Which IMAX In Mumbai Should You Book For The Odyssey?

Christopher Nolan shot The Odyssey entirely on IMAX's 15/70 film format. It is the first feature ever to be captured from start to finish this way. That single decision is why almost nobody outside a handful of cities will see the film as he made it, and why it's worth understanding what you're actually paying for before you book a Mumbai IMAX ticket this week.

Let’s start with the obvious question that everyone’s harping on: why build a film around a format most of your audience can't access? Only 41 theatres worldwide can run a genuine 15/70 print, and India has none of them. Every one of the country's roughly 35 IMAX screens is digital, which crops Nolan's native 1.43:1 frame down to the wider, shorter 1.90:1 digital standard, rendering the top and bottom of nearly every shot he composed, gone.

However, if we read this charitably on account of Nolan, it stands to reason. Film projection has been on the verge of dying for a decade. It has become cheaper to go digital, no physical prints to strike and ship. Shooting a tentpole this size on 70mm allows the format to stay alive a while longer, and keeps a chain of aspiring labs, technicians and projectionists in business. It's a slow, human supply chain at a moment when everything else in filmmaking is moving at such a fast, almost hasty pace. The fact of the matter is, you can't automate or generate a technician glueing a negative together by hand.

None of which changes the arithmetic for an Indian audience. The theatres here are still charging premium IMAX pricing, reportedly ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 a ticket for a version that's structurally incapable of the format Nolan built the film around. We are basically getting a smaller frame at full price.

Here’s what we can do as viewers, who very obviously don’t want to fly out to watch the film the way it was intended to be seen: pick the best out of what we have:

This pick is the one to prioritise. It runs IMAX's Commercial Laser system, with dual 4K laser projectors instead of the 2K setups used elsewhere, which means full deep blacks, good contrast, and colour that holds up better than most on this list. It's also where Nolan and the cast held the Mumbai premiere, which tells you where the format's own ecosystem rates it, too.

At 72 by 41 feet, this is the largest IMAX screen in Mumbai, running an IMAX XT Laser 3D projection system Scale alone makes it worth the trip if you want The Odyssey to feel as enormous as Nolan intended, even accounting for the crop.

The newest IMAX in the city at 69 by 36 feet. This has laser projection that delivers sharp, accurate colour, inside a business-district multiplex with fairly comfortable seating. 

Both run IMAX with Laser, a more affordable projection system that lets older Xenon installations upgrade without a full rebuild. Sharper and brighter than Xenon, though the sound system tops out lower than IMAX's best configuration. 

Similar screen sizes, and both still running on Dual Xenon 3D projection: 2K resolution, six-channel sound. It's the older IMAX standard, so expect flatter blacks and less contrast than the newer laser installs elsewhere in the city.