The Traditional Single Screen Experience Series – Priya Cinema,Kolkata
In this age of multiplexes and with everybody reminiscing about their favorite movies and music it’s very imperative for a filmy like me to think of the memorable moments I’ve spent across countless single screen theatres and cineplexes over the years across the country. In fact I would go to the extent of saying that these “temples of cinema” have played a large role in building up my passion for cinema. Hence I would like to dedicate this series to all the single screen theatres and cineplexes across India. So here I go with the first article of the series and I begin my journey with Kolkata’s Priya Cinema.
Traditionally movie watching in Kolkata has always been a special experience. Be it Menoka,Priya,Basushree or any other hall in South Kolkata to Nandan ( one of the highlights of Kolkata) or theatres in central Kolkata like Metro,Roxy,Lighthouse,Hind,Paradise etc they all stand apart for the uniqueness that they hit you with. For example where else in India do you see most of the theatres without a parking lot (parking is on the pavement outside the theatre) and this includes good theatres like Menoka,Priya,Basushree etc. Where else in India can you find theatres with a bar attached – don’t believe me? Well then go check out Roxy or New Empire and you would have to agree with what I say.
This brings me to Priya Cinema, my 2nd home in Kolkata. I had found Priya to be a very well maintained theatre with its unique blend of old world charm & modern technology. While waiting to book your tickets or before your show begins, the lobby is an interesting place to while away your time. Apart from the stills of movies currently running and the forthcoming attractions, you also get to see the display of photographs of celebrities who’ve visited the theatre and mind you, the list is endless- it’s a virtual who’s who of Bollywood and the Bengali film industry. There is also a vintage car kept in the display
(forgot the make of the car but I hope it’s still there) . One of the good things about the theatre is its location. Situated right next to the well known Deshapriya Park on Rash Behari Avenue, it’s easily accessible to everyone especially in South Kolkata.
I considered myself to be extremely lucky because both my home (near Triangular Park) and my office (on Panditia Road) were less than a 5 minute drive from the theatre. Along with Menoka, Priya was the other first choice for cinegoers in South Kolkata. But what differentiated Priya from Menoka and the other theatres in that area or rather even Kolkata was that the management of Priya had a vision of making the theatre as a family destination which would rival even the multiplexes and hold its own in spite of the mall/multiplex wave. So they were quick to embrace technology- be it in the form of computerized reservation at the ticket counter or online booking. Also most important fact to be noted was that while Menoka and the other better theatres were mainly screening Bollywood movies alone, Priya tried to provide variety by screening not only Hindi but also English and the artistic Bengali movies.
So much so that it’s a remarkable for a single screen theatre, they managed to be showing 3-4 movies in different languages at the same time. The seating was also quite unique- while the rear stall (or first class as people elsewhere might understand) had the plastic “Bucket” seats with cushions on it, the balcony had really plush push back seats which were as good or better than the seats in the multiplexes.
In fact because the quality of viewing was good at Priya,in terms of pricing of tickets, it used to be at a premium over the other single screens. To give you an indicator let me tell you that while a few years back balcony seats in single screens in Kolkata used to be @ Rs.35 for a Hindi movie & Rs.25 for a Bengali movie, in case of Priya, the balcony was @ Rs.80 and the rear stall was @ Rs.40. But nobody really objected because they knew that Priya was competing with the multiplexes and also provided variety . That Priya had state of the art sound system and effective air conditioning is of course something that one would have understood by now (for those who are interested -Priya has Dolby Digital and DTS sound systems and has both Xenon projector and Qube digital projection systems). I believe that the current ticket prices have shot up to 140, 120 and 90 (classic, executive and rear class) but are still attractive when compared to the multiplexes in Kolkata.
With my home and office being so close by, naturally Priya became my 2nd home. So looking back I think I probably must have watched maybe a couple of movies every week over there. The movies were of all kinds be it Hollywood movies like The Passion of the Christ,Spiderman-2, Harry Potter etc or Bollywood movies like Masti, Yuva, Lakshya etc or even Bengali movies like Iti Srikanto, I would be there to build upon my passion for cinema. I remember having watched 3 Amitabh Bachchan’s movies in 3 successive weekends (Dev, Lakshya and Deewar) and also having watched a few Tamil movies in a Tamil film festival held over there. One of my funniest incidents in Kolkata which still makes me laugh when I think of it, happened in Priya Cinema.
It was a Sunday afternoon & I had just finished watching a noon show (do not remember the movie though) and while I was about to start my bike, the parking attendant (yeah the car’s and bikes are parked in the pavement next to the theatre but you still need to pay for parking 
) came up to me and asked me for the parking charge. At that time it used to be Rs.5 for a bike. To my dismay I observed that I had only a 2 rupee coin and a 100 rupee note with me & so showed the same to the attendant. That was when he smiled at me & said- “are koi baat nahin sir, aap to regular ho yahan.agle hafte jab aayenge to 5 rupye de dena agar yaad rahega”. That’s when I realized how the theatre had gone on to become my 2nd home while I lived there.
The more I think I remember a lot of incidents- of many “interesting dates” ,of taking refuge from the rain, of watching even silly movies like Tarzan-The Wonder Car just because I had nothing better to do etc. The list is long and probably endless.I was in Kolkata recently for a day and was surprised to see that the number of multiplexes has increased and there is even an IMAX in Mani Square. I just hope that these multiplexes do not make the people forget the joy of watching movies in places like Nandan,Priya,Menoka etc where movie watching was more of a tradition and an enjoyable activity. These theatres represent not only the good old days of Kolkata but also symbolize the blend of the past with the present. I for one would surely revisit a Priya or a Nandan whenever I can.
Note- Whatever I’ve written is based upon my own experiences and this is not meant to promote Priya Cinema in any way.
In the next part of the series I would be going down south – to Coimbatore & covering another of my favourite theatres.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Globe is no more, alas! It was my fav in Kolkata.
Sethu: senti kar diya bhai… priya WAS second home to me till the time I was in Kolkata. And yeah, i remember when we had met last in Pune, u told me about the little incident with the parking attendant.
Now u have embarked on a very illuminating journey for all the cinephiles across the country. Knowing the variety of cities in which u hv watched movies, i am sure your series is going to be the LONELY PLANET’S GUIDE TO CINEMA HALLA IN INDIA.. seriously…
BTW, the best BAR inside a theatre in Kolkata is in Metro. In fact, unlike other theatres, u dont need to have a movie-ticket to go inside the bar. its a stand-alone BAR inside the theatre. of course u have to pass thru the ticket-checking counter, but u hv to declare that u r going to the Bar, and u r let in.
