Single screen theaters in Bengaluru - A lost legacy

Gaurav sent an early morning news snippet in our Friends WA group. It said “Cauvery” theatre will be shut down and it will make way for a commercial complex”. The post received a sad emoji from all of us and was active after months of silence. My friends pulled my leg (I'll talk about that later) and we all recalled how we went to Cauvery theater to watch Kaante, but ended up watching a Saikumar starter Kannada movie, missing to check what was running for Morning show😊.

For a moment, my mind wandered through two decades of my pensive reserves of the happy association I had with Cauvery theatre.  Of course, this is not a new trend in Namma Bengaluru, we’ve been used to Individual theatres in the city shutting shop since a decade now. I’ve written in past about many of the once prominent theatres like Adarsha, Kino, Uma, Symphony, Plaza, Galaxy and many others on KG road.  But Cauvery is a special case for me. It is close to my home, my school, college and hence to my heart! If you’re a movie buff and you’re a proud namma Bengaluru resident since early 90s, then you’ll have a fair idea on what our city has lost on the entertainment front.

Cosmo culture

If you think Bangalore has turned multi-ethnic after the IT uprising, then you are off beam. Bangalore’s cosmopolitan culture dates to early and late 80s. While Hyderabad and Chennai play vernacular movies to a greater extent even today, Bangalore has been offering a rich, diverse and extravagant movie experience from ages. Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and even Bengali & Malayalam movie fans have cherished their moments inside a Bangalore theatre. Remember, those were the days, Mallus and Bongs were not flocking to namma Bengaluru in search of jobs and their numbers were very limited.

No Language wars in our talkies

Unlike today, the Sandalwood movie industry’s cries that “we don’t get screens for vernacular movies” were just non-existent; because those were the days where Kannada movie industry was at its peak. Those were the days when Kannada movies ran to packed houses for one to two years and were remade in all other Indian languages, thanks to rich Kannada literature adaptations, great musicians, directors and lyricists. I fondly recall how my dad narrated his movie watching chronicles; Annavru’s Veerakesari was the first ever movie aired in Navarang and how he had bunked college to watch it, only to be caught by a neighborhood uncle next to his seat.

Cinema - Now and then

Along with movies, our movie going experience also has seen a radical makeover. Thanks, but no thanks to OTT! Those were the days where movie going was merriment. It was exciting for every middle-class family. The reason was very simple: It was the ultimate sort of entertainment for us. There was no internet; no IPL and no 200+ entertainment channels on television. And there were no mobile phones to be hooked onto for 10+ hours a day. If I tell any millennial kid that I have watched English movies in Sangam, they might get judgmental. But, yeah, true story! I still remember the ecstasy of watching English Movies like Jurassic Park, Jumanji, and a few other sci-fi thrillers in Sangam.

 Just like movies, the movie theatres were also equally special. Not just because of movies, it would also mean a bunch of other things followed by a movie. A good movie in the KG road/Majestic area would be followed by Lunch @ Kamat, if it was Urvashi, it would mean, lunch at MTR, movie in Navrang would always be accompanied by a visit to uncle’s place and so on. My favorites were Galaxy and Symphony because it’d be followed by ice cream at Lakeview, MG road and a chance to play in lifts at dad’s office. I still recall those movie going experiences because of such small pleasures. This is one of the reasons why I still remember watching movies in Puttanna in Jayanagar, Geetanjali in Malleshwara or Uma theatre. I got introduced to Rajni saar’s fandom in Kino, watching Arunachalam! Oh man, I can go on and on!

Cauvery memory

Talking specifically of Cauvery, for me, 2nd show movie meant only Cauvery. Watching movie at Cauvery was affordable compared to paying heavy parking fee at any of the Multiplexes. A torino (Remember “The Only” soft drink of yesteryears?) shared between me and my sister was, by far was more enjoyable compared to pre-booking nachos and Popcorn combos in PVR. My dad getting tickets to home and taking us was more exciting than today’s booking tickets online. I can never forget my first movie date disaster with my college crush **winks**. It was Hrithik Roshan starrer Aap Mujhe Acche Lagne Lage, was again in Cauvery theatre. When I drive through today’s eternally jammed Windsor-Mekhri stretch, I recall how Cauvery junction, without the BDA's engineering marvel called Magic box underpass, had traffic jams only when a movie show was just over and people would come out of theaters.. Be it Bollywood movie with Wife and friends or Puneet Rajkumar’s family entertainer with family, the preferred cinema hall was always Cauvery.

Cauvery Theater

Even to this day, all my school friends prefer individual theatres to watch a movie because we enjoy audience’s satirical comments in an individual theatre like Cauvery more than our corporate audiences’ silence in multiplexes. This post is incomplete without mentioning theatres of KG road. While Sagar played Hindi blockbusters like DDLJ and Hum Aapke hain Kaun, Tribhuvan played English flicks. Plaza, Adarsha, Swagath, Lido, Shanti, Pallavi, Kino, Nanda and so many other theatres appear in front of my eyes if I think of movie halls in Bangalore. Today, most of these have succumbed to the real estate roar.

Storylines and narratives in movies of today have changed, the city is changing and so are the movie watching experiences. From watching an early morning show for fans to Netflix and chill, a lot of things have changed. But the fact remains that in the necklace of Bangalore’s cosmopolitan entertainment, so many pendants are missing and many others are in the verge of getting lost.  Alas, a true Bangalorean will miss them forever!

