 70%
* 8000 average footfalls in the complex on weekdays (Monday through Thursday)
* 15000 average footfalls in the complex on weekends (Friday through Sunday)
* 5000 Cars and 16000 Two wheelers parked per week in the complex’s parking lot

Centrally located off Chennai’s arterial Mount Road, Sathyam cinemas is a major draw to students, residents and professionals of all age groups throughout the week. With more than adequate parking for 400 cars in its main parking lot and an additional 100 at it’s newly opened Parking Annexe besides a capacity of 1000 two wheelers per show, advertisers are guaranteed a phenomenal touch point with potential customers when they choose Sathyam as their advertising destination.

Sathyam Cinemas is among the first in Chennai and the country to introduce Digital Projection (RDX) in its screens, houses its own bakery with a specialist chef who churns out the most delectable snacks and desserts around town and has a lot more lined up to give Chennai its finest entertainment experience.

Technology

In May 2005, Sathyam theatre became the first and only cinema theatre in India to utilise Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing(DLP) technology. To inaugurate the introduction of the RDX(TM) technology at the Sathyam screen, a major city-wide campaign was launched, which coincided the worldwide release of Star Wars Episode III. This became the first movie to be projected using the Digital technology.

Blur

It is a gaming domain opened exclusively by Sathyam Cinemas on its 4th, th and 6th floors in its main Ti-ru-vi-ka road complex. Blur contains the latest gaming consoles Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, XBox 360 and a whole lot of latest games which can be played in their assigned consoles. The customer has to purchase a lifetime Blur card for Rs. 100. Rates are quite cheap coming at around 60 Rs./hour of playing on the consoles. In addition to the consoles, there are also computer games, as well as a bowling alley. A Blur cafe exclusively tends to the gamers too.

Idly and Dosa

A pure vegetarian South Indian restaurant on the first floor of Sathyam Cinemas complex. It caters to the vegetarians of Chennai.

The favorite food tipped to be a sell out with the masses is Bun and Plantain

Ecstacy

It is a café run by an exclusive French chef Mickáel Bessé. The café is located on the ground floor near the parking lot and offers delicious savouries and confectionery.

Pure Cinema

Pure Cinema is a concept wherein "memorable, award-winning" international movies are screened. As clearly explained in the FAQ section, Pure Cinema is just "regular cinema screened under a different brand". The sanctity of the original movie's language is maintained as only English subtitles are provided.

Blind Date

Blind date is an initiative wherein an unrealeased blockbuster movie is screened every Thursday at Studio-5. Movie-goers are not told anything with regard to the film prior to watching the movie. The website advises viewers to not bring children as adult-rated movies might also be screened.

Fuel

Fuel is the name of the pre-paid movie card which can be used to purchase movie tickets at Sathyam (online, at their counter or over the phone) and to purchase food and beverages at any of the counters within the cineplex.[8] It costs Rs. 300 for purchase and has an initial spending value of Rs. 250. It can be topped up when required. Movie-goers may also use the Fuel card in conjunction with cash and/or Credit card when purchasing movie tickets.

The Alive Foundation

Partnering with Ecotone, Sathyam Cinemas has established a Trust, The Alive Foundation. This trust has been started to facilitate environment education through films and the big screen experience.

St. Thomas Mount

St. Thomas Mount is a small hillock located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Located near the neighborhood of Guindy and close to the airfield in Chennai, St. Thomas Mount is associated with St. Thomas, the apostle of Christ, who is falsely believed to have been martyred here. The mount is commonly called in Tamil (Tamil language) "Parangi Malai", Belief claims 2000 years back a saint 'Parangi' 'Peeringi' munivar who lived here. Over period of time Anglo Indians predominated in this areas. A small relic-filled Church built in 1523 by the Portuguese stands at the summit of the 300 foot high St. Thomas Mount. The place was visited by Pope John Paul II during his visit to India on 5 February 1986. The Indian Army operates an Officers training Academy (OTA) on the mount. The South line of the Chennai suburban railway has a station named after St. Thomas Mount here.

According to popular myth, St. Thomas was one of the first Christians to reach India and to preach Christianity. He is believed to have reached South India in AD 52, and spent the last years of his life in a cave on this hill. Christian mythology claims that Thomas was assassinated by a shot of an arrow in AD 72, by persons hostile to him. Thus, the hillock acquired the name St. Thomas Mount.

A shrine dedicated to "Our Lady of Expectation" (Mother Mary was built in 1523 on top of the mount. It is believed that the altar of this shrine was built on the spot where St. Thomas was allegedly martyred in A D 72. At the northern foot of the Mount is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547. A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the Mount. There are fourteen stations of the cross erected on the way to the summit.

