My visit to the Great india Place Mall, Noida, UP was due, as per my committment to catch up on viewing’The Dark Knight’ at Adlabs, in an IMAX environment. I did it yesterday and am happier for it. I will now list the good bits and the not so good bits of my last night’s adventure.
*But first the news:
There is no IMAX specific cinema in NCR.** The Adlabs has one IMAX cinema in India, located in Wadala, Mumbai. Apart from this, they have many cinemas and properties listed on their website. So, It turns out that I could have gone to any cinema to cath this flick for a similar experience. I think of the missed show at PVR Priya, which still remains my first choice of cinematic extravaganza.
Now back to the mall.
The mall is located in Noida, UP but in close proximity to the DND highway. So, the accessibility is good. It stands bang opposite to the Centerstage MAll.
The parking is quite convenient and there are two basement levels in the mall with added space on the ground floor. There is ample space to accomodate the flow that they receive on a daily basis. The parking fee is Rs. 30 flat, irrespective of the duration of idling, quite unlike the Delhi and Gurgaon malls, where the parking fee can be a major pinch for their hourly rates.
*The staff and security included, is very courteous and for me this is the distinguishing factor from any of the malls or for that matter any service outlet that I’ve been to. They all can learn a few things from the staff of the mall’s staff. The english might not be polished, not the regional dialects subdued, but their eagerness to help and serve comes as a breeze of fresh air.
The mall has three levels and they are all well lit, with excellent decor and signage placement. There are many global brands, even like’Staples’, which are nit very common. The number of patrons even at 10pm was quite high and when you consider the proximity of the mall to other malls and the Sector 18, Atta market, it highlights the decent footfall that the mall receives. There was a good mix of age groups, and the group size also varied, with varied interests. Some had come down for shopping, some to catch a movie, some to buy stuff, while others just to chill out.
The 3rd floor boasts of the Food Court and a number of food joints like Nirula’s, Chona’s, Pizzeria, Tandoori Village, and others. The food court itself has varied cuisines like chinese, punjabi, doughnuts, mexican, gelato icecream, pasta, sizzlers, hot dogs, and even has a bowling section. But surprisingly the menu range within the cuisines was very limited. We ended up dining at Chona’s. The seating was comfortable and the service disarming. We had Grilled chicken, Char grilled chicken and lamb chops. All the sauces were distinct and delicious. The chops were slightly rare otherwise the experience was very satisfying. The dinner cost us Rs.700/ with almost Rs.100 as tax.
The 3rd floor also has Adlabs at the other end. After all that’s what we’d come to the mall for. The Box Office is conveniently located at the entrance of the cinema itself. tehre are 3 screens. We were delighted to find that tickets were available and seats not far from the back. We quite expleicitly requested for seats in the middle of the row. For some reason, we were very enthusiaitically and emphatically told that the’AISLE’ seats would be the seats of our preference. I always knew the aisle seats to be the ones on the sides, but were told that these would be that corner seats of the middle column. On enetering, we found that we had been duped and that was a dampner for sure. I don’t understand the reason for there were many seats available in the auditorium in the area of our choice. We shifted to the seats we felt comfortable in and hoped that they weren’t to be occupied. thankfully we were not displaced.
The movie was a real treat and I’m very happy that I went for the cinema experience as this is a movie worth watching on the big screen. The screen actually didn’t seem that big. I was still on the lookout for some special experience as this was to be my 1st IMAX experience.(I didn’t know the truth then). The picture and sound quality, though good, was nothing special or different from my past experiences. The batman and joker rolled along their paths till the intermission happened.
The auditorium was very cold and the AC was probably working overtime. We requested & were thankful that our request was adequately addressed. Not so lucky with the popcorns & the coffee. The menu was diverse on the board but the stands lay bare. They had Premixed Capuccino Coffee, Cardamom Tea, Veg. Burger, Veg. Sandwich and that’s it. The popcorns were not available separately, but only as a combo with pepsi. On enquiry, it revealed that the tubs, in which the popcorn is sold separately, were not available. The combos have a different packing. No Nachos, no Non veg. burgers or sandwiches. This was the bad part. But even through this the staff across the counter was very polite and apologetic and they implored me to make an entry in the compplaint’s register. I did. But that deprived me of watching the best sequence of the movie, when Batman interrogates Joker at the police station.
The movie concluded and we got up thoroughly impressed by the movie and Heath Ledger in particular. **There were certain small, small things that I noticed in the movie this time around, that had missed my attention on the DVD. I am making a note of them in my review on’The Dark Knight’. Kindly check it out for some interesting points.
We drove out, and reached home by 3pm. We had to take a couple of detours because of jams at Kalindi Kunj and Maharani Bagh. We came by the DND.
All in all a good experince but IMAX, or the lack of it, and the food counter in the cinema was a big letdown. I have chosen’No comment’ for the section’Best suited for’ because there is no option to select all the categories. The place is a welcome spot for all age groups, and any size or combination of the groups.