Sorry Rajni saar... I watched Kabali online

I am really sorry Rajni saar. This time with a saddened spirit, I am telling you that I could not be a part of the “Kabali” extravaganza. I tried hard to resist, but in the end I succumbed to the monetary inflation of movie tickets occurring at an alarmingly high rate in Namma Bengaluru. While my Chennai and Hyderabad friends were doing check-ins with “Kabali Da”statuses on facebook on the very first day of its release, I had no other go but to find solace on torrents. I myself am discouraged, but what to do saar? I am a middle class man who cannot afford to spend 1000 bucks for 2 hours of entertainment.

Kabali Da

Saar, I don’t have to tell you that the "The movie aficionado" inside a true native Bangalorean is not confined to just Kannada movies. If you recall your old days in Bangalore circa 1970s; right from then, we have watched Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, English and even good Malayalam movies in theaters. Post 90s, all your movies have run to packed houses with more than 100 shows a day in namma Bengaluru's theaters. Whoa! We are true cosmopolitan that way saar. Kabali was no different. In fact the Kabali craze was something that I have never seen or witnessed for any of your other movies.

But saar, of late, our movie watching experience in theaters too has seen a radical change.  With the demolishing of old individual theaters and advent of malls and multiplexes, the ticket prices have sky rocketed. This is where the problem is. Multiplexes are sucking the pockets of Bangalore's middle class saar! The engrossing growth that namma Bengaluru has witnessed in the past decade has infused a sense of envy among the neighborhood. But it is never a delight when it comes to movie watching experience for us Bangaloreans. Exorbitant movie ticket prices are haunting us, the middle class movie lovers! Bangalore has become neighbors envy, but not owners pride saar!

Kabali ticket price in Bangalore 450Rs and 500 Rs

Even though the advent of malls and multiplexes is seen in Chennai and Hyderabad, the ticket price has remained almost the same. A movie in Prasad's iMax of Hyderabad is never more than 200 Rs. The same movie in a Bangalore's multiplex costs a whopping 800 Rs. I don’t know why this kolaveri saar. I myself have seen movies in Big cinemas of Chennai for as low as 10 bucks. Yes saar, you read it right. 10 jujubi bucks kanna! But Bangaloreans cannot watch the same movie for less than 500 Rs. This is a double standard no saar? Just log onto bookmyshow, PVR or Inox website. Choose Kabali and plainly compare the ticket prices for Bangalore and other cities. You'll be amazed to see that tickets in Bangalore theaters are exorbitantly high compared to other cities.

Kabali ticket price in Chennai - 120 Rs and 10 Rs

Not just power cuts and traffic snarls; political apathy in Karnataka has hit the entertainment too. Unlike AP, Telangana or TN, there is no government intervention in regulating the prices of movie tickets here. So the multiplexes like PVR and Inox are selling the movie tickets at exorbitant prices and naming it "Gold Class". But why the same PVR does not offer "gold class" in Hyderabad or Chennai? No answers from them saar. Why the movie tickets in the neighboring states are not above 250 for any show, any movie? The government is also to be blamed. Our government takes examples of neighboring states while increasing prices of milk and other consumer goods. Why not for movie tickets?

Kabali ticket price in Hyderabad (Prasad iMax) - 150 Rs

When a new movie is released, an average Bangalorean talks about downloading the pirated version than going to theater. Let us consider my own case, which is also the case of lakhs of other Bangaloreans. Being a movie fanatic and considering that I watch Bollywood, Hollywood, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada movies too, I end up watching a minimum of 3-4 movies a month. I spend an average of 2500-3000 Rs a month on movies. The figure is way too high if I include my family. It is of course a burden on my pocket. So I’ve set-up a Raspberry Pi streaming network on my PC so that I can download movies from pirated sites and watch it directly on my home theater TV.

The home entertainment has seen a radical make-over with advent of torrents and file sharing apps. Firstly, it is "almost" theater experience for me. Thanks to HD content availability as soon as a movie is released. Secondly and importantly, savings of 2000 bucks straight. Thirdly, having to pay a hefty surcharge by yenna rascala service providers like bookmyshow (they charge 45-50 Rs as surcharge for 2 tickets) has worn off the hypothetical family of four. They claim to have so many offers. But I have not found even one kanna who has been able to make use of it saar. Lastly, movies at home are advertisement free. So many ads in between a movie are so annoying. People who are little less tech savvy than me are buying the pirated DVDs in open markets. People with smart phones are watching and sharing movies on their mobile and tabs. Things like these are working wonders for middle class family in keeping them away from theaters.

I still remember watching some of your movies saar. I think it was Baba and Padayappa in Nataraj Theater. With your entry, people shouting “Thalaiva, Thalaiva” in unison and doing Abhishekam from Nandini milk packets, throwing coins from back…. Oh! The bliss. It was worth every penny! It is only sad that middle class people like me cannot afford it anymore.

Unless our government wakes up from sleep, nothing happens and also you can’t do much. So forget it saar. I just wanted to tell you that I also can’t do much other than being apologetic only. I wish you reach even greater heights of your stardom. I’m signing off secretly wishing that piracy flourishes until someone does something about it. Good night saar!

Image courtesy – ibtimes.co.in and in.bookmyshow.com