The Baptismal Font (pictured) which existed at the Church on the St. Thomas Mount in 1680 has a rich history. This Font was shifted to the St. Mary's Church at Fort St. George in 1685. A plaque behind the Font explains history of the Font and the famous people who were Baptised here.

Charnockite rocks are found on the St Thomas Mount and a Geological Monument named as Charnockite, St. Thomas Mount has been installed by the Geological Survey of India at the entrance to the Mount.

Chennai Central - "Gateway of the South"

Chennai Central, formerly known as Madras Central is the main railway terminus in Chennai. It is home to the Southern Railways and the most important rail hub in South India. Trains from here connect the city to other states of India, while trains to other parts of Tamil Nadu (excluding Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Tirunelveli) are catered to by the Chennai Egmore station. Chennai Central is the main hub for the Chennai suburban railway. The building of the railway station, one of the landmarks of Chennai, was designed by the architect Henry Irwin.

This station is also noted for a whole range of amenities available within the premises. The station has book-shops, restaurants, accommodation, Internet browsing centers and even an essential commodities shopping mall.In 2005, the buildings were painted to a creamy yellow color, but concurring with the views of a campaign by citizens of Chennai and also to retain the old nostalgic charm, they were painted back to their original brick-red color, which was how the buildings were built originally.

Chennai Central serves as a symbolic landmark for people in South India as this served as the main gateway for all people who travelled to South India during British times. Chennai Central has been greatly instrumental in earning Chennai the famous sobriquet "Gateway of the South".

Madras Central was built in 1873 at Parktown as a second terminus to decongest the Royapuram harbour station which was being utilised for port movements. Built in the Gothic Revival style, the original station was designed by George Hardinge and consisted of just four platforms. The station was later modified with the addition of the central clock tower and other changes by Robert Fellowes Chisholm. The redesign was eventually completed in 1900.

Madras Central gained prominence after the beach line was extended further south in 1907 and Royapuram was no longer a terminus for Madras. All trains were then terminated at Madras Central instead and its position was further strengthened after the construction of the headquarters of the Madras and Southern Maratha Railway (erstwhile Madras Railway and now known as the Southern Railway (India)) adjacent to it in 1922.

Chennai is the headquarters of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways.This station has 11 platforms to handle long distance trains and 3 platforms exclusively for suburban trains. The complex for suburban trains is popularly known as the Moore Market complex. There is a platform 2A between platforms 2 and 3; it is used to handle relatively short trains like the Rajdhani Exp., Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi, Bangalore/Mysore Shatabdis and the Gudur Passenger.

Chennai Central used to have trains with special liveries until early 90's. The Brindavan Exp. used to have green livery with a yellow stripe running above and below the windows; Nilgiri Exp. (popularly known as Blue Mountain) had blue livery. All trains now have the standard blue livery (denoting Air-Braked bogies. Notable exceptions include the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi and Saptagiri/Tirupati Exp., which poses a vivid green / cream livery combination with a matching WAM4 6PE loco from Arakkonam(AJJ) electric loco shed.

The building to the west of the railway station is the Ripon building, which houses the Chennai Corporation. To the east of the station lies the Southern Railway headquarters.

-D Thangamani
www.theflame.in

Chennai (Madras) - Capital Of Tamilnadu

Chennai (Tamil: சென்னை IPA: [ˈtʃɛnnəɪ]), formerly known as Madras, is the fourth largest metropolitan area of India and the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, Chennai had a population of 6.96 million in the 2006 census within its municipal corporation. The urban agglomeration of Chennai has an estimated population over 10 million, making it one of the largest urban agglomerations in India.

The city was established in the 17th century by the British, who developed it into a major urban centre and naval base. By the 20th century, it had become an important administrative centre, as the capital of the Madras Presidency.

Chennai's economy has a broad industrial base in the automobile, technology, hardware manufacturing, and healthcare industries. The city is India's second largest exporter of software, information technology (IT) and information-technology-enabled services (ITES). A major chunk of India's automobile manufacturing industry is based in and around the city. Chennai Zone contributes 39 per cent of the State’s GDP. Chennai accounts for 60 per cent of the country’s automotive exports and is sometimes referred to as "the Detroit of India".

Chennai hosts a large cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season, which includes performances by hundreds of artists. The city has a vibrant theatre scene and is an important centre for the Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form. The Tamil film industry, known as Kollywood, a second largest film industry in India, is based in the city; the soundtracks of the movies dominate its music scene. The city faces problems of water shortages, traffic congestion and air pollution.

-D Thangamani
www.theflame.in