Walking down the memory lanes of Sandalwood in Gandhinagar

 

My early childhood days was spent in Gandhinagar, one of the localities in Bengaluru. This area was and is the nerve center   for Sandalwood.  The Kannada language film industry is given the name as sandalwood much like Bollywood. This area has the offices of most of the film distribution centers.

The area never sleeps, it eats, drinks and breathes about movies. Some twenty years back it had almost 25 single screen theatres in the vicinity of two km radius.  The onset of clinically alike multiplexes and malls, have made many single screen theatres here, to roll down their shutters.

The purpose of my writing this blog is to recall all my experiences regarding the different theatres. The air I breathed during those times had a heady mixture about  movies and those were the heady days for single screen theatres.  The period of my recall is between  1968  and 1985  approximately, when I finished my engineering course.

All new movies used to get released on a Friday and the giant poster hoardings used to be put up on Thursday evening in the theatres.  The fans used to accompany the giant poster hoardings to the theatre with lot of fanfare and shouting slogans.  The giant poster hoardings were being erected and seeing their favorite heroes assuming giant size made the fans go berserk.  It used to be a festive mood for the fans. Every year a maximum of one or two movies of their favorite heroes used to get released and they waited with great enthusiasm for the release of the movies.

In some nooks and corners of Gandhinagar, the giant poster hoardings were literally painted by artists seeing a small photo.   This painting work used to start well in advance of one month.  I remember standing for hours together as a small kid and watching them paint and bring out the emotions of the film heroes on the posters.  All those artists have lost their jobs because of the onset of digital prints. Technology may have made life easy but took away lot of creative, artistic and labor intensive jobs from people, who depended on it for their livelihood.  The march of technology cannot be stopped. Technology is a boon or bane, the jury is still out.

All single screen theatres had their own architectural style   and their unique stamp in those days.

My first brush with a theatre was Sangam theatre completed in 1967, which was hardly 400 meters from our house.  I saw it being built and each letter of the word SANGAM, being lowered from the top and it used to be lighted in the evening. 

Padosan was the first Hindi movie, I remember seeing in Sangam theatre in 1968.  I was in primary school.  I used to keep on croaking Padosan songs in the house, all day in my bad voice until someone used to admonish me to stop the madness.    Sangam theatre used to screen mostly New Hindi movies like Aradhana and old Hindi movies during the morning shows. The morning shows were having reduced fare and it was a favorite show, among the budget tight school and college students.   I remember seeing lot of old Hindi movies during the morning shows. Sangam theatre had a long ramp taking a serpentine turn leading to the balcony class. Each theatre had its unique design in those days. The owners who build those theatres had lot of feelings for them and made them look unique.  In these days of modular and minimalism, all  Multiplexes  and Malls look  alike with the nachos, samosas  and cold drinks tasting almost alike everywhere.

The next theatre I remember is Kapali theatre, it was  also very near to my house.

This theatre started somewhere in 1969 and it was the first theatre in India with a Cinerama screen.  The curvature and the width of the screen is greatly exaggerated in Cinerama whereas in Cinemascope, the screens are rectangular and only 86 percent wider than the standard ratio.  This theatre was totally air cooled and was a huge theatre having more than 1100 seats.   When watching movies, we could feel the chill and in those days, Bengaluru was also having a salubrious and cool weather because of lot of greenery and the absence of concrete jungles.

Dr Raj Kumar's 'Mannina Maga' was first released in this theatre and went on to complete 100 days here.  This was the first kannada movie to complete 100 days.

I watched Mannina Maga, a movie, making a scathing remark on the decadence set in society in terms of values and morals.  Some of the songs are still making sense in the present society.

It used to screen Tamil movies during morning shows.  Sholay was first released in Kapali theatre in 35mm and later on shifted to Santosh theatre having 70 mm screen and Dolby music system.   In later stages, it started screening only Kannada movies.  Few years back, Kapali theatre after nearly fifty years of providing entertainment, brought down its curtains. In its place a mall and six multiplex screens is likely to be made, but the old world charm of seeing a movie in a big hall, with air-cool atmosphere is gone forever.

From Kapali walking down 500 meters towards Anand Rao circle, we get Movieland  theatre.  

Long back this was called Shivananda theatre, when family members used to come in Tonga with food packets to watch movies. Movie watching was a picnic during those times.

Movie land  used to screen  mostly  Telugu movies, I remember  watching many Telugu movies  of  NTR, Krishna and  A Nageswara rao.    I faintly  remember  the movies I watched like, mosagaluku mosagadu, alibaba 40 dongalu, Annadamulu Anubhandam , Seeta kalyanam ( where two eyes were not enough to watch Jayapradha as Seetha, a  quintessential and a classic beauty )  and many more.  The old theatre was renovated and they started screening movies in other languages also.  This theatre had a compound wall surrounding it.  When you were walking down the road, you can hear some of the dialogues and dishum dishum sounds dished out. Those times the traffic was not so much.

 

Movieland  before renovation

 

Movieland  after renovation.