I have, while on a mischievious trip with friends, sometimes said the same, and after abt 15 mins or so, quietly slipped inside the theatre in darkness and enjoyed the movie free of cost.. hahaha, those were some days i tell u…
hey, with your due permission, and since u dont seem to be planning to write abt it, can i take up the NANDAN? however, if u plan to cover it, which i think u shud, then its ur first right-to-refusal, as they say…
@ skd & sethu: there are many such theatres in Kolkata which r no more. Globe is one such. I remember two of the most famous hollywood movies during my growing up years came in Globe – Titanic and Basic Instinct. it had one of the biggest screens in Kolkata, alongwith Navina. BTW, Globe was owned by Arijit Dutta (fondly called dada), the owner of Priya Cinema. but due to labour strike, he cud not revive Globe, despite his best efforts.
just for information, some of the theatres which r now closed in Kolkata are: Globe, Jamuna, Lighthouse, Tiger, Opera, Crown, Orient, Majestic, Tiger, Society, Hind, Liberty, Ujjawala, Indira. Gosh, so many homes closed for all of us…!!!
and Mayfair in Lucknow. :(
Jha- just give me a few days to organise my thoughts about Nandan & I’ll revert back to you.
skd,Jha- yes its sad that Globe is no more.And yes I’m aware that Arijit Dutta was running it.In fact now he’s running Star Theatre in North Kolkata – its the first public- private partnership among theatres in Kolkata ( Kolkata Municipal Corporation+Arijit Dutta’s firm) if I’m not wrong.
Jha- I think Purna has also been closed.And Indira has always been a case of open,closes,open,closed …
btw didnt know that Hind is closed too
Interesting article, Sethu. We’ll look forward to knowing about more such stand alone theaters across the country.
It’s unfortunate that these theaters will also have to suffer because of the producers vs multiplexes stand off.
@ Sethu: i will eagerly wait for ur write-up on NANDAN, or conversely, ur go-ahead. yeah, i missed to add Purna in tht list. Hind has been closed for almost a year now. the building still looks so imposing, but almost weeping… i think they r planning a multiplex there…
yeah, star theatre has been revived and how…! earlier it was in ramshackles, playground for third grade jatra-troupes…
my fave halls in calcutta were orient, paradise, jyoti, metro and elite.
saw a lot of movies in these theatres… kishen kanhaiya, khuda gawah, hahk, rkrckr, sharabi, pyar jhukta nahi, razia sultan, woh 7 din, rangeela [back to back, twice], dil ashna hai….
oh my god…wat a long list…and i have not even compiled half the list of movies seen there.
calcutta was my first home; will write a post abt it soon
have great memories attached with it
sethu…u have spurred me on …
@ rals: mujhe kya maloom thaa aap bhi kolkata se talluk rakhte hain… the list of theatres given by u suggests u were partial towards the central kolkata (dharmatalla / esplanade) area. elite is more on the lines of ’sar kati laash’ movies now, and orient is closed.
paradise & roxy have revived themselves, and these days, Metro is more closed than open.
jyoti is the only theatre which has still maintained a status, and done good bisuness, but that is primarily becoz area-wise, two big competitors of jyoti (hind & majestic) are shut-down. however, lack of front-space in jyoti is a big curse for ppl driving their own vehicle.
Globe, Jamuna, Lighthouse were great places to watch Hollywood movies. Along with Chaplin, the cheapest one. Their closure is a big loss. Society, and to a certain extent Tiger, had become porn film havens, so big loss for a certain clientele.
Then there was Navina in south Calcutta, a budget cinema hall thronged by near-broke students. I am not sure if it’s still standing.
@ Arun- yes I’ll certainly try to write on as many interesting stand alone theatres as possible across the country.And yes its a pity that even these theatres should get affected due to the strike.
BTW Kamal Haasan’s Dasavatharam in Hindi is likely to get released either on 10th or 17th April & hopefully the single screens will gain from it.
@ Rals- great to see that you have a Cal connection too
the tribe keeps increasing
@ deven- Navina in Tollygunje is still alive I guess.and yes all the halls mentioned by you were great to watch Hollywood movies.
@ Jha- I hope no more theatres get closed now.Its already a long list & with multiplexes increasing its going to be tougher.
@ Deven; navina is very much alive, and kicking… the only problem is, it still doesnt run the night show due to some murder in a night show almost 10 years back. so, its only 12-3; 3-6 & 6-9 shows.
yes, tiger & society were more a soft-porn haven, and both r closed now, but the buck is still lying with Pradeep in south kolkata and Regal in central. dont know much of the north kol scene.
chaplin (earlier Minerva) is virtually closed now, havent caught up lately.
@ Sethu: yeah, i really hope no more single screens are closed down anymore. there’s still so much attached with these theatres, their closing down wud b the end of an entire era.
btw, dasavataram releasing in hindi is a mighty good news for ppl like us… thx for the info…
the old Plaza theater in Secunderabad which closed in the 80s was also known for its attached bar and snooker table. i remember my dad sipping beer watching an english movie with us…:)
Hyderabad seems to be one place where even now lots of Single screens are thriving (esp in Suburbs) inspite of the Multiplex onslaught. In fact in the last 5 years many new single screen theaters have come up that could compete with any multiplex (except for the quality of crowd)
wow…so many guys from Kol
I have covered all the south cal theatres…and Navina was just 5 mins form my house near swiss park…I have been to all the central calcutta theatres but not a regular…except maybe Metro…but not for movies…was a frequent visitor at the Bar ;) so may good memories related to these places…even though the multiplexes provide all the comforts imaginable, the experience associated with standing outside amidst the crowd and then rushin into the theatre and then gherao the lightman to get your seat…it used to be awesome…
Wah wah !! second home for me too in the early 90’s, in Pune. Almost every week 2 or 3 movies !!
Be it rain or summer with fans not working, going to a theatre was a must. Some of the famous names were Alka, Rahul, Natraj(closed), Alankar, Mangala, Neelaayam, etc. Have been to the dirtiest of the same umpteenth times ! Have seen cinemas with friends and alone. Ahh those days !!
good to know Navina is still kicking and alive…used to watch most of the new movies there (for obvious reasons)…anything from species to true lies to mohabbatein to ishq… navina was the destination…and if something did not come there you always had Menoka and Priya as back up…dont know whether you guys know it or not, there was a time when Navina seemed to have literally brought the rights to Basic Instinct… they used to show it if there were no new releases…they used to show it if the new movie had flopped during the weekend…. BI had a dedicated and ever flowing clientele…
@ Andy- Yes Hyderabad & for that matter entire A.P is still an exception in case of single screen cinema’s getting patronised well even now.Will be writing on Hyderabad/Secunderabad also later in the series.
