Single-screen cinemas are disappearing in India — Channel NewsAsia

In Bengaluru, India, the dismantling of Urvashi Cinema, which once had 1,200 seats, has begun. The venue, built in the 1970s, has become another cinema to cease operations amid the spread of multiplexes, streaming services, high real estate prices, and the cost of maintaining old buildings and equipment, Channel NewsAsia reports.

Manjunath, who runs a shop opposite Urvashi Cinema and gave only his first name, recalled the times when viewers bought snacks at his store before and after screenings. Now, he said, there are almost no visitors. In such halls, audiences cheered for heroes, whistled, applauded romantic songs, and reacted to plot twists during screenings.

The number of cinemas has sharply declined

Researchers estimate that around 14,000 single-screen cinemas operated in India in the 1980s, while only about 2,000 remain today. Many old halls could accommodate around a thousand viewers, creating an atmosphere of shared viewing that is less common in modern multiplexes.

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Photographer and former Bollywood cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi spent seven years photographing single-screen cinemas in India. During that time, he documented 1,350 such cinemas in 1,000 cities. His images show the facades, interiors, and decline of venues that are being dismantled, converted into multiplexes, or left to decay.

Cinemas that continue to operate

Some old cinemas have been restored and still have their visitors. In Bengaluru, Mukunda Cinemas drew hundreds of people to a 6:00 a.m. screening of a new film featuring Yash, an actor popular in Kannada cinema. Before the screening, fireworks were set off outside the venue, while applause and whistles filled the hall.

Viran Reddy, a third-generation representative of the family that runs the 50-year-old Mukunda Cinemas, said maintaining such a venue is not easy because of inflation, rising costs, and competition. Another surviving single-screen cinema is Regal Cinema in Mumbai, an Art Deco hall that opened in 1933.