People of the city seek their leisure time for watching movies. Going to a cinema hall with friends and family during the weekends to watch a popular movie is not a new thing in the city of joy. From 1907, when the first single-screen movie hall named the Chaplin Cinema was established in the soil of the city, the people started to incorporate such activities of entertainment into their way of life.

Now, there are big multiplexes like Inox, Cinepolis, and others, where people enjoy the privilege of watching a movie with armrests, cup holders to keep popcorns and coffee, centralized A.C., and myriads of movie choices offered for watching. These facilities attracted people in such a way that they stopped going to a single-screen movie theatre like before. As a result, the craze for single-screen movie theatres deteriorated and gradually led to their shut down one after the other.

Due to the immense rise of multiplex, single-screen movie theatres are facing enormous loss. Not only do the people prefer the multiplex because of the dynamic facilities, but the investments in the single-screen movie halls are also crashing down extensively, deliberating them to withdraw from the businesses in the entertainment sector.

Even though such halls almost died out in today’s Kolkata, they still make their presence in the memories of the people.  Indeed, the single-screen movie halls were, and still are, a reflection of the cultural and social life in Kolkata. Each of these halls had a striking identity in combination with the similarity of ‘utmost entertainment at an affordable price’.

The curtain raisers were significant in creating a change within the city life. People started to engage and socialize over the tool of entertainment, which is the cinema.  People could spend memorable time with their close ones. A strong bond was created among the people over such outings, where much planning was needed. You had to decide upon the movie that you want to watch, the halls that showcase that particular movie, followed by the time slots.  The most selected option from among the list was the further center of execution.

Some of the renowned single-screen movie halls in Kolkata were the Priya Cinema Hall, Malancha, Roxy, Mitra, Elite, and others which have been closed, and Indira, Bijoli, Menoka, and few others which are still surviving, though their tenure does not seem to stand long. Perhaps, being the major witnesses in the evolution of Kolkata, these cinema halls shall remain attached to the sentiments of the city, now and forever.

Now the question is do you as a citizen of Kolkata want such oldies to remain or die out? Think yourself…