@ Ravi- yes its nice to know many people here are with a Cal connection.And yes nothing beats the experience of rushing into a regular theatre among the jostling crowd as soon as the doors/shutters are open.And in case they don’t have seat numbers then you are scampering for the best seats
I cannot seem to stop writing…two more theatres in South Calcutta (right I still cannot say Kolkata)…Madhuban and Malancha…and Mahua in Garia…Madhuban has literally shut shop due to union problem…had watched sabse bada khiladi in the first row there, also KKHH as tickets were not available anywhere else…and also Hey Ram… Malancha is still going strong…like Navina they have three shows…2, 5 and 8…
Just a trivia…Nandan and Priya used to play lot of malayalam movies brought in by the malayalee associations with the help og government…I saw Manichithrathazhu for the first time in Nandan… nandan even during the 90s had comfortable push back seats when multiplexes did not exist…
@ kcp- if I may ask you, have you stopped going to these single screen cinemas totally?
@ Ravi- yes aware of Navina & BI.In our terms I used to think that they probably had their own print of BI so that they could play it whenever they wanted
@ Ravi: such nice memories, and yeah, i do remember navina having had the (mysteriously) rights to BI.
btw, navina used to be our back-up for priya or menoka. traditionally, navina show starts half-an-hour later than priya/menoka, so in case we were not able to get the current tickets in priya.menoka, navina was always a safe bet. while in college, one of my classmates turned out to be the nephew of navina’s manager, and he was my “new best friend’. but i took advantage of him only when the show wud b houseful for a new movie, and i had already bragged to my other frnds abt my navina ‘conenction’. believe me, i was never disappointed by tht frnd…
Well Ravi In that case I would say I’ve even watched movies in theatres like Purna & Bharati in South Calcutta.Purna used to play Bengali & Hindi ( of course more of the B&C type’s) while Bharati is a regular Bengali joint.For me it was always Priya & Menoka as first preference followed by Basushree and Navina.and yes if I couldnt get tickets in South Cal then it would be central cal theatres like Orient,Paradise,Metro,Hind etc
@ Ravi- yes Priya & Nandan used to play Malayalam & Tamil movies too.I would rate Nandan & Siri Fort Auditorium-Delhi as on par/better than a lot of the multiplexes across the country.Also Roxy regularly plays Telugu movies in the morning/noon show slot in the weekends.
i had submitted a post on PFC titled My Filmy Safar – Childhood Corruption, abt my early life in kolkata, but alas, it didnt get published.
@ Ravi: yaar i had never imagined someday on PFC I wud hear abt Malancha / Madhuban / Mahua. since u happen to know that area, there was another theatre in Naktala called Bunty, but it closed much earlier than Madhuban.
i hv watched umpteen movies in malancha / madhuban, since there was a time i used to stay very close to tollygunge tram depot, and wud go at 11am to book the advance for 2pm show, and return before dad returned from office.
there is another theatre in behala (chowrasta) – ashoka, that is quite famous. one of the most lingering images is seeing in the newspaper or posters a typcal phrase: Ashoka, Behala (noon).
those who have been in kolkata wud hv definetely noted a pattern inwhich the movies wud b released in certain ‘group’ of theatres: (1)Hind-Basushree-Bina-Purnashree (2) Minar-Bijoli-Chhabighar (3) Hind-Menoka and so many more.
You know the choice of theatres also changed as one grew up…once you have a job a Navina, Malancha.etc were relegated to back up and Menoka, Priya became your first choice
I still remember Forum Inox had opened around the time I had got my first job and I was excited like hell. Then came 89 Cinemas at Swabhumi and city center Inox which were much closer to my office at Salt Lake. These became my new hangout as you can watch one movie, grab a bite and move on to the next one. Now with the benefit of hindsight, we all long for the single screen experience.
One more in the Hazra area, Ujala…I dont know it’s current status. I was in Calcutta this Febraury and heard BIG cinemas is coming up in the Lake Market area. Priya has more competition.
Sethu\Satyendra…Was’nt first Indian premiere of Devdas held at Priya? I remember they had procession in chariots and all during that time.
Satyendra…Yes I remember Ashoka. I guess another one in the Behala area is Ajanta. I have just seen one movie in Ashoka till date just bcos of the jams
I just used to hate my trips to Behala thru tolly phadi, new alipore, taratala jams…
@ Ravi- yes the first Indian premiere of Devdas was held @ Priya as far as I remember.
Jha- yes even I used to noticed the pattern of movie release in the so called “chain” of theatres.Minar-Bijoli-Chhabighar was the killer of them all
does anyone remember Aleya cinema- Ballygunje on Rash Behari Avenue?
Sethu@21 – nopes. Only that after 1997 it has become just a few times in a year when I visit India for vacations !
Even in Dubai when i landed in ‘96-97, there was a cinema called Strand (closed 3 years back), where I used to see movie “every” friday, even 4 years of our married life ( after which the theatre was demolished ). I simply love single-screen cinema halls. I love the smell inside. I love the chehel-pehel inside. I love the posters of the current and future films. I love the canteens. The experience is amazing. Multiplex mein bas chale jaate hain !
@ ravi: yeah, ajanta is very close to the majherhat bridge. but its typically a B grade theatre.
23rd Aug, 2003 was a big day for me, it was the first day of Inox, Forum (it being the first Multiplex in Kolkata), and I was there to watch Mumbai Matinee, and didnt realise that Rahul Bose and Perizaad Zorabian wud also b there to promote it.
Man, was i thrilled to watch the movie with them, (yeah, i was lucky enough, having struck a conversation with them at the time of taking the autograph, and not leavingtheir side at all after that)…
but the “mazaa” of single screen was so badly being missed in Inox, it cant even b described…
Sethu @ 28: yeah, Aleya cinema was very close to ballygunge railway staion just beside that 4 no. bridge, and the theatre was well inside a building, and the entrance to the theatre was perpendicular to the main entrance ofthe building, so u had only a small poster outside the building, declaring what movie was playing inside.
i remember ‘beder meye jyotsna’ an Indo-Bangladesh production ran in Aleya for almost 6 months at a stretch. it was probably the golden moment of that discrepit theatre.
BTW, its CLOSED now. i wud say Good Riddance, it was so pathetic…
@ kcp- great to know that even though you live abroad your love for the traditional single screen theatres is still intact.
