Affordable Luxury, Satyam Style...

The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : Reddy Made In Chennai: "Being customer-centric

That's when he got hooked. “It was interesting because everything was customer-centric. The movie experience was so mediocre then that doing a few things right made a big difference. Our first steps were the basics: cleaner toilets, better trained staff. Then we improved the sound system… By 2001, what we were doing showed economic benefits. I realised I could get people to defer the demolition. We gradually began changing the existing structure.”

Despite drawing a steady three million customers a year, Sathyam — now a 100-crore company — always seems to be in a breathless race with itself. Reinvention at the flagship building never ceases. Even at brand-new Escape, frills are added incessantly. Touch screens to order tickets, monster Macs to browse, a spa… Meanwhile there's talk of iPod docks on seats and a new luxury lounge.

“The drive is to be at the cutting edge. For top-of-the-mind recall we have to do things phenomenally different from someone else,” says Kiran, adding their biggest challenge was to change mindsets. “We were perceived as ‘local' and the perception was that the national chains would be better.” Though he's gracious about the competition, he states. “We work from a different position: to do the best we can do.”

His theory is that the cinema is about more than just the movie. “It's a very democratic space,” he states, explaining how it's unique since it draws people from very varied backgrounds. “We want them to come into a space they would not normally experience in everyday life... No matter how many times people go for movies — theatre's a little luxury. Our challenge is, how do you make something low-priced luxurious?”..."