Moti, once glorious and one of the oldest single screen movie halls in Chandni Chowk has been closed down. Known for screening only Bhojpuri films, Moti is in despair. The cinema hall was a hit among Bhojpuri lovers and poorvanchalis.

This cinema hall has several golden memories as many leading actors and actresses —including Raj Kapoor, Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Ranbir Kapoor — had paid a visit here.

After Regal and Plaza cinema at Connaught Place, Moti was the third oldest single screen cinema hall in the national Capital. Currently, there are over two dozen such cinema halls in the Capital, which are facing an uphill task to survive and attract audiences nowadays.

When asked, VK Garg, manager of Moti cinema said that this oldest cinema hall was closed down as several agencies - Delhi Fire Service, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC), health department, discoms failed to give the no objection certificate (NOC). Garg is hopeful that Moti will reopen soon after getting the NOC. Bhojpuri movie ‘Andhi Toofan’ was the last film screened there last week.

Kirit Desai holds the lease to Moti cinema. A man in his seventies, he is resigned to his business and the image of the building that has been his workplace for six decades. Trophies of Raj Kapoor films, a celebratory plaque for the platinum run of a Manmohan Desai film - his shelves are evocative of a period long laid to rest.

When his father Chhotubhai Desai took over Moti in 1938, the cinema trade hadn’t quite taken off. This cinema hall exhibited quality Hindi movies of the time from Shantaram through Mehboob, Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy. Moti also screened morning English movies right up until the mid 1970s.

When asked why only Bhojpuri movies were being screened nowadays, Garg said that in recent years Delhi’s many single screen cinema halls have been giving way to large multiplexes. “Single screen halls like Moti, fighting a rear-guard action against the steady march of the multiplexes, became the connection between the Bihari diaspora and Bhojpuri cinema. From the narrow streets of Gorakhpur to the by-lanes of Old Delhi, the audience flocked to watch their heroes smash and gyrate while the seetis and the taalis echoed in the out-dated acoustics,” Garg added.

Beside Moti, four other single screen cinema halls including Westend in Sadar Bazar, mostly showed Bhojpuri films, Sangam, Subhash and laxmi in Shahdara-loni border were closed down last month.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is bringing a policy for continuation of single screen cinema in the national Capital.