The death of the dream palaces

The death of the dream palaces
Deccan Herald

Time was when Bangalore boasted of large number of cinemas. With entry of multiplexes, most of them are being relegated to history pages.

There was a time not so long ago when Bangalore was known as the city of cinemas. It had the largest number of cinemas proportional to the population, touching 120 dream palaces at one time excluding ‘tent’ cinemas. Almost all of them were called ‘talkies', a reminder of the wonderful day when cinema had begun to talk and sing. The largest number of ‘talkies’ were on Kempegowda Road (K G Road) - the street with the biggest cinema houses at that time.

Many of us hung around those magnificent talkies with their sepia and primary colour posters of stars. They were so important that after Mahatma Gandhi’s name, almost every other place was named after the nearest talkies like Majestic, Minerva, Swastik, etc. Never mind the dirty approach roads dotted with petty vendors and beedi and pan stalls. Corridors smelt of urine. The halls were full of smoke. Clamour outside and clamour inside. But the moment the lights went out and the screen lit up, all that was forgiven.

Growth at frenetic pace

As the City grew at a frenetic pace in the Nineties most of the dream palaces were not worth the land they stood on. Some of them went on to become commercial complexes. The ‘big’ cinemas in Majestic, over which the resurgent Kannada film industry fought relentless battles, remained.

With the coming of the multiplexes that has changed. Multiplex means a fun day out - shopping, games, restaurants and a wide choice of films - which however does not come cheap.

The first to get hit were ‘talkies' screening English films, where admittance was high. So the shift to multiplexes was relatively painless for the audience. Hindi language films followed thus freeing KG Road entirely for Kannada films, which (along with Telugu and Tamil films), have traditionally had low admission rates. These films too will gravitate to multiplexes.

At least two new multiplexes are on the anvil in the City. Innovative Multiplex became old hat as soon as PVR opened. Now, we have Inox. Each new multiplex vies to be grander than the other.

But spare a thought for the dream palace. If you ever want to savour the past, the City still has the oldest entertainment house-turned-cinema - Elgin Talkies. Though it didn’t start out that way, it came to be called a Talkies.

Its beginning coincided with the birth of cinema in India - in 1896 - when the Lumiere Brothers presented their year-old invention for the first time to an astonished audience in Bombay at the Watson Hotel. Tents followed and after 1907 came the cinema houses. There are many cinema houses of the early 20th century vintage. But I doubt if any of them is exactly as it was originally built.

Original building

The Elgin (which takes its name from Lord Elgin who ruled India) was built in 1896 - when India woke up to magical cinema - brick by brick exactly as it was designed. Even today it follows strict segregation of the sexes - booking, entrance and seating! Thus it becomes the oldest building remaining unchanged in every aspect since 1896, now serving as a cinema house.

Entertainment hall

It started as a variety entertainment hall, but records of the Elgin are available only after its switch to cinema around the end of World War I. The exhibitor those days was a showman. He dressed for the occasion, received higher class audiences, held forth on the merits and demerits of the film and was usually an expert on public taste. This tradition continued till the late ’50s.

I remember Jayantilal of the old Prabhat Cinema on K G Road who was the last of that breed and a fine example of what exhibition meant or ought to have meant as a profession. The Elgin exhibitor, the great grandfather of the present owner, was one such. Bitten by the celluloid bug, his son ran away from home and came back with a projector to convert the Elgin into a cinema hall.

Silent films

The first Indian silent film recorded was the 1920 production of ‘Shakuntala’, which was a hit in Bombay. But it ran barely for six days at Elgin. ‘Raja Harishchandra’ is listed as a repeat run in 1924. In 1924 the Elgin also screened ‘Gul-e-Bakavali’ starring Zubeida, which was one of the most successful silent films.

Now for some astounding information. In September 1925, ‘Kabirdoss’, a eight-reeler starring the Gubbi Dramatic Company, was screened for six days, earning its place as the first Kannada (identified so because of the artists and technicians of the film) silent film and not ‘Hari Maya’ which came later.

The Talkies arrived with the release of ‘Alam Aara’ starring Zubeida and Vithal in June 1931, which ran for one full week. ‘Shirin Farhad’ followed the same year with three times as many songs as ‘Alam Ara’ - a big hit. The 1932 film ‘Indrasabha’ had all of 70 songs!

Heritage building

The Elgin has now completed 109 years of uninterrupted ‘entertainment’, which richly qualifies it to be declared a heritage building and preserved by the State in tribute to the grand cinemas of the last century.

The track record of the Elgin is truly a sentimental journey showcasing Indian Cinema in all its glory from its birth. Such dream palaces were designed for dreams which multiplexes can never match.