@ Jha- yes you did tell me bout your Inox Forum inaugural day experience.Though I’ve seen many movies myself in the multiplexes in Cal, nothing can still beat the single screen experience,I would say for sure.
Sethu..yes Aleya was tucked in between all the shops in Ballygunge market. I believe it was frequented by the South Point guys at one point of time. Nowadays it plays Bengali movies regularly. Never been there myself but have heard about it. One of my friends had watched Qayamat there and had told me that it was like watching at home in TV. Dont know whether it still exists or not.
Another one, Bhavani. It used to show all the re-releases. During my childhood days it used to release Ram Balram, Waqt, Jugnu. You wont believe I saw Sholay for the firt time at Bhavani. Jurrasic Park (hindi) was also another regular there. In between it had started showing hindi porn flicks and horror movies. But now it has a dedicated clientele of Bhojpuri viewers and you can see all the Bhojpuri movies being played there.
kolkata is a huge city, but sometimes, in those pre-Multiplex days, and with limited prints being released (especially as a strategy for certain movies) the theatres releasing some famous movies wud become the virtual meeting ground for lot many ppl.
i remember HAHK released in only two theatres initially, Hind & Menoka. virtually, the whole of kolkata was divided into north & south, preferring hind / menoka respecively.
similarly, Titanic released only in Globe, and the tickets in black went upto almost Rs. 1000 for a rs. 40 (balcony) tkt. and u cud find all sorts of crowd there – family, newly-in-love, friends, school-bunking-students (we were such a gang), and invariably u wud meet some1 whom u knew (otherwise a rare occassion in kolkata, what with so many theatres in every area)..
Jha,Ravi- yes you guys have described Aleya very well.Never saw a movie there myself but always wondered how somebody could fit in a theatre into the market
in fact I think Rituparna Sengupta’s Alo was another movie which ran quite well in Aleya ( remember- Alo- A Ray of Hope 
)
Jha- regarding HAHK you are right, Rajshri usually distributes its movies on its own & even now they believe in releasing minimum number of prints & then increasing it based upon demand.In fact even for Vivaah & Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi that was their approach.
@ Ravi: man… another gem called bhawani. just when i thought no one wud remember it… yeah, the first movie i had watched in bhawani was Lootmaar, but that time it was quite famous. later on it started playing films like veeraana & saamri & tehkhana. later on it became soft-porn place.
there was another theatre just beside bhawani, deepti, but it closed way back in mid-80’s.
im sure everyone from south Kol must b knowing abt pradeep. it is probably the only place in India where to go to balcony, u dont hv to climb any stairs, but to go to the rear stall, u have to climb down the stairs. and believe it or not, there is a pillar bang in the middle of the theatre (supporting the underground structure), and the trick was in not buying the tickets by which the pillar wud fall in your viewing-path.
i had watched satyamev jayate in pradeep, and then some “english’ movies there, but soon grew out of it…
hi sethu, nice article
i used to like single screens a lot when i was studying in bangalore and urvashi was my fav for all hindi movies….i am waiting for your view on chennai as it has history of multi screen complex from long time back (before multiplex trend) started…
Its like your ’single cinema diary’, good one. Never been to Kolkata, but would love to. Its one of my favourite cities, loved it when I saw it in ‘Chudalani Vundi’ and ‘Yuva’. Do write about apna Hyderbad theatre ‘Sangeet’…hope you remember when you, me and Ratnakar were discussing about single screens on PFC about 5-6 months back…
Hahaha I can’t stop laughing thinking of Aleya,Bhavani& Pradeep.
BTW doesn’t Pradeep get flooded when it rains heavily?I’ve heard of stories where the water is very much floating in the rear stall but people
still raise their legs and keep watching the
“engrossing” scenes coming on screen
@ Sridhar – yes yaar I definitely remember it.Sangeet in Hyderabad is definitely there in my list.I’ll be writing on it soon.
@ Prashant- yes I like Urvashi myself- it’s my fav haunt for Hindi movies in B’lore.will definitely write on Chennai & probably B’lore too.
Sethu: Hahahaha, yeah thts right abt pradeep. it does get flooded, the moaquitoes having a field day, but the audience (mostly in lungis) raise their legs and put it on the seat, or at the back of the seat above them, and sometimes even do an aamir (a la rangeela) but carry on watching the movie. u see, when the product is so ‘engrossing’, u cant aford to bat even an eyelid for fear of losing those precious scenes…
man, pradeep is a LIFE in itself…
satyendra…I have watched some “english” movies during my school days
I have heard stories about how it used to be a good theatre and even sholay and yaadon ki baraat have been screened there. dont know whether that is true. another story was that people in the rear stall had to lift their feets up when the tides used to fill the theatre.
I remember the HAHK period. Advance Booking at Menoka used to open even 10 days ahead. The queue used to form from 7 AM itself. I think it was the whole experience of going out with friends\family, standing in queue, jostling with the crowd, finding your seats, the catcalls and whistles which used to make these movies worthwhile and money well spent. Nowadays it a more bland experience at the multiplexes and hence we dont really cherish these masala movies.
living in Pune now doesnt allow me to watch in any of the single-screens, simply coz its not the ‘in-thing’ now. besides, good single screens like mangala & rahul have been converted into multiplexes, and alka, vijay, westend, neelayam & laxminarayan are not so much in vogue as earlier.
Sethu, any write-up abt Pune single-screen experience?
i hv watched fanaa in westend (coz it didnt release in multiplexes on friday), and a few english ones (mostly oscar-types) in alka, but not much than that…
The black-marketeers around the cinema-complexes were in abundance !! many became my friends after a few years and i got the tickets at cost !!
@ Ravi: yeah, i remember those HAHK @ menoka days. our school / college (SXC) had arranged for the special ‘premiere’ show on the first saturday of its release, and i was on the organisers’ team, so got the passes very easily, and honestly, didnt realise the impact of HAHK then.
later on, when i had to take the advance for my family, boy… was it difficult to get 6 tickets together…! they had put a rule saying max 4 tkts to be issued per person, (i guess to curb the practice of “black”), and i had to stand with my frnd to take six tkts, and imagine, i didnt get all the six tkts together…
i guess HAHK, and later DDLJ divided kolkata virtually into north / south like nothing else.
re: black-marketing of tkts, probably metro & elite of kolkata r the only two places in India where the black-marketeers are predominantly ladies… and believe u me, they can kick-ass, and give u a mouthful if u try to outsmart them…
@ kcp- its good that you managed to get tickets easily this way.
