Adrenaline gushes at SVM@36

Feb 08, 2010

HYDERABAD: Penny wise, but certainly pound not foolish. You always have the option of rewriting the adage as Penny wise, pound wiser or intelligent when you get there to derive pleasure to your heart's content.

It is a place to unwind. Perhaps, one should descend floor after floor and enjoy every wee bit of it. Beginning the journey down the lane literally at the world class bowling alley, one reaches to test his/her cricketing capabilities like Sachin or Dhoni facing the ball at a pace bowler's velocity in a net practice.

Wanna savour teas from around the world, relish food from North India available along the NH-7 route, delectable chicken from Chettinad to Guntur in South Town, or barge into F3 noodles and pick up chicken delicacies from all the seven continents in the globe, finicky over hygiene to have the omnipresent street food like chaat, punugulu and mirchi bajji in the plush environs of a mall, play console games with people around the world or give your child the chance to bat using machine which bowls at 220 kmph, then head to SVM@36 at Jubilee Hills in the city.

The SVM@36, a flagship facility of Sri Venkateswara Multiplexes Pvt. Ltd., which was open on November 14, 2009 is spread over an area of 50,000 sq.ft. The mall has apportioned 20,000 sq.ft for food courts and 10 per cent of its space for Toon Kids. In a tete-a-tete with ww.andhrabusiness.com, Mr. Vijayender, Chairman of SVM@36, passionately described the features of the multiplex with great detail, the USP of the Hyderabadi wonder and the group’s plans over the next few years.

What is the USP of SVM@36? How is it different from other multiplexes?

It is tailor-made to suit the changing tastes of the public to help them unwind from their daily drudgery. Its USP would be combining gaming with food courts offering delectable delicacies from across the world.

The FAB (food and beverages) is a complete floor that offers a myriad choices for the foodies.

The place offers the numerous dishes available along the National Highway-7, which crisscrosses the country from the South to the North, at its NH-7 outlet.

Our South-Town food court serves lip-smacking chicken from Chettinad to Guntur, apart from numerous vegetarian and non-vegetarian items special to all the south Indian States. The South Indian breakfast wakes the place up and it is abuzz with activity from 7 a.m. itself.

What is exotic about food at SVM@36?

The international food court in an area of 9,000 sq.ft boasts of the likes of Walk In, Texas Chicken, Istanbul Kabab, Subway and Frootoholicks which serves 40 different mixes of fresh fruit juices. Tie-up with a local player specializing in Chinese food is on the cards. Our F3 noodles has chicken from 7 continents like Indonesian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, European, American and South Africa. An exclusive counter serving 25 varieties of omlettes in a food connoisseur's choicest destination.

The Finjaan serves 40 to 50 varieties of teas which are not milk-based like diet, health teas, jasmine tea, rose and other herbal teas.

Bandi -- yes, a pushcart indeed, serves all that is served on a roadside food joint. From Mirchi bajji to paanee puri, and ragada samosa to bhel puri to vada pav; they are all there.

K+B, kebabs plus biryani, yard serves hot the choicest and authentic biryanis and kebabs.
The food courts in the multiplex are open from 7 a.m until 12 midnight. Techies stop over to enjoy non-vegetarian breakfast very early in the mornings before they reach homes.

You covered food. How about gaming?

Oh, no. Food sections are not completely covered. We will get there, as we descend the floors.
Adults can enjoy rush bowling at our five-lane bowling alley where the ambience is changed everyday using UV lighting, brought here in association with Qubica AMF, procured from Virginia, US which is the number one company in the world.

Are the shoes given and beer served there? How is gaming different from the regular gaming zones?

Yes. There is no bowling alley in India that serves beer. We do. Shoes and the necessary paraphernalia is given to the players.

Golf enthusiasts can play virtual golf, with a simulator, an experience given for the first time in Hyderabad. The LAN-based gaming facility with a connectivity of 8mbps facilitates playing with people across the world for 30 people at a time.The online gaming is a big activity that holds the youth glued to their seats in front of the computers here.

The RUSH, India’s largest console gaming station, a unit of SVM@36, recently organised Rush Cyber Gaming League, (RCGL) a national championship league on January 16-17, 2010 and presented gifts worth Rs 1 lakh to winners.

We are organising a similar event -- Imba gaming -- on Saturday and Sunday that is on February 6-7, 2010 for which entry is absolutely free. We hope to draw much larger crowd this time.

There are three lounge rooms to give exclusive gaming experience and seclusion from the public too. The console gaming area has 30 consoles, X Box 360s, 10 playstation-IIIs, 10 Ninetendos, and a simulated Formula 1 racing car.

This mall provides facility for children to play cricket using a machine which bowls at 220 kmph. Speeds can be adjusted, though. This is a machine on which the likes of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar usually practice. This is targeted at the 5 to 10-year olds.

What more is coming up here?

Many more, if I should say. Telugu pop singer Smitha is opening music and dance (MAD) wing on the topr floor. It will be operational very soon.

What was the investment that went into SVM@36?

We have invested around Rs 10 crore. Some of our floors in our five-floor facility have been leased out to branded companies, especially the international food court.

What about SVM’s expansion plans for AP and the rest of India?

We are shortly opening a two-screen multiplex in Karimnagar this month. A four-screen multiplex near Benz Circle in Vijayawada which will open in October. Multiplexes will also come up at Trimulgherry, Himayatnagar and Dilsukhnagar on a franchisee model in Hyderabad. A six-screen multiplex will come up at the RTC X Roads in the place of Odeon Theatre complex, which we own, in the next three years.

An 8,00,000 sq.ft mall will come up at Patny with eight screens with a 2,00,000 sq.ft parking lot.

We hope to become a leading player in south India and reach Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore and Coimbatore among others and wish to consider an IPO in the next three years. We want to be in the bracket of Cinemax and PVR Cinemas.

How many footfalls do you record every day?

We currently have 1,200 footfalls on week days and 3,000 footfalls on weekends and the response has been as on expected lines.

Targeting IT crowd and corporates, we have kept the prices in the modest Rs 200 range to attract repeat visitors.

Are you considering entering into adventure sports like bungee jumping, para gliding etc?

We are mulling a 1,00,000 sq.ft area in Hyderabad for adventure sports like bungee jumping, para gliding etc. We have many plans, but let's put them for next time.