There are parking attendants. And then some more parking attendants. While the former couldn’t care lesser about what you have done with your car in the indicated space, the latter are those who find more faults with your parking abilities than your mom finds totally in your clothes, hairstyle, eating/sleeping habits, and the kind of male/female company you keep. Moms can be tackled relatively easily by simply poking an index finger in each of your ear and after that singing loud enough to drown her voice, but the mother-hen like parking attendants have to be borne with a gritting grin as they add their own two bit to the most perfect of parking saying, “Saab, Zara aage se lo” or “ Thoda side mein dabaao”. Sounds weird isn't it? Unfortunately, while the nonchalant parking attendant is a rare species found in ever so dwindling numbers, the mother-hen variety thrives in abundance, especially at Imax Adlabs Multiplex in Wadala, Mumbai.
However, that’s but a minor irritant in this otherwise movie heaven. So while we nitpick about parking attendants lets quickly get done with what else is wrong with Imax Adlabs.
Location
Bhakti Park, Wadala i.e. Back of the beyond. Get struck with wondrous amazement at where you have reached. Beyond the Wadala RTO, behind the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers’ plant. Anyway, the more popular locations of Bombay don’t have that much of space to house this huge a complex spread over 1,00,000 sq ft.
How to get there
Getting there is no fun. Till a few months back the road leading to the multiplex was delightfully cratered giving my poor delicate car severe shocks. There was a signature campaign to make the BMC move their sloth-like behinds and get the road paved. Resultantly the road is better, but the johnnies went ahead and made huge speed breakers too. If you are driving it down, come to the Eastern Express Highway and take a turn into Wadala at Priyadarshini building. The closest suburban stations are Sion and Kurla. There is the Imax bus service that plies between the multiplex and Priyadarshini every half hour, in case you aren’t going by your own vehicle.
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Why I like Imax Adlabs Multiplex
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Primarily because I’m a lazy oaf who avoids traveling within Bombay and Imax is only a 20/25 minute drive from my office/residence. For people living further off, it would not be that attractive a proposition, but for any one from Sion to Powai-Thane, Chembur to New Bombay it’s the movie place right now besides Cine-Planet.
Four conventional screens
The multiplex has four conventional screens that are much larger than the screens at Fame, all the Movietimes, all the Cine-Lines, Globus etc. Spacious, good amount of leg space, flawless acoustics, an average seating capacity of 300 comfortable, plush seats each. Tickets for these are Rs. 80-100/- and for big movies - Rs100-120/-. Like at times the drizzle is better than the rain, at times the humming is better than the song, similarly I find trailers better than movies. Shows at these normal screens at Imax Adlabs are interspersed with not less than 8-10 trailers per show. Its fun.
The Dome
India’s first and the worlds largest dome screen (112,700 sq.ft) is right here. A hemispherical screen that wraps the entire theater, filling your entire field of vision giving you an incredible feeling of immersion within the movie and motion along with the movie. In fact, the feeling of motion is so strong that it makes some people ill. Should such a feeling overcome you, simply shut your eyes till it subsides.
Images of unsurpassed size, clarity and impact, a state-of-the-art sound system of 12,000 pulsating watts of six-channel, high fidelity, wraparound sound all make the Dome an experience not to be missed. This Imax dome is 30 meters wide in diameter making it the largest in the world , as tall as an 8 storey building, features around 8-10 shows a day, with each film running approximately for 45 to 50 minutes.
The Imax repertoire includes films shot on a vast variety of subjects like exotic locations, wild life, adventure sports, daring expeditions, exciting periods of human civilisations, space travel, and digital animation. The Imax format is not for regular movies.
Drown in waves, fall over cliffs, go parasailing over rushing rivers and cower under the deafening cries of T Rex, experience it all while watching some great short films like Africa’s Elephant Kingdom, The Blue Planet, Everest, UltimateX, T-Rex etc. The sweeping expanse will make you move your head from side to side and wonder what part of the screen to look at. Viewing an Imax film in Mumbai would set you back by Rs 150 per ticket. If you are in Bombay and haven’t been here, you are surely missing something.
Thrillarium
While you are waiting for your show to begin, I suggest you go and take a peek into this section too, especially if you are under 12, or accompanying them, or want to be like one. I fit into the last category when at Imax. It’s a simulation ride, thrill a minute from within ghost infested mines in hell to space journeys et. al. Good childish fun, shell out Rs. 50/- per ticket here.
Immaculate housekeeping
Cleansing of every given inch of the multiplex and its externa takes place every minute. The toilets are also squeaky clean and aroma bereft making you almost feel guilty while ruthlessly deflowering them.
Eat, eat n eat
The food court offers an array of choices, at least for a multiplex. Right from sandwiches rolls, pastries, to Bambaiyya snacks like bhel puri, ragda pattice to the omnipresent samosas, wafers and popcorns. The cafeteria is at two levels. There are comfortable seating areas in the lower section. Keep away from the Russian salad sandwiches as these are invariably stale. A separate section called the Sarson Ka Saga serves complete Punjabi and Mughlai meals with some fantastic biryanis, makki ki roti with sarson da saag, mutton/chicken/paneer rolls etc. The rates are also believable unlike those in Fame.
Miscellany
Imax Adlabs has sections that can be hired for kiddie/ kitty parties, prior booking needs to be done. The space within is also utlised by a number of companies to vend their goods, right from computer peripherals, home furniture, Audio CDs etc. There is also a video game arcade, an art gallery for those inclined for either. Imax Adlabs has also hosted a few film festivals by now and is a good venue for international and off-beat cinema.
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Hokey Kokey, see you then at Imax for Bhoot !
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