Paradisoooo….
At ISB, we have this benefit of renting top-quality DVDs anytime, the luxury of recommending a good DVD to be purchased. In the outside world, renting DVD is a costly affair. Even if you manage to rent a DVD for 50 rupees, there are chances that the DVD is pirated and that the DVD player might get damaged.
There is this shop called “Cinema Paradiso”, India’s first licenced DVD rental shop. They have few branches in India. This is a high-end rental shop and targeted towards the affluent society. The membership fees is Rs.3000 and the cost of renting a single DVD is Rs.75 or Rs.100 depending on the movie. That is costly in Indian standards. But the shop has an awesome collection of movies, some of which you might never get in a normal shop. This is a great benefit for movie aficionados. Moreover almost all the DVD’s are collector’s edition (which will have lot of features in addition to the movie). They have also neatly classified the movies to different genres. I believe, having a membership here will soon become a symbol of status!
The special feature of the shop is the mini theatre. This is what Hindu has to say about this
“..The 11-seater is equipped with a 52-inch plasma television. With the acoustics okayed by A.R. Rahman’s sound engineers, the theatre will give you the complete theatre experience tempered with a happy cosy feel thanks to snug rugs and comfy sofas. And while you could bring in eats from the many fast food joints in and around the place, popcorn is on the house. ..”
The cost of renting the mini theatre for 11 people is Rs.1000/=. Now, that’s a nice way to celebrate an occasion for a small group!
I will wait for some more time before getting a membership. May be my firm comes up with a corporate plan…
Can’t one watch a film in 100 Rs in the cinema?Why would some one rent a DVD at the same cost.Unless you want to go for a really old one.I do think the costs are outrageous for a rental place.
Comment by EU — June 26, 2006, Monday @ 12:37 am
cant u guys still use ISB library ?
Comment by Anuj — June 26, 2006, Monday @ 7:16 am
If you have a good home-theatre-system, it makes sense to watch in home (Watching at your own convenience, with your family members alone). But even then, the price levels cannot be justified. That’s why i said that the shop is targetted towards affluent society…
Anuj, Alumnis are restricted from renting DVD. Only 2 books can be borrowed at any time. A lumpsum deposit also has to be made (Rs. 5000/=).
Comment by Bharani — June 26, 2006, Monday @ 7:53 am
Hi Bharani….
was gr8 meeting u and girish …got 2 know lots about the MBA life and especially abt ISB…plzzzz be in touch.. thanks a lot for ur time adn help…
regds
Sudhir
Comment by sudhir — June 26, 2006, Monday @ 10:56 am
What is the mode of delivery? Is there a web interface where you can select DVDs? If not, its def on the higher priced side.
Comment by Amit — June 26, 2006, Monday @ 10:57 am
Need to see how they handle piracy !
Comment by Indianblogger — June 27, 2006, Tuesday @ 10:42 am
@sudhir: No problem Sudhir..it was pleasure meeting you..All the best with your application…Ping me any time…
@Amit: Bhaiyya…how are you? Howz married life? Heard from Singhal that you are working just one floor beneath his office..that’s awesome…man, i miss our focus group meetings…Donno if they have web-based interfaces…even with that it is costly…
@indianblogger: I am not sure how they manage piracy….but they don’t have pirated copies with them atleast…
Comment by Administrator — June 27, 2006, Tuesday @ 11:43 pm