The dying pulse of single screen theatres in Kolkata

The era of single-screen cinemas is long over. You can’t deny that. It’s also true that in a country like ours, they still bank on takers. Not only have these cinema halls become redundant, but most of these cinema halls have also been tweaked for a different purpose, to attract a different audience. However, each has a distinct identity which reflects nuanced socio-cultural dynamics. It’s like patients who are physically dead, clinically alive. The dying pulse of single-screen theatres in Kolkata is evident with the recent shutter down of these single-screen theatres.

Malancha Cinema, which re-opened on August 29, 2018 after staying closed for about a month, again quietly downed shutters on November 04, 2018. According to the authorities, it has closed down for good, as the Bengali films shown at the theatre made no money, and it was not any different with the Hindi films as well. In cinema’s favourite city, Kolkata, events like these often creates no noise, it just silently breaks million hearts.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) first decided to take over Roxy cinema hall, one of the most recognisable single screen theatres in Kolkata which was once leased out to Bengal Properties Private Limited (BPPL) along with the adjoining buildings on 4A and 4B Chowringhee Place in 1908-09 for a period of 99 years. Roxy on plot 4B is still under BPPL, while the lease of plot 4A was given to another firm. KMC reportedly decided to convert Roxy cinema hall into a multistoried building which will the home of many KMC departments. However, later KMC revoked Roxy demolition order, decided to restore the heritage structure. Roxy was known as Empire Theatre earlier. Gyan Mukherjee’s 1943 classic hit ‘Kismet’, touted to be the first blockbuster in Hindi cinema, ran for a record 186 weeks at Roxy Cinema Hall.

Curtains came down on the iconic Elite cinema on SN Banerjee Road on 1 June, 2019. Giant placards of blockbusters from Hollywood and Bollywood together like ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Sound of Music’ and ‘My Fair Lady’ as well as ‘Sholay’, ‘Shahenshah’, and the serpentine queues to buy tickets, are all now conspicuous by their absence. Founded on 2 August 1940, Elite Cinema was once owned by the 20th Century Fox and photographic studio Bourne & Shepherd and had its share of silver screen legends like Raj Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan to name a few.

After Elite, yet another heritage single screen theatre in the city, Mitra cinema shuts down as Dipen Mitra, the owner of Mitra, says he was facing so many problems including lack of financial support which pushed him to take the drastic step. Proprietor of Mitra, Dipen Mitra had earlier invested Rs20 lakh to renovate the theatre, but his recurring health issues left him with so many hurdles to run the theatre. One of the few surviving single-screen theatres of Kolkata, Mitra on Bidhan Sarani started its journey in 1931 as Chitra with the screening of Dena Paona, the first Bengali talkie from New Theatres. The cinema hall changed its name to Mitra in 1963.

On June 28, Ranadip Singha Roy, owner of Mini Rathindra, downed its shutter. The 654-seater opened in 1989. In the last week of June, Mini Rathindra ran only three shows. Two of them were of Jeet-starrer ‘Shesh Theke Shuru’ and Birsa Dasgupta’s ‘Bibaho Obhijaan’. Each of the show sold only 30 tickets whereas the capacity was 654. Plans are afoot to build a commercial complex at this address. The blueprint is almost ready.

Ellora, another iconic theatre on Souren Roy Road, downed its shutters on March 15. The last film which was screened at the theatre was ‘Thai Curry’. Shockingly, just five people watched the Bengali comedy flick in the 950-seater. Now the owners are waiting for the West Bengal government to issue a notification regarding the service charge problem. But, Ratan Saha, the co-owner of Ellora Cinema, still has hopes of reopening his theatre.