@ jha- well I’ve seen quite a few movies in Pune- so may probably write on it after the first set of cities is through.
Yes a lot of theatres across the country similar to Menoka used to have the max 4 tickets per head rule for blockbuster movies with an aim to curb the practice of selling in black.
Jha- hahaha you haven’t witnessed the scene in Chennai my friend.In theatres like Melody ( on my list) and Jayapradha again the black marketeers were predominantly ladies and they were really tough
in Priya, prior to DDLJ’s scheduled release, they had put up a huge poster of mustard field, and SRK & Kajol in an embrace asking everyone to come fall in love on the occassion of 25 years of yashraj films. it was at the main entrance, near the old vintage car and the aquarium, and we wud just keep counting the days to its release, coz by then both SRK & Kajol were the ‘best’ couple post Bazigar & Karan Arjun.
we had some fond memories of watching blockbusters like QSQT, Bazigar, Saajan, Bombay in Priya, but till that time, Priya wasnt “PRIYA”, and the reason i mentioned DDLJ earlier was coz it did wonders for Priya, more than ano other movie prior to that. in fact, my eldest brother used to b very critical of priya, since the screen was inclined, and so were the stall seats, since the floor was ascending towards the screen, rather than the normal descending…and it was very difficult to see the full screen properly, esp for children like us.
@ Jha- you are right DDLJ worked wonders for Priya and they’ve not had to look back at all.
In terms of ambience,crowd & the variety of movies played it would easily be one of the better single screen theatres in the country today- no doubt at all about it.
Even in my wildest imagination I cudnt believe that I will read about the great Pradeep in pfc ever. Sethu, I am already nostalgic being a long way from home and you are just adding to that. Thanks for everything.
Pradeep, menoka, Priya and naveena were our staple in school days.(My school and residence was in lake gardens and jodhpur park respectively). I have a friend who still has a collection of over 50 Pradeep tickets! The best thing about Pradeep was that they never cared for school uniforms. And yes, the flooding is true, but only during the high tides. And believe it or not, I ‘ve actually seen encores at Pradeep!
Hi sethu, U have touched a raw nerve. I am a bonafide calcuttaphile but have been out for a while now. Sitting in my K G Marg office in New delhi on a dull afternoon i was transported immediately, on reading your piece, to the hoary days of yore. priya yes, globe yes, and the other assorted single screen memorabilia that are either going away or will be gone soon.
glad u mentioned the bar at the New Empire. Many would not know but NE was a Warner Brothers’ property, like Metro once belonged to MGM. New Empire still has that bar, i ardently hope.
Just a little bit of history. NE was an elite calcutta theatre, perhaps the most swish in this part of the world, the heaven for the famed calcutta boxwallahs, till sometime after the WWII. then it became a graceful movie hall and now… well just another building.
I remember, when my childhood waffled into nervous adolescence, in late 80s, NE was still a delight, so was Metro. they were gilded, carpeted and unwaveringly Western in taste and touch, the bar in ER being the talisman of that style. And they stood like two giant Spinx guarding the rapidly deteriorating urban heath that Calcutta was becoming.
Now its the opposite. NE and Metro now stand like derelict old houses, sad leftovers of a time past by, lying on the wayside while the city is racing towards a kitschy makeover.
Sad, Very sad. But who ever said they can arrest change?
@ Roodrow- I’m happy I’ve been able to rekindle the fond memories of the single screens in Cal in all of us.Yes Pradeep and all the other theatres discussed here are institutions in their own right.
@ sayandeb- yes NE & Metro had a glorious past.I think the bar @ NE still exists.You are very right these 2 landmarks have now become 2 old buildings thats all.Probably the best thing that can happen to them is to get taken over by some multiplex chain/individual & preserved like in case of Metro-Mumbai.Heck even the seating in NE was in a class of its own.
@satyendra[cmnt#10]: haan yaar…lived pretty close to calcutta boys school
wo bhi kya din the…
i visit calcutta once every year, and make it a point to watch movies in the mentioned theatres
Thanks Sethu…it is my favourite theatre too..never thought someone would write about it on PFC!!
@20 Ravi I stayed close to Malancha.I have watched sooo many films there.The ticket price was really cheap.Miss those days….
@ Anindya: hey, whr did u stay near malancha? i used to stay very close to indrapuri studio near tollygunje tram depot, and malancha / madhuban was almost like home in those lazy afternoons.
@ Rals: hey, CBS is a landmark in itself, no wonder u used to go to elite & others of tht area. how long did u stay there?
i was a typical south kolkata person, so had priya / menoka / basushree / navina / pradeep / malancha / madhuban / bhavani as staple for hindi/bengali and all the central theatres for english movies.
later, i moved to Camac Street, and then left that part of the city, and started favouring esplanade area more.
@Satyendra: iss info ke liye wait for my post on it
ek-do hafta to lagega…nahi to log sochenge ki i have latched on to kolkata theme…already charulata and appu/kolkata trilogy pe articles hain
abb achanak mujhe flury’s ki yaad aa rahi hai :(
@ Rals: will wait for tht post bhai. flury’s is another weak spot for all calcuttans.
u guys r lucky to b able to post snythg on real-time basis. i had written an article abt my grwoing up years in kol, but it dint get published.:-(
Jha- oye!subah subah rona bandh kar.KC Das ka rosagulla kha le aur chup ho ja
and again uspe to jitna bhi bolen, kam hoga 
@ Rals- yaar tu ab flury’s ki baat karega to it opens another floodgate altogether – of food & booze joints in cal
@Satyendra: i m not sure abt the merits of the post u had submitted; bass itna bol sakta hoon ki jo bhi likho usme filmo ka zikr hona chahiye. something related to movies, like this post. yuhi sethu ne calcutta lifestyle pe nahi likha but abt movie veiwing experience
.
@Sethu: last summer i was in calcutta, watched a movie in forum mall and had amazing bekti maach in ‘oh calcutta’. thankfully, now they have opened a branch in bangalore on st.mark’s road. abb tu aur floodgates open kar
by the way, dec’08 mei victoria memorial ke paas tonga ride liya…it was so much fun
@ Sethu / Rals: yeah i understand, there must hv been some reason. thx for the moral support.
