The innocent charm of queuing up for tickets at a cinema hall, eventually procuring one at triple the price from the ubiquitous tout, and coming out to the foyer for a cigarette during the interval will never be back. All that will remain is the nostalgia, writes Chandan Mitra
One movie hall that will never get erased from my memory is Chanakya, with its distinctive architecture and plush interiors. Apart from watching umpteen movies here (preferred because the DTC’s night service buses ran past this hall and took us to Mall Road in the Campus). Also, it was in Chanakya that I hosted a film premiere. As Secretary of my College’s Students’ Union Society, I successfully persuaded Manoj Kumar to give us the premiere of Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan to help the Union raise funds. Unfortunately, the then President of India, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (whose son was a classmate) and who was to preside over the event had bereavement in the family just days before the release and we had to make do with the then Vice-President BD Jatti. But nevertheless, I was the object of widespread envy in college for having sat next to the heartthrob of the times, Zeenat Aman. Amitabh Bachchan was still not a mega-superstar, but was on the way to achieving cult status. I remember him coming in late and not finding a seat, sitting on the floor right till the end.
