No La-La Land, This

Building the Wonderla amusement parks into a profitable business has been a roller-coaster ride for Arun Chittilappilly

- Anshul Dhamija

Arun Chittilappilly loves amusement parks. He makes it a point to go to three or four of them around the world every year. He has his favourite parks—Tokyo DisneySea in Japan, Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, US, Alton Towers in England, and Europa-Park in Germany—and his favourite rides. “He may well be the only person in India to visit the highest number of amusement parks around the world,” says his father Kochouseph Chittilappilly. And no, that’s not a complaint. For Arun is the 39-year-old managing director of Wonderla Holidays, which runs the Wonderla chain of amusement parks, India’s most profitable company in the sector.

However, despite travelling the world in search of new rides on which to scream your lungs out, Arun’s most expensive splurge was actually made at home. Mission Interstellar, at Hyderabad’s Wonderla, is a virtual reality-based five-minute space-themed ride that can seat 60 people. It was designed in India by Wonderla engineers. “We imported the machines from Italy and got a Hollywood studio to make the movie for the ride,” says Arun. It cost about ₹40 crore.

In a country that has seen middleclass incomes rise, and urban outdoor activities fall, entertainment parks are where families can go for a day of fun. “What do we do when we want to step out of the house? The nearest mall or movie theatre are our limited options,” says Snigdha Sharma, vice president of equities at brokerage firm Axis Capital. “These guys provide that differentiated play when you want to spend an entire day out with a group of friends or family.”