@ Sethu: bhai, yahan haldiram milta hai. i so much miss the KC Das and ganguram roshogullas…munh mein paani aa gaya…
oh! calcutta in b’lore is a great news…
flury’s needs a separate post, maybe from Rals…
Rals- Good to know about Oh!Calcutta coming up in St.Mark’s Road.Where exactly over there?St.Mark’s road used to be my daily destination- my office was in UB City
hope u’ve visited 6 Ballygunje Place in Indira Nagar also 
Jha- koi baat nahin KC Das ko bolte hain Pune me branch kholne ke liye.Ganguram to nahin aayega bhai
KC Das btw is present in B’lore too
Sethu,
Great to see so many people discussing about single screen cinema halls in Kolkata in PFC. I grew up in Kolkata and so did my cine going experience and passion. I left kolkata on ‘96 when multiplex model was still not implemented anywhere in India. But like most bongs Kolkata and cinema runs in my blood. This post made me nostalgic and sad. Sitting in Mumbai, I remembered my glorious cinegoing days in school and college and a portion of me is filled up with those happy memories. For me, it is emotionally disturbing to accept that Globe and few others are no more, it’s like losing a childhood friend.
However most of you guys seem to be familiar with central & south Kolkata scene. I was born and brought up at North Kolkata (70s) amidst theatre and cinema halls, then studied in central & south Kolkata so knew the geography of Kolkata cinema halls fairly well. However from the discussion it seems the geography has changed a lot. It’s been ages I have taken a stroll in Esplanade area. I still remember how I stood in a long queue to buy ‘season tickets’ for Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin festivals in New Empire. Of course New Empire ‘khacha’ had a different charm back then, we could smoke at the top floor!
One of the very important cinema hall in North Kolkata was Talkie Show House in Phadiapikur (formally Shibdas Bhaduri street, the haven for sports goods in N Kolkata). I saw most of the Hollywood releases in 80s. Other than that Jaya and Mini Jaya at Dumdum also featured Hollywood movies.
Cont.
In 80’s Rs 5 was upper stall and Rs 7.5 was Balcony in the premium halls and we friends used to pool-in our pocket money and decide to watch movies impromptu.
Among small halls, Chitra Puri in Khiddirpore deserves a mention because singer Mohd, Aziz, then known as ‘Munna’ used to sell tickets in black.
There used to be many small theatres running B &C grades, I remember I saw Sholay for the first time in one of the hall called Surashree in Ultadanga. Later I saw it again on wide screen Jyoti, as it was said if you have not seen Sholay at Jyoti, your experience is incomplete
It felt good to see you guys mentioned the bars in Globe and the genre of Pradeep, Society, Tiger, student’s paradise like Navina and Basushree. Nandan really brought the international films close to the kolkata intelligentsia.
Coming to the topic Priya, it’s always been an elite theatre because of the locality. Now that it falls into the territory of my in-laws place, I happen to land up there once in a year. Another very special feature of Kokata cinema hall is a cigarette shop in the same building, even Priya had one.
I think I am going over board and need to stop.
Cheers!
~uh~
@Sethu: its in house of lords bldg, near lakeview milk bar and next to richie-rich ice cream parlour.
@Satyendra: abb tu pressure aur expectation badha raha hai :(
will start work on it soon enuf…
I will be in Kolkata from 01 to 10 May. I am not sure how many of you are there and how well connected you guys are in kolkata, but, what about couple of drinks together ?
Cheers!
~uh~
@ uh- welcome to the calcutta club here in PFC.I’m not in cal but otherwise would have been great to catch up.In fact inspite of all the trendy places that have come up, I would have preferred to meet up in Olypub.whats you fav place? and thanks for the info on Md.Aziz urf Munna.Any idea what’s he upto these days?
@ Rals- yeah I was thinking of the same building too.Should check it out the next time I’m there.
BTW Jaya & Mini Jaya are still alive but they screen Hindi movies mainly these days or used to atleast with the odd Bong movie shown inbetween.
@ Sethu: Bang on. Old Monk @ Olypub. I would ditch heaven for that
Later when we used to frequent a place called Green Palace (GP as popularly known) at Bhawanipore.
No idea where Md Aziz is, may be taking rest in Guiness Book or records for singing maximum playback songs. But his song from Aakhri Raasta ‘Tu Mera dudh piya hai to bilkul mere jaisa hai’ makes me sentimental.
While you are talking about Flurry’s why leave Peter Cat and Blue Fox out ?
Cheers!
~uh~
Jaya & Mini Jaya in Laketown is very much alive, but not so much kicking, at least not Mini Jaya. i remember having watched Duplicate in Jaya, having got tkts in ‘black’ on the saturday evening. it used to be frequented by the Salt Lake crowd, coz that time there was no City Centre or Swabhumi.
Sethu: Lovely post. Since you are calling it a series, I am eagerly looking forward to other cities as well. In Chennai, I had so many second homes: Casino, Melody, Shanthi, Gaiety. In Bangalore it was Rex, Urvashi, Lido.
I hope the second part of the series includes one of the above (consider this as popular request!!)
@ uh: Green Palace (GP) is opposite to the jadu babu market in bhowanipore. i remember havingcelebrated my first summer-job salary with frnds in GP, and later on, believe it or not, watching raja hindustani in “ellora” in behala tram depot building.
i guess ellora is the only theatre inside a tram depot..
Old Monk @ Olypub sounds interesting. i was planning to come over to kol for a frnd’s marriage on 10th may, but seems i hv to travel out during tht period on office work.
uh- yes for me Old Monk & Beef steak @ Olypub were certainly heavenly.Yes Peter Cat,Magnolia/Mags,Barbeque,Trincas and all are part of history too
but nothing to beat Olypub.
Wow!I was a regular@ Green Palace ( GP ) myself.In fact they used to have two diff a.c rooms & apart from the non a.c section below & it would still be difficult to get a place @ times in the evenings.another place which we used to frequent was near Basushree cinema ( opp to it & near the Metro station ) called Raouls- dunno if you or anyone else has been there.
@ Sethu: is Raouls the one adjacent to that mithai shop on the hazra crossing, tucked behind that metro entrance?
Yes Jha GO is opposite to Jadu Babu Bazaar.In fact there’s an old bar in the building which has the market ( unable to remember the name now)- used to frequent that place also often.
Anand- thanks, yes I tend to make it a series.And yes Chennai & B’lore will also be written about.
Gaiety- hmm I’m already thinking about my visits to the theatre
Jha- my bad I meant GP & not GO.
Yes you are bang on about Raouls,its the same place
@ satyendra & Sethu: So we all finally reach to a common platform- Old Monk, Olypub, Beef steak and GP.
GP was always full and their masala peanuts used to be hot favourite. I think when Olypub lost it’s charm (people from moviedom and journalisn used to throng this place, I have heard), the centre of intoxication shifted to GP. I have heard about Raoul’s but never been there.
