The idea is to make merry when the market is new and hot! From a kids-only township to water parks with gigantic rides such as the Jurasik Park Inn, from chocolate factories to role-playing animals, there is a lot happening for the toddler-teenager bracket. Deebashree Mohanty tells you how it’s time to play
If you have always dreamt of a chocolate factory, huge water playthings and a splash pool as big as your living room, your fantasy world has come alive. Event organisers have finally realised how a potential market had been ignored. With KidZania (a kids-only township) due for a launch next year in Mumbai, organisers are doing everything they can to ensure they are not left behind in this race.
little wonder then that Bollywood superstars are making a rush into this segment. “I am a believer in business where we can create a product to touch the hearts of end-consumers. Here in KidZania, there is a product which is close to my heart, it is for kids and it is entertaining. All that I want to do,” Shahrukh Khan says.
“It is a huge opportunity for us to explore and I am glad that many of us are planning something big for the toddler-team bracket. Jurasik Park Inn opened to a grand reception in June 2012 and since then our numbers have tripled. Earlier, local Sonipat crowd would saunter in to have a relaxing time in a pool of their choice but now we get footfall from Noida, Delhi and even Ghaziabad. On weekends, we get more than 7,000 people in the park,” KK Wadhwa, director Jurasik Park on the Delhi-Sonipat Road, tells you.
Wadhwa says, the park spread over 17.5 acres is a must visit for the young and the young at heart as well.
Tickets are priced at Rs 1,000 per couple, on weekdays and Rs 1,200 per couple on weekends, which is value for money for a full day’s fun.
“We have designed in a way that the the young and young-at-heart will love our children’s area where they can enjoy multiple rides. There is an area full of dinosaurs and gorillas moving about and making friends,” Wadhwa, says.
The giant dinosaur model that moves and growls and a bucking bronco bull for a ride is the USP of this theme park. There are four water rides, which includes a pool with giant (four floor high) slides, a pool with medium slides, a wave pool, and a kids slide pool with sprinklers. All rides are complete paisa vasool. As per a children’s survey taken up by Trip Planner, an online agency, these theme parks are much in vogue. “Theme and water parks are always a preferred destination for children. Over 60 per cent of parks in New Delhi have been doing well for the past few years and the numbers are only spiralling,” Nikhil Arora, CEO Trip Planner says.
9IJ qIJIJIJIJman will have to devise a realistic method to make Superman weak and bring his strength down to human level. Kryptonite is one way that this can happen since, in MOS, we saw how Superman couldn’t withstand the krypton atmosphere in General Zod’s ship”.
Jahns’ opinion apart, the primary question that still remains unanswered is the casting of Batman, since Christian Bale has refused to continue as the Dark Knight. Experts are speculating about who could be the ideal actor to fit into the black uniform, next to ‘Superman’ Bruce Wayne.
“I have three choices who I think would be ideal to play Batman — Army Hammer, luke Evans and Guy Pierce. I know a lot of other names like Michael Fassbender, Matt Bomer, Jake Gyllenhaal and James Franco are constantly being tossed around as potential actors who can play the caped crusader, but I don’t really see them as Batman,” Tony Stevens, a New Zealand-based comic book critic, says.
Experts are also speculating on whether Batman will be a carry over from the Dark Knight series into this film or he will be a Christopher Nolan-type Batman. “I think that they are trying to illustrate the relationship that Batman and Superman are going to have, which is that they are not going to be pals but by the end of the movie they’ll probably work for the common good of mankind,” Sean Whitmore, a US-based comic book critic, said.
Snyder has already confirmed two things — Miller’s novel will only be an inspiration. The actual story would be very different from it. He also mentioned that, unlike in the book, Batman won’t beat Superman, but they will fight. One possible approach can be the introduction of lex luthor.
“The plot for this one could be on the line that billionaires lex luthor and Bruce Wayne are trying to build-up Metropolis after the destruction caused by the Kryptonians and while, Batman is known for not trusting anybody, especially aliens from outer space, lex has issues with Superman from the beginning.
“Hence, this mistrust and the concern for national security of a second alien invasion could be reason enough to trigger a conflict between the two superheroes,” Jahns surmised.