Dec. 24, 2002
More than 20 years of 'Rangra-Vision' in Alpine community
Rangra family keeps prices low and action flowing at local 'bi-plex'

Daniel T. O'Melia, Observer Staff

In January of 1980, a challenger to "Saturday Night Fever" premiered in Alpine, and with stars like Scott Baio, Ron "Horshack" Pallilo and a fresh-faced Patrick Swayze, "Skatetown USA" had all the elements of a major box office smash. That local premier marked the debut of Alpine's very own Rangra Theatres, and though the first movie shown is remembered by few, the Rangra family's enterprise has succeeded in becoming a part of the Alpine community for more than 20 years.

"We love the business, mainly because it is a community theater," said Amit Rangra, the only child of owners Avinash and Anju Rangra, who has worked at the theater since the age of eight.

It's not exactly a "multiplex" as much as a "bi-plex," and unlike its competitors, ticket prices here don't call for patrons to examine personal loans for a family outing. Kids who want to see a movie judged to be beyond their years can bring a note from their folks, and the staff makes certain that, if nothing else, there will be pickles for all who want them.

"I started by threading the film, and after a few years, I was practically running the business some nights," said Amit, who is now a law student in Michigan who regularly travels back to his hometown to pitch in at the business.

"I thought, 'Oh boy! This is so awesome!' There were kids coming in every night," said the 30-year-old scion of the Rangra entertainment empire of his first nights in the business.

The theater's building, which Amit said had been built originally as a vaudeville playhouse in the 1930s, has undergone a number of changes as it evolved from live theater to cinema, but it serves the same essential purpose. "It's still the same, entertaining people in Alpine," he said.

"We were interested in having something to do," said Amit's mother Anju, who operates Anju's Fine Jewelers a few doors down on Holland Ave.

Family patriarch Avinash Rangra, who left his home in India to study chemistry, has been working as a professor at Sul Ross since 1968, and after starting a family with Anju in 1972, the pair started looking for ways to more fully enter the community.

By the time Amit was eight, the clan had found their niche. "When we first bought the theater, they were showing movies that had come out six months earlier," said Amit. "That's the first thing we thought about - getting movies as they premiered. Now, I'd say about 60 percent of our movies are world premieres."

Throughout their ownership, the family said that they have tried to keep ticket prices down, and at a current $4 for adults, the figure is well below the $6 nationwide average. "The biggest thing that helps keep the price low is that we have a strong community," said Amit, who noted "nobody, no theater, makes money on ticket sales... theaters make money at the concession stand."

To that end, keeping the food and beverage service current has been one of the Rangra's key endeavors. From making sure that enough pickles are always on hand to meet the salty tastes of West Texas audiences, to offering "kid's trays" and other deals, the family has re-invented its approach at a number of points.

"I wanted to make sure that we had the largest drink available at the best price," said Amit, who recently brought the whopping 44-ounce size to Alpine at four dollars a pop - no pun intended.

However, one traditional movie-snack element is lacking at the theater. "We've been hearing that people want butter on the popcorn for a long time," said Rangra Theatre staffer Erika Luna who, with Ronnie Ordoņez, has worked for the family for the last three years.

Getting the movies that Alpine wants to see has been another of the major stresses of the Rangra operation. "Action, comedy, and of course family films, those are the ones that do best here. Dramas don't do so well," said Amit.

He said that the lesson was clear from the first showing, when "Skatetown USA" easily beat the Rangra's other premiere film, Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now," in ticket sales.

Avinash recalled having to rebuff a cineaste who wanted to see 1989's "Cinema Paradiso," a critically acclaimed foreign film that was, by art house standards, a big success. "I told him, 'Nobody's going to come see this movie,'" said the chemistry prof. However, when asked about the recent screening of the Indian release "Monsoon Wedding," he said, "Hey, it's from India... I gotta show it, and it did pretty well!"

Amit Rangra said that 1982 release "E.T." was probably the Rangra's biggest success, but recent Hollywood money-makers like "Spiderman," the "Harry Potter" movies and the first two installments of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy have meant a more consistently successful box office.

Avinash said that improving elements of the theaters themselves has been a consistent effort for him and his family. He recalled that, at one point during his tenure, a salesman tried to sell him on speakers similar to those seen at many churches or other public speaking venues. "We tried them - I think it was one of the "Superman" movies - and people started to complain that the sound was distorted. You couldn't hear anything!" Avinash said that, when he complained about the speakers, "They said, 'Oh, that only happens when they speak loudly in the movie!"

Replacing speakers, setting up new screens, tinkering with air conditioning and replacing seats are just a few of the efforts the family has made to ensure a quality experience - one that has become known as "RangraVision" among those in the know.

"RangraVision.. that definitely started with college kids," chuckled Amit, who said that the family hadn't adopted the term in an official sense.

Though the family has enjoyed success in promoting their community-minded business, they said that the demise of their Twin Peaks drive-in theater in the mid-1980s was a low point. "They broke into the concession building, and broke everything," said Anju of the vandals who also destroyed the family's projector and car-speaker units. "It would have cost $100,000 to rebuild," she said ruefully, adding that the family never found out who committed the crime.

Moving into the future seems the family's principal concern for the theatre. A detailed Web site and promotional giveaways are among the efforts to enhance the "RangraVision" experience. For instance, the Rangra's helped Alpine High's Advanced Placement English class learn about J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy by hosting students at the premiere of "The Two Towers" Thursday night.

With an eye on Rangra Theatres 25th anniversary celebrations in January, 2005, the family agrees that maintaining the community spirit of the business has been the most rewarding part of the last two decades in operation. "We have seen all the people who are in their late 20's growing up," said Anju. "We saw them when they were little kids, and we are seeing them now with their own families."

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