Good news, filmi fans: Hindi movies have returned to the Columbia Park Stadium 12 cinema in North Bergen.
One year ago ejackly I was lamenting the former Cineplaza cinema’s disappearance as one by-product of an enthusiastic real estate move. But oh, how the murukku crumbles……
The very same cinema has returned to the Bollywood fold as a member of the Reliance/Adlabs Big cinemas national chain that have been opening in a very chori-chori-chupke-chupke way around the U.S., first on the West Coast, now, months later, here in the East, with minimal fanfare. (Ok, who am I kidding? “Under the cloak of darkness” would be more like it!)
At the moment, on those huge screens with stadium seating, the Columbia Park 12 is showing Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Love Story 2050, and Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. Tickets are $10. The usual Indian snacks corner has yet to return to operation, but some desi snacks were available at the main soda and popcorn counter (along with $1 hotdogs which a very enthu young man tried to convince me to try). On a Sunday evening visit, the ladies room was immaculate (something the other NJ Reliance/Adlabs cinema over in Edison will need to work on, a lot).
w8ing 2 c Columbia Park 12
I think the comparison of JAANE TU to Paris Hilton says it all. Pretty hilarious.
Love the blog by the way, keep up the great work.
And according to the same link, they’re also showing Mehbooba, but, how funny, click on the description of the film and the cast….nary a mention of manisha Koirala nor Sanju….
And the photo next to Jaane Tu….Ya Jaane Na is from The Hottie or the Nottie. Ha ha.
Nope, North Bergen:
http://www.zvents.com/north-bergen-nj/venues/show/45901-columbia-park-cinema-12?&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_term=movietheaters
Bollyviewer, hmm, I must say though, except for a cinema in Newark (which had fantastic samosas, light and crispy on the outside, and a yummy filling) on the whole the fare is kinda average. But yeah, it is nice to have the added options.
Al, you mean the Edison cinema is showing Dasavatharam, yeah?
I’d have to go back to what I read initially about the Adlabs chain, I thought I also saw there that they were going to include other Asian films in addition to Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, etc. but maybe I’m wrong. If the Imaginasian loses the other flics, it’ll be a shame. It’s lovely to have these other films on offer, though I do wonder about what sort of a profit (if any) they were taking in…
And from what I heard, Adlabs took over the Imaginasian on 59th St. in the City. So they may end up programming Hindi films exclusively. LOVE STORY 2050 is there now.
And indeed they’re showing the Kamal Hassan blockbuster, DASAVATHARAM in Tamil with English subtitles there right now as we speak. Will need to make a trip ASAP.
You really get samosa and bhel puri in a movie hall in North America! Wow! If NJ wasnt too far from Alberta I’d travel there to watch a movie just for that!!!! 😉
Joseph, I’ll nibble on them if there’s nothing else, but my personal faves are still cornflakes mixture and banana chips. 🙂
Actually, on the subject of Indian snacks at the movies, rather than only serve these rather large items (e.g. 2 big samosas on a plate, or the big plate of bhel puri), I wonder if the Adlabs cinemas would sell some packets of snacks like the ones we’re just talking about. They’re yummy, easier to manage in the dark (and with less messy spillage possibilities), though I don’t know how much they’d have to charge to make it worth their while…
Raj, actually I didn’t watch TPTM, I went to see Jaane Tu ….Ya Jaane Na. Will post some comments shortly.
Wow, Maria, thanks for the update on Columbia Park 12!
Your “how the murukku crumbles……” makes me crave for Grand Sweets in Adyar in good old Chennai!!
How was Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic? And, looking fwd to Bommalattam.
Cheers,
Raj
Wah! Wah!
A Murukku reference now eh! I had them for the first time in ’04 in Chennai. Didn’t get the big fuss though! But found myself a sucker for the Delectable ‘Mixture’ savories and also the ‘Sakarpongal’!
Banno, good point. And this year has gotten off to a particularly slow and spotty start, hasn’t it?
One thing the Columbia Park 12 didn’t have yet is any Telugu or Tamil films, which are supposed to be part of the Big/Adlabs chain’s offerings, so I guess that will come in time, hopefully in time for Nana’s Tamil debut in Bommalattam, which has already had a delay in release from end of June.
Good news. Well, here we have a proliferation of theatres. But where are the movies?