Heard of this Extreme Sports movie - Ultimate X - being shown at the IMAX theatre, and being a hardcore X-Games fanatic (and also since I’d never been to IMAX before!), thought I’d finally go for it. And man, I’m glad I did! Vadala, where the theatre is situated, is a bit seedy, but walk into IMAX and you’re completely blown away. The place is huge, clean, and very well-appointed. It’s a multiplex, and that includes the one ’’Dome theatre’’ - the largest of its kind in the whole world! Now isn’t that something to be proud of?! I mean, I was quite happy that ’’my’’ city, ’’my Bombay’’ has the world’s largest IMAX theatre... :-)

The show was scheduled to start at 9:00 in the evening, but we strolled in by 8:30, and wandered around for a bit. Nice big clean eating joints inside, a video-game arcade, and an escalator which takes you to the first floor, where you can buy..... some very nice popcorn!! Well, yes, bought packs of cheese- and chaat masala-flavoured popcorn, which was excellent! :-D Even better than the caramel popcorn which you get at the Sterling theatre... :-D

Finally, went inside, and it’s like nothing else in Bombay. HUGE, the seats are very very comfy, and tilt up to that huge 270-degree (I think) dome screen which wraps itself around you, and completely envelops your field-of-vision, to provide you with an all-encompassing audio-visual experience. Things started with a specially-processed-for-IMAX version of A.R. Rahman’s ’’Ma tujhe salaam’’, and was quite impressive. The HUGE images look so very real, and you feel like you can almost reach out and touch each person in that video. Every wrinkle on the skin, every blade of grass, every drop of water - detail is so shockingly clear, and the effect of realism is unparalleled!

The movie itself - showing Street Luge, BMX, Skateboard, and Motocross action - was totally awesome. Wheelies, massive triple-jumps, crazy back-flips - the sights and sounds are totally insane, and you come away with new-found respect for the supermen (and superwomen as well) who put their life and limb on the line, and actually DO this stuff!

I often used to think if the IMAX experience would be something like the 3D-movie - Chhota Chetan - which I had seen years ago. Well, no, this is different. You get realism of a different kind with IMAX. Which is NOT to say it’s any less dramatic than the Chhota Chetan kind of 3D - it’s just different. And also, you don’t need to wear any special glasses (which you used to need, to watch those erstwhile 3D-movies) to watch IMAX movies...

If you haven’t been there, do go at least once. Tickets are a bit expensive - we paid 175 bucks per-person, which is fairly stiff for a 45-minute movie - but then the whole experience is well worth it.

And yes, while you are at it, DON’T forget the special popcorn... :-D

Number of times visited:	Only once
Seating Capacity:	More than 200
Recommended for:	No Comment