Devi cinemas- Chennai

[vj_box]

Hello Folks

I had a great Diwali occassion with my family and friends in Chennai and was obviously able to catch up with the recent Tamil movie releases, namely Poda Podi and Thuppaki- while the former was a disaster, the latter was decent enough!

I wanted to write about the movie watching experience at Devi cinemas in Mountroad, Chennai.

As Chennai residents would know, Devi had revamped their inhouse systems to more modern ones. The screen I watched at was Devi Bala, a mini theater (compared to the Satyam and the Devi and Devi Paradise) with surprisingly a small screen which you would definitely find awkward as it kind of takes away the awe you would expect generally in a cinema.

This theater is equipped with Dolby 3D technology (haven't watched any 3D movie here though) The projection was sharp, bright and clear. The 2k resolution in the digital format was very apparent and you are able to notice all the high res details that you would typically experience on a Bluray!

Lets get to the sound now! The cinema hall seems to be equipped with JBL speakers (this is also mentioned in their website) and the hall is very well acoustically treated ! The resulting experience to put in a nutshell was spot on,clear and rich sound. The bass was perfect, tight and less fatiguing; something I have rarely enjoyed in cinemas! The sound details are easy on the ears and you are able to notice the details! Vocals were clear with out any unwanted bass taking over during the dialogues like it usually does in some cinemas.

I highly recommend you folks to visit, of course when a good movie hits this screen

Vijay

 

[elangoas]

Hello Folks

I had a great Diwali occassion with my family and friends in Chennai and was obviously able to catch up with the recent Tamil movie releases, namely Poda Podi and Thuppaki- while the former was a disaster, the latter was decent enough!

I wanted to write about the movie watching experience at Devi cinemas in Mountroad, Chennai.

As Chennai residents would know, Devi had revamped their inhouse systems to more modern ones. The screen I watched at was Devi Bala, a mini theater (compared to the Satyam and the Devi and Devi Paradise) with surprisingly a small screen which you would definitely find awkward as it kind of takes away the awe you would expect generally in a cinema.

This theater is equipped with Dolby 3D technology (haven't watched any 3D movie here though) The projection was sharp, bright and clear. The 2k resolution in the digital format was very apparent and you are able to notice all the high res details that you would typically experience on a Bluray!

Lets get to the sound now! The cinema hall seems to be equipped with JBL speakers (this is also mentioned in their website) and the hall is very well acoustically treated ! The resulting experience to put in a nutshell was spot on,clear and rich sound. The bass was perfect, tight and less fatiguing; something I have rarely enjoyed in cinemas! The sound details are easy on the ears and you are able to notice the details! Vocals were clear with out any unwanted bass taking over during the dialogues like it usually does in some cinemas.

I highly recommend you folks to visit, of course when a good movie hits this screen

Vijay

Thanks for sharing your experience...I too like Satyam cinemas & Devi cinemas...Particularly Devi Hall..The biggest in chennai i believe...It can hold close to 1000 people easily per show....

The ambience is not as good as Satyam..But still good...

 

[vj_box]

You are right Elango! The Paradise screen can seat 1000 odd audience and is certainly the biggest in Chennai or probably in TN. Satyam has managed to strike a chord with the Urban elite crowd and I heard the Theater management under Muni Kannaiya has around 80 people running the ops and a lot of money is spent on PR and marketing!

I really wish they revamp the exterior and make the movie going experience a lot more hassle free. You are stuck in the crowd while entering- their crowd management really needs improvement !

 

[gcpraveen]

Even i watched thupakki in devi kala! Screen was really very small, few of them commented that it is little bigger than our tv
When they started playing ads, i felt whether he was using home projector, but then when movie was played colors were so rich and nice. Clearity is very good.

as vj_box said sound was very pleasing and bass was very good.

Thanks,
Praveen.
sent from SGS2 skyrocket.

 

[vj_box]

Even i watched thupakki in devi kala! Screen was really very small, few of them commented that it is little bigger than our tv
When they started playing ads, i felt whether he was using home projector, but then when movie was played colors were so rich and nice. Clearity is very good.

as vj_box said sound was very pleasing and bass was very good.

Thanks,
Praveen.
sent from SGS2 skyrocket.

Praveen, those are exact words we used to make fun of the screen after seeing.

It really looked like a big LED TV from the back !

 

[ManiJ]

Have loved watching movies in Devi for over 25 years now - really love the huge curved screen with exemplary picture and sound quality.
Some of my best movie watching experiences were in this theater....and I generally end up liking movies that others may deride as long as I watch it in Devi.
(I ensure to go only to the main Devi hall, not the other lesser ones - Paradise/Bala/Kala).
Would be interested in knowing how does the screen size at Devi compare with the large IMAX screens.

 

[vj_box]

I am sure !

Isnt Paradise larger than the Devi screen ? I mean in terms of seating capacity.

