Matinee Meal

You can dump the extra buttery,high calorie and obscenely huge tub of popcorn and Coke that we’ve all resigned ourselves to while watching a movie,for a healthy salad or even,grilled chicken. If you plan a film outing to the DT Cinemas in Saket or Vasant Kunj,there is an eclectic variety of fresh goodies to choose from. There are freshly chopped cold salads,large slices of piping hot pizza and grilled sandwiches,and if you can’t resist the popcorn,now there are five flavoured varieties to choose from. “Our sales mix in the menu is hugely dependent on the genre of the movie playing. The sales of hotdogs doubles when there is a good English movie playing and Nachos,pizzas,chocolates and strawberry popcorn are popular picks when we are screening animation movies,” said a spokesperson from Mavcomm Consulting that handles PR for DT Cinemas.

At Satyam Cineplex in Nehru Place,Janak Puri and Patel Nagar,the food counter has freshly steamed dimsums and ready made noodles. “A few months ago,we introduced steamed corn and ice-cream. The feedback was good and we decided to introduce new food items for movie-goers,” says Jayendra Banerji,vice-president,operations. While Banerji adds that having more interesting food options does not necessarily translate into greater ticket sales unless it’s a much talked about movie being screened,he feels a good food experience at the theatre will bring back the clients. “Food is a big part of an evening out,especially when it’s the whole family,” he says.

Meanwhile,at Waves Cinema,at Noida and Raja Garden the food counter is packed with varieties of baked goodies. “We introduced foot longs,brownies and grilled sandwiches just a fortnight ago and the response has been overwhelming,” says Yogesh Raizada of Waves Cinema. Spice Cinema in Noida is giving Indian street fare a makeover. Here,you can bite into a plate of hot samosas for Rs 35 or pair your cola with chicken kebabs for Rs 90. “It’s been six months since we innovated on the menu and it’s working,” says Amit Awasthi,manager – programming and operations.