I happen to know more about the small dingy theaters, one of which was ‘Jahar’ opposite college street Bata.
It was a refreshing discussion, made me smile many times. Sorry for diverting from the main topic, but I think it’s inevitable when you start on Kolkata its difficult to control for people who lived there.
A write up on Globe or New Empire would be equally interesting !
Cheers!
~uh~
Thanks uh for the revealation of the real Munna :P
OMG…so many ex-GPites???? This is unbelievable. My friends and me still swear by that place and it figures in almost all our conversations…used to watch movies in Basusree or Priya and walk down to GP to dissect it. I still remember two guys with whom we shared a table. They were Big B fans. But had just come from the screening of BOOM and were using the choicest adjectives for all involved. And we dwelled into lot of discussions and debates about Big B. Alas all now just good memories.
@ Ravi- yeah even I’m surprised to find so many
even I have had lots of discussions in GP- the topic would always be movies or females or both 
ex-GPites here & its really great to know this.Wow!it would be great if we can someday have a get together in Olypub & GP
Nice write up Sethu
Will you cover bangalore single screens too?
@ HMP- thanks.Yes B’lore would be covered for sure.Have a lot if stuff to write about B’lore experiences too
@ Sethumadhavan :- Fantastic initiative! There are at least a dozen single-screens in Bombay, Pune, Banaras I would either love to read or write about – Please let me know if these cities are on your cards, And if not, then your due permission to let me contribute towards ‘The Traditional Single Screen Experience’ series…
@57 Satyendra I stayed near technician studio.Ya those lazy afternoons specially during the summer vacations in school!!!Malancha showed better films than madhuban.Madhuban mostly had movies which were flops.
@ Nimish- I’ll definitely be covering Mumbai and maybe Pune too but definitely not Banaras.So yeah please feel to write about it.I have been thinking of starting this series for quite some time.Should write the next one in the series very soon.
Well nothing to beat the pleasure of single screen watching Sethu. BTW are u planning to do anything on theaters in Hyderabad or Vizag, i at least wanna write something on these 2 places. Just let me know.
Hyderabad
My favorites
English- Sangeet, Kumar, Skyline, Sterling. There used to be Surya and Kishore, that showed some great Hollywood flicks in the 80’s, but both closed down. One more noticeable thing in Hyderabad, most of the theaters are in complexes. And its like u have a 70 MM, and a 35 MM theater side by side. So by default Hyderabadis have been exposed to Multiplex culture.
For Telugu flicks my favorites were Devi, Sudarshan, Sandhya, Shanti, Venkatesa, Odeon. Deepak was another theater that used to show Telugu flicks, but right now its reduced to showing sleaze flicks.
Hindi movies its been Maheshwari, Parameshwari, Venkatramana, Ramakrishna, Santosh, Sapna. Sadly i spent time in Hyderabad during the 80’s, when the quality of Hindi movies, was at its worst, and i rarely felt like going to a theater to see a Hindi flick.
BTW there is a very special theater near to Abids, Lighthouse, and it specializes only in sleaze flicks.
If i were to choose the dream city for movie lovers it would be Hyderabad.
Its a city that has a sizeable audience for any kind of movie, be it Telugu, English or Hindi. And you get the best movie experience without paying a fortune. And add to it, the numerous film societies that show foreign cinema. And you have Max Mueller Bhavan and Alliance Francaise for all those French and German flicks. Its a place where you are exposed to some of the best movies.
I still say this, single screens will always thrive down South, because compared to other regions in India, it has more quality theaters which dont cost you a lot. And the best thing about South is that even the smaller cities and towns, have excellent theaters. Its not just Hyderabad, Bangalore or Chennai, even in places like Vizag, Mysore, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Vijayawada or Kochi, you get excellent theaters which dont put a hole in your pocket.
@ Ratnakar- yes you are absolutely right about nothing to beat the single screen experience.Will be writing about Hyderabad/Sec’bad for sure in this series- have some lovely memories of movie watching there.Seen quite a few movies in Vizag too in different theatres but I feel you would do a better job when compared to me as far as Vizag is concerned.
Yes Deepak(Hyd) has gone to the dogs- showing either sleze flicks or re-runs of telugu films these days.I have even seen a Mallu movie there in its better days.Not sure if Lighthouse still exists though.
Ratnakar- bang on.Single screens will definitely always have a special place of heart in the south for sure.Yes apart from Chennai,Hyd & B’lore the theatres in the other cities mentioned by you are also good value for money.These theatres also spend a lot to maintain their standard.Hyderabad,Chennai,Coimbatore & Kochi in particular can be singled out for the cineplex culture that has existed for years so for these places multiplexes were not a big thing really
Yeah sure, well basically i was looking to write about movie going in Andhra Pradesh. It has the max no of theaters in India, and i can say for sure, one of the most passionate movie going crowd. And yes in AP, you can find fan clubs for Sly Stallone, Arnie and Jackie Chan. Whenever Predator or T2 was released in Vizag, it was hard to get tickets for it.
Dont think Lighthouse is there. Even during the 80’s many theaters shut down and were converted to function halls or shopping complexes. During 80’s and 90’s, Sangeet had that exclusive air, showing only Hollywood flicks, and not surprisingly guys used to go there for the females, but of late it shows all language movies, though Holly stuff is shown also. The best thing in Hyderabad is that every area has a decent cinema theater, so you dont have to travel a long distance to catch a movie. Also when a new Telugu flick is released, it is done at 10-12 theaters, like i was staying in Malkajgiri, which is like a suburban area, but there were 3-4 theaters that usually showed the latest Telugu flicks, so weekends would land up at one or other theater.
Yes the movie going culture is the strongest in AP & followed by TN.Its only here now that still 100 days & other celebrations are religiously followed.Places like Vijayawada & Vizag are absolutely rocking in terms of movie lovers.Yes you have fan clubs here for all.On a day of a big star’s release AP & to some extent TN wears a festive look
Well Sangeet is no more – a multiplex is coming up there- very sad but true.Nowadays in the twin cities if its a big Telugu release the movie releases in 30 + theatres in Hyd/Sec.Sivaji The Boss released in 41 & Shankar Dada Zindabad released in 43
.Recently Billa has released in 38.
Even RNBDJ & Ghajini released in 30 + theatres.So its a different ball game altogether.The joke is that while Sivaji released in 41 theatres in the twin cities, in Chennai it released in 18 ( and that was a record for Chennai).