The screen still being a 70mm would still feel puny to a 80 foot IMAX screen seen in Prasadz in Hyd

 

[elangoas]

You are right Elango! The Paradise screen can seat 1000 odd audience and is certainly the biggest in Chennai or probably in TN. Satyam has managed to strike a chord with the Urban elite crowd and I heard the Theater management under Muni Kannaiya has around 80 people running the ops and a lot of money is spent on PR and marketing!

I really wish they revamp the exterior and make the movie going experience a lot more hassle free. You are stuck in the crowd while entering- their crowd management really needs improvement !

Ok So both Devi & Devi paradise are both big halls....

Yes..Crowd management is something Sathyam needs to manage...

 

[elangoas]

really love the huge curved screen with exemplary picture and sound quality.

Exactly.....The movie watching experience is enlightened due to this over ambience... I saw "Avatar" in Devi hall..:clapping:

 

[ManiJ]

...The Paradise screen can seat 1000 odd audience and is certainly the biggest in Chennai or probably in TN....

The honor for largest theater in TN would have gone to the Thangam theater in Madurai with its 2500+ seats (was the largest in Asia). I remember reading that size went against it and resulted in its closing down.

.....Isnt Paradise larger than the Devi screen ? I mean in terms of seating capacity.

The screen still being a 70mm would still feel puny to a 80 foot IMAX screen seen in Prasadz in Hyd

The way I remember it (from quite a few years back), Devi's screen was larger/better than Devi Paradise, though the seating capacity at Paradise was probably more.

I heard of the IMAX that PVR has recently opened in Bangalore, will check it out to see how it compares. Only other IMAX experience I had was at a IMAX theater in US and do not remember being overwhelmed...which is usually the experience I have while watching in Devi.

 

[srinisundar]

Love to see the changes made to Devi Kala.... I very well remember our mod made comments here about devi kala...http://www.hifivision.com/movies/7821-avoid-devi-bala-all-costs.html

They used a Dhothi sometime for screen, and this screen was that size

 

[Oakley]

Satyam has managed to strike a chord with the Urban elite crowd and I heard the Theater management under Muni Kannaiya has around 80 people running the ops and a lot of money is spent on PR and marketing!

I really wish they revamp the exterior and make the movie going experience a lot more hassle free. You are stuck in the crowd while entering- their crowd management really needs improvement !

@Vj

Muni kannaiya, is history now, the theatre group is now managed by young and dynamic guys within their family.

 

[Oakley]

Love to see the changes made to Devi Kala.... I very well remember our mod made comments here about devi kala...http://www.hifivision.com/movies/7821-avoid-devi-bala-all-costs.html

They used a Dhothi sometime for screen, and this screen was that size

Mr Srinisundar it's a very old thread 2 yrs past.the structure of Devi Bala is same, but has lots of improvements otherwise technically and design.

Is the mod, present or past?

Oak

 

[vj_box]

@Vj

Muni kannaiya, is history now, the theatre group is now managed by young and dynamic guys within their family.

Wow! thats news to me. I was infact talking to one of my relatives, a movie/cinema buff and he was mentioning about MK and his team.

Thanks for the info though!

 

[Nishanth]

Devi Kala seems to be getting all the projection and sound upgrades while Devi and Devi paradise have not had any upgrades for a long time. I always wanted to check out the Dolby 3D system installed there but the small screen kept me off and I am hoping that they would install Dolby 3D at one of their bigger screens. Dolby 3D is supposed to be the better than other 3D systems in use today and I also heard they have upgraded to 7.1 sound. It was nice to read a good review about the theatre which seemed to be getting a lot negative feedback in recent times

I heard of the IMAX that PVR has recently opened in Bangalore, will check it out to see how it compares. Only other IMAX experience I had was at a IMAX theater in US and do not remember being overwhelmed...which is usually the experience I have while watching in Devi.

Dude, you owe us a review after checking out the Bangalore IMAX. Looks like Chennai will have to wait for a few more months for a IMAX theatre, Sathyam is coming with two IMAX screens :clapping:

I think the screen that you went to in the US must have been one of the smaller IMAX screens. Its the larger IMAX theatres like the one in Hyderabad that really makes you awe when compared to reguar 70mm screens.

@Vj

Muni kannaiya, is history now, the theatre group is now managed by young and dynamic guys within their family.

This is news to me too !! I saw him a few months back at Sathyam and he was the VP at Sathyam cinemas.

 

[madhurshankar]

After hearing many rave reviews about Devi cinemas, I went there to watch Thuppakki (Watched it second time just to feel the theater experience). I was really awe struck with the huge curved screen. On the other hand I felt picture quality was not crisp like that of sathyam. I suppose sathyam has better projection.

In terms of sound, I really liked Devi cinemas. Sathyam's bass is boomy and highs were sometimes fatigue. However, there was noticeable echo in Devi cinemas, especially while surround speaker is triggered. The theater was filled only with 30% of crowd, this may have been a contributing factor for echo. Overall, It was truly a different cinema viewing experience.