Then walking back from Movieland towards Kempegowda road  for  five minutes,  we get Triveni theatre.  This theatre used to screen Hindi movies and Kannada movies.  I remember  watching  some Hindi movies  like  Seetha aur Geetha, Paraya dhan  and Kannada movie  Babruvahana,  a blockbuster mythological  movie  of  the thespian Dr. Rajkumar.  This movie kept the cash bells ringing for the theatre for almost one year.

Facing Triveni theatre, there was Himalaya theatre screening mostly English movies.

One of my friend called Manish, new someone there and many times after 10 minutes of movie starting, we used to sneak in there, with the help of my friend’s friend.  I could not understand any dialogues of the English movies, but fascinated by the sheer cinematic effect. I was sold out to the cinema media then only for the huge canvas it provides to the director to imagine and bring out on the screen all his vivid imaginations.

During  1990’s  next to  Triveni  theatre  came up  Aparna  theatre mostly  screening  kannada and Telugu movies.

 

Just   about  600  meters  away  from  Triveni  theatre  was one of the oldest theatre Geetha which was  screening  Tamil, Telugu  and Kannada movies.  I faintly remember seeing one Kannada movie there.

A little away from Geetha theatre walking towards Chick pet, there was Majestic theatre

Nartaki theatre, Sapna theatre and Santosh theatre all adjacent  to each other were  almost built at the same time  during 1970’s.

 

Nartaki used to screen Kannada movies and sometimes English movies, I remember watching some of Raj Kumar movies there.  Sapna was a mini theatre complementing Narthaki theatre and had a small seating capacity.  I remember watching some Hindi movies like Kora Kagaz, Mausam and Aandhi. 

Santhosh was a huge theatre, having 70 mm screen, Air conditioned with Dolby system. 

Watched some Kannada movies there.  Sholay ran there for almost a year.

Next  to  Narthaki  theatre  was  Alankar  theatre, screening  Hindi and  kannada movies. It had screened movies like  Kati patang.

 

Next  to  Alankar  theatre  was  Kalpana  theatre and  I remember  seeing  Chupke Chupke   and Shankara bharanam there besides a  host of other movies.

Next walking down a little down on KG road from Kalpana theatre, we  get  Sagar  theatre which use to screen lot of kannada movies.  I remember watching Kannada movies like Mayura and Jaga mechida Maga there.  This iconic theatre was brought down and a big concrete mall has come up in its place.

 

In the opposite building facing  Sagar  theatre was  Kempegowda  theatre  on the first floor and below  it was the famous  Vishnu  bhavan hotel, famous for its  bread sandwich, banana  jam  and filter coffee.  

As a young lad, I along with my friends, used to see morning shows in Kempegowda theatre which was normally screening English movies.  What they used to show in poster outside was different.  They used to mix two English movies of half an hour duration and it used to end up in about an hour and after coming out, we felt cheated and could not complain, since the fares were rock bottom in Gandhi class.  See I was a follower of Father of the nation Gandhi from my school days.

A little distance away from Kempegowda theatre was Abhinaya theatre which came later on in 1990’s.  It had an escalator and it was first of its kind experience in movie theatres.  I remember watching movies here and also remember watching, Khoobsurat, Jhoothi and Lagaan of Amir Khan here. 

 

After  walking  few  meters   from Sagar theatre,  there  was  States  theatre which has now been  renovated  and called  Bhumika.

 

Only Kannada movies used to be screened here.  I remember the incidence of Dr Raj Kumar Gandhada gudi being released in 1973. On the first day, I and my friend went there. It was Houseful.  We pooled together the entire money from our pockets and wanted to buy black market tickets. We could buy only one ticket with the money available. Since my contribution to the pool was less, my friend went inside to watch the movie. I returned back feeling as if I have failed in some exams.  Anyhow managed to see the movie on the second day.

 Opposite to States theatre was Prabhat theatre supposed to be built by a Parsi family way back in 1941.    I remember watching here, Santhoshi mata and Maya bazaar a Telugu mythological movie.

Behind   Prabhat theatre was Menaka theatre also screening kannada and Hindi movies

 

I   have watched some movies in Menaka theatre and I could not recollect them.

There was Tribhuvan and Kailash mini theatre next to Janata Bazaar.  Watched lot of movies here, I remember watching Heer Ranjha and Chalte chalte in Kailash theatre.

Both the theatres were brought down few years back and made way for a huge complex. 

I   cannot finish this blog without mentioning Vijayalakshmi theatre in Chickpet area. Lot of English movies used to get released here.  Remember watching, It is a mad mad world,  Mackenna’s gold, Hatari  and sound of Music.   Every year sound of music used to get re-released during summer holidays and all parents used to take their children to watch the movie.  Watching Sound of music was a thrill, the songs, the free spirited nature of Julie Andrews and the pranks of the children were lot of oxygen  for the children during their summer breaks.

Hope you  all  enjoyed  walking down all  the theatres in the Gandhinagar area, particularly the old Bangaloreans will  feel  nostalgic about watching movies in those theatres.   Standing in the long queue for hours together, watching the movie  and  eating Masala dosa  and  Jamoon  in a restaurant on the way back home was  a day long affair but at the same time satisfying and left you tired but still  asking for more.