Sangeet is no more, and a multiplex in its place- That is one of the worst news i have heard in a long long time. Gosh man, i hope Hyderabad does not end up being an overpriced, mutiplex heavy Metro. It was a place that had its own unique charm. Where you could enjoy a movie at a single screen, without spending a lot. Anyway i hope they dont start demolishing the Irani Chai centers in name of being modern, the last thing i want Hyderabad to become is a soulless, overpriced, ridiculously expensive place.
@Sethu: i know u started the series and u will be talking abt bangalore, i guess. if so, which theatres do u plan to cover?
i am asking bcos i wanna do one on swagath for sure, then there is abhinay, santosh etc.
moreover, i plan to cover more than one theatre in one post
@ Sethu: man, u got the ball rolling for sure… i remember when we had met, and we were discussing abt kolkata theatres & eating/booze joints, and i had casually mentioned abt my bhopal experience as well (in Raj, outside the rly stn, where i had watched tht sallu-rani-preity; ek garm chai ki pyaali ho movie) u had mentioned how u wud like to write down ur experiences abt movies in various cities…
man… it sure is a winner all the way… for u as well as for all of us at PFC. this series is going to ROCK big time. it might even surpass any other as the most-commented-upon-series.
looking forward to many more such
@ ratnakar / sethu: i fully endorse ur views on hyd/sec’bad scene in particular, and the movie/theatre scene in south in general.
my co. guest house is in himayatnagar, very close to Minerva Hotel, and there r at least 3-4 theatres in the close vicinity… ppl r crazy for movies thee..
once my cab driver told me if he cud drop me to the airport slightly earlier than my schedule, i asked him the reason, n he told me he wanted to catch up Chirutha (chiranjeevi’s son’s debut movie). he was ready to forgo his tip also for the insolence….
(i allowed him, n gave a tip as well, BTW)
Ratnakar- yes even I would dread such a thing to happen for Hyderabad.The single screen theatres, the Irani cafe’s,the biriyani joints & so much more are all an integral part of Hyd & I hope people try to maintain it the same way.
Jha- yes the idea kind of took shape after our discussion in Pune.I seriously hope this series turns out to be as interesting as the start has been & would look forward to all the support from people like you- totally filmy like me
Ah! Chiruta- remember seeing it myself in Sathyam Cinemas-Chennai but ending up disappointed, but thats a different story
@ Rals- I will be writing on more than one theatre in case of B’lore.It would be like a B’lore diary.Planning to write on Urvashi,Kaveri,Sri Balaji,Sangeet,Manoranjan,Lavanya, & maybe a couple of Kannada theatres like Santosh,Veeresh etc.
Ok I guess its the first post of mine to hit the milestone of 100 comments & I’m certainly grateful to people like Jha,Rals,kcp,Ravi,uh & all the others who’ve contributed to this lovely discussion.Keep it going guys & I promise that I’ll try to maintain the same kind of momentum for the rest of the series too.
@ sethu: Amen!
@Sethu: good…so, i dont see us overlapping any theatres
.
by the way, it will be titled differently. lets not keep similar title for our posts
yup..a landmark bit the dust in secunderabad when sangeet closed in May 2008 to make way for a multiplex.
btw, Lighthouse is no more. it shut shop in the 90s itself, but the building is still there and seems abandoned/unused.
Skyline and Sterling twins are gone and an apartment complex is coming up in their place.
Maheshwari-Parameshwari are also gone and a mall cum multiplex is coming up there.
likewise Surya twins are also being demolished now, though they closed in the mid-90s due.
My favourite screen theaters in hyderabad are Sensation, Hitech, the tiny Tivoli (recently refurbished in a multiplex-like avtar), Talkie Town (twin single screens masquerading as a multiplex), Manju, Shiva-Ganga twins, Sudarshan35, Shanti and Devi. I heard all the cinemas that came up in suburbs in the last 5 years are very good, but I haven’t been to those places yet.
I wish Lamba is renovated and reopened as a mainstream hall. its big, spacious and well designed to be relegated to soft-porn stuff. its owned by the same guys who run Tivoli nearby.
Anand is another hall that deserves a face lift. though its a main theater for hindi films in secunderabad, maintenance is lacking.
Andy- Yes with Sangeet,Skyline&Sterling,Maheshwari/Parameshwari all being no more its like an end of an era in the twin cities.Heard that the owners of Lamba have been planning to build a multiplex there- but no news of their progress.Of late I’ve been visiting Manju,Anand ( definitely needs a face lift), Prashant ( near clock tower), Tivoli etc.Will write more when I visit the twin cities in my series.
Lighthouse was closed down in 95 I think..Watched many mallu soft porno stuff dubbed in Telugu during 93-94..There was also a theatre at old city called Shaan which used to screen Indian English porn stuff by legend of soft porn Jai-Te-Van(Jayadevan)..I think it was also closed down..Sad to hear that Skyline/Sterling,Sangeet is no more..still remember fighting for tickets to watch Basic Instinct at Skyline(the famous scene was there bypassing censors..film ran houseful for many days)…Many fond memories of Lamba also..
Lighthouse not only screened sleaze stuff but also quality stuff like Vinod Pandey movies(because of adult theme that was obvious)..
@ Sharath- hahaha Jai-Te-van ( Jayadevan ) was a legend by himself.He & Charles were the lords of soft porn & used to release their movies in Indian english so that it need not be dubbed again in any other regional language
Just now commented on your article abt Apsara and now I am here. Coimbatore is where I did my schooling and college and Kolkata is the place where I landed my first job. I stayed at Salt lake where there was INOX@Citicentre who charged a bomb. So to kill time we used to go to Jaya and Mini Jaya theatres which were the nearest accessible. They were pretty decent for 30Rs and I hope they still run it. I stayed in Kolkata for a year and I ve heard stories about Priya screening Tamil movies on Sundays at 7:00AM but never had the chance to watch it once. I guess u will cover Chennai too. And fyi Salem, a city in TN has the largest number of single screens and tow Tiruppur another city in TN has also got many single screens.
@ Arvind- good to know of your Cal connection too.
Yes the multiplexes are expensive and do not provide the excitement of the single screens & thats why I’m writing about it here.Jaya & Mini Jaya are still active.Yes I’ll be covering Chennai too.I’m aware of single screens in Salem & Tirupur.But I think Madurai has more single screens than Salem & Tirupur.
@ Sethu: I am taking the liberty to put the link of my Phatik Chand (1983) review here for the benifit of Kolkata & Satyajit Ray lovers
uh- be my guest.you’ve written a wonderful post which should be seen by all Kolkata & Satyajit Ray lovers