India goes digital with Salaam-E-Ishq

Come January 25, and Salaam-E-Ishq will be the first ever Hindi film to be screened digitally.

So just what is digital technology, in this context?

In simple terms, whenever a film projector runs a reel, it affects the quality of the film and after multiple screening, the reel begins to grain and fade.

The digital format changes all that. There will be no degradation of quality even after extended use, and the picture quality is far superior.

The Fame Malad theatre in suburban Mumbai will be the first theater experimenting with this technology, and will screen Salaam-E-Ishq's digital print on January 25, a day before the film is released.

"We are starting with our Malad theatre because it has a large screen," said Shravan Shroff, Managing Director, Shringar Cinemas Limited, "and also, it's located in a popular shopping mall which helps us reach the maximum number of people.

Shringar Cinema plans to experiment first with the Fame Malad theatre, and then gradually expand to other parts of the country. "We will test this technology in Calcutta in April, and then enter other A-class multiplexes," added Shravan.

The audiences will however have to pay 10-15 percent of premium over the cost of the ticket.

"The difference of watching cinema in digital format is like hearing a sound in audio recorder and a CD player. We feel our consumer is more demanding and therefore we have come up with this new concept," concluded Shravan.

For those who like comparisons, the first Hollywood film to be screened using the digital format was Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 1999.