Status after Closing Single Screen
My memories :
Watching movies in our childhood brought a different excitement. 6-7 days before going to see the movie, I would hold hands with my parents and buy tickets from the grandfathers at the counter, then I would stand next to my father and peep into the small window and say loudly, “Give me a seat on the edge, Uncle”, as if to plead with them. But they also gave us good seats and now sitting at home at any moment, we can choose the seat as we want.
Ever since multiplexes in malls have become popular, paying a little extra for better seats, watching movies in cold rooms with cold drinks and snacks has become a trend. Since then their business has started to suffer, as the owners started to fear, the situation of the owners became more dire when the single screen cinema halls were shut down after the terrible corona of 2020.
Nostalgic & Sad feelings for Single Screen Cinema Hall:
The joy of watching movies after college or school is truly beyond comparison. Somehow, Bengalis have grown up with the habit of going straight to the cinema by taking a private bus and counting the change in their pocket. This scene was very familiar in the seventies, eighties and even the nineties. Then the guardians paid little attention. There was no extra pocket cost for styling at that time. Viewing images on a single screen is heaven. There was no Dolby sound, no 3D movie effect, and if you could get a corner seat holding your girlfriend’s hand in a dark theater, then it would be a total enjoyable disaster. But all this is almost past now and like today, the Insignia seat was unimaginable back then, we never knew as kids that such a huge change would come in today’s era. The definition of entertainment has changed now. Now there are no people to watch movies in the single screen cinema hall. OTT platform is the first choice of everyone in the era of high speed internet. Today, the entertainment history of the city has changed with the passage of time.
cinema, entertainment, leisure and people concept – couple watching movie in theater from back
There was a time in Calcutta when all the cinema halls were crowded on holidays. There were no multiplexes in this city then. In the era of multiplexes, these are now memories. All the single screen cinema halls of Kolkata are disappearing one by one. Kolkata is also constantly changing its character in the era of modernization and globalization, and that’s natural, change is necessary to survive with the times and because of this, many pasts may be lost. Bengal’s cinema halls are gradually disappearing. Those who are still there continue to fight for survival.
Prachi, Poorvi, Chobighor, Mitra in North Kolkata were once very popular theatres. The owners are under immense pressure. Poorvi Hall was sold long ago. Bengali nostalgia is slowly running out with these halls.
Single Screens of Kolkata
Historical incidents:
Time demands a lot. The traditional Mitra cinema hall has written its name in the pages of history. The movie that was inaugurated by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose One day. Where people like Satyajit Roy, Tapan Sinha used to travel. That Mitra cinema hall closed down long ago. Now the building has been demolished and a modern shopping mall has been constructed at that place.
When Netaji inaugurated the cinema hall in 1931 (every year Subhas Chandra Bose’s photo was garlanded on his birthday), the hall was called Chitra at that time. Birendranath Sarkar was the owner. In 1963, the name was changed to Mitra. Since then cinema has witnessed many golden jubilees. A lot of love was attached to this hall.
Present situation of the employees of these halls:
Many people have lost their jobs due to the closure of these single screen cinema halls. Many men from poor middle-class families whose families lived happily together worked in these halls. They used to sit regularly at the ticket counter, some people would stand at the door to check the tickets, some people would look at the tickets with torch light and select the seats according to the numbers. During the break time of the movie hall, some chips selling hawkers used to go around to exchange chips, popcorn for a small amount of money, where else these days! Now we can buy the tickets for the desired seat sitting at home with apps, we can buy the various popcorn whatever we want through online. As a result of not only single screens, many people have gone to their jobs, which used to be permanent for months, today they are either tea sellers in tea shops, or sell vegetables, or run their stomachs by hawking.The hall owners claim that the number of people attending the cinema hall is so low that they have to face a loss on every show to meet the electricity bill and other expenses.
No matter how modern we walk in the current situation, those of us who have passed those old days, it will be impossible to get those days back. What nostalgic feelings can be in this era of fast life, is beyond the imagination of people of the present age.