Elgin hides a world of culture

Elgin hides a world of culture
The Times of India

Bangalore: Never judge a theatre by its exterior. Especially when it concerns Elgin Talkies on Shivaji Road (near Shivajinagar).
Its facade makes you dismiss it as a place where sleazy and C-grade films are screened. Mithun Chakravarty’s dishumdishum masala fare is a favourite here, though at present, Bunty aur Babli is hogging the limelight. But take a little time off and you will realise that Elgin Talkies actually hides a world of culture and cinema within those grimy walls.

It has been there since 1896, so it really deserves a ‘heritage’ status, something that appears impossible if you look at its decrepit state today. Yet, according to cultural historians and movie buffs, films like Alam Ara — India’s first talkie — and Raja Harishchandra — the first silent film — were screened here once, as also Kannada classics of that era.

The theatre (the term ‘picture house’ seems more appropriate, somehow) was built by Veerabhadra Mudaliar. Mudaliar’s son Natesan and grandson A N Srinivasan took over its affairs later. Since 1980, Srinivasan’s son A S Krishnamurthy has been at the helm.

The building, per se, may not look exciting heritage wise, but at one time, it had separate entrances for women. Today, a few women go there and staff admit that the movies screened don’t cater to the highbrow. Most of the clientele are from the working class — for whom potboiler cinema is a light relief from the drudgery of daily life.

That is one reason why Elgin continues to have among the cheapest tickets in town. Tickets for the front stall cost Rs 12 and back stall goes for Rs 15. The theatre runs four shows, usually Hindi, but occasionally the night show (9.30 pm) has Tamil movies.

The cinema house has put in place some new projectors and other equipment though it still possesses old projectors, manual reel-rewinders and an amplifier dating back to 1930.

For a while now, times have been hard for this ‘old Bangalorean’. Apart from those who live and work in its immediate vicinity, few others have not even heard of the place. But then, look at it this way. Today, many of Bangalore’s movie houses have gone (Lido, for instance) or are in the process of going (Galaxy and most recently Plaza theatre); their large-size plots are being gobbled by a city hungry for more and more ‘development.’

Elgin Talkies is soldiering on, though. Perhaps, relative obscurity is a good thing!

(This is the 23rd in our weekly series on Karnataka’s rich cultural heritage)