KOLKATA: The calendar at the Elite Cinema place of work has now not grew to become after the May 31 web page. That was the final day a film was screened there; an afternoon sooner than, the company running the theatre issued a understand declaring its “everlasting and irrevocable closure” with impact from June 1, bringing the curtains down on yet any other iconic single display in the middle of old Calcutta.
In January 1988, when Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Shahenshah’ hit theatres, movie-goers queued up from the night time sooner than tickets have been slated to be bought; the queue snaked from the hall on S N Banerjee Road proper as much as the Maidan, with police officers trying to keep peace between enthusiasts and, concurrently, coordinating the drift of site visitors interrupted via enthusiasts.
Three many years later, on May 31, 2018, the evening display of John Abraham’s ‘Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran’ needed to be cancelled as now not a single ticket were bought.
So Elite, which opened on August 2, 1940, and began as a hall supposed to cater to town’s elite, ended existence without a lot of a farewell. The bustling cinema-hall district of Esplanade will now make do with barely 5 single-screen theatres, that is, sooner than yet one more shuts store.
The services and products of all 18 staffers had been terminated with a promise of payment of “criminal dues”. On Monday, senior operator Jayanta Choudhury were given his CV typed out to use for a job at a multiplex, with 20 years of experience and cartloads of reminiscences being his capital. “Elite was initially supposed for ballroom dancing. Truckloads of ice would be introduced and kept at sub-zero temperatures. This ice would then be used for the dance flooring,” he stated.
A projector was imported from Italy all the way through the generation of silent cinema; a gentleman would play the piano on level whilst the movie beamed on the display. The 1,228-seater used to display simplest English motion pictures when it began existence as a cinema hall. ‘Sound of Music’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘Ten Commandments’, ‘Godfather’, and ‘The Guns of Navarone’ had successful runs here.
Hindi motion pictures took over after that. “Mughal-e-Azam” launched in 1960 and did such trade that employees got an advantage.
But nostalgia on my own may just now not maintain trade, hall officials stated, blaming heavy financial losses and money owed that mixed with depleting ticket sales and the increasing attraction of multiplexes. Manager Batabyal stated ‘Parmanu’s’ first-week collection was about Rs 30,000; the week sooner than, ‘Tarzan’ grossed about Rs 23,000 here. ‘Challenge Hain Kya Dum’ collected Rs 18,000 the week sooner than that and ‘Tishnagi’ collected Rs 22,000. “The collections include the distributors’ share. Our per 30 days power invoice on my own runs as much as Rs 1.5 lakh,” he stated.
The employees keep in mind that theatrical collections are insufficient. “But the bar used to generate good trade. That was sufficient to pay our salary. We don’t know what's going to be completed with the property,” Choudhury stated.
Batabyal, then again, would now not discuss long run plans yet. “The bar shut down two months again. It had no connection with the hall revenue. Our precedence now is to clear the workers’ dues. Subsequeently, the landlord will make a decision what to do with this belongings,” Batabyal stated.
In January 1988, when Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Shahenshah’ hit theatres, movie-goers queued up from the night time sooner than tickets have been slated to be bought; the queue snaked from the hall on S N Banerjee Road proper as much as the Maidan, with police officers trying to keep peace between enthusiasts and, concurrently, coordinating the drift of site visitors interrupted via enthusiasts.
Three many years later, on May 31, 2018, the evening display of John Abraham’s ‘Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran’ needed to be cancelled as now not a single ticket were bought.
So Elite, which opened on August 2, 1940, and began as a hall supposed to cater to town’s elite, ended existence without a lot of a farewell. The bustling cinema-hall district of Esplanade will now make do with barely 5 single-screen theatres, that is, sooner than yet one more shuts store.
The services and products of all 18 staffers had been terminated with a promise of payment of “criminal dues”. On Monday, senior operator Jayanta Choudhury were given his CV typed out to use for a job at a multiplex, with 20 years of experience and cartloads of reminiscences being his capital. “Elite was initially supposed for ballroom dancing. Truckloads of ice would be introduced and kept at sub-zero temperatures. This ice would then be used for the dance flooring,” he stated.
A projector was imported from Italy all the way through the generation of silent cinema; a gentleman would play the piano on level whilst the movie beamed on the display. The 1,228-seater used to display simplest English motion pictures when it began existence as a cinema hall. ‘Sound of Music’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘Ten Commandments’, ‘Godfather’, and ‘The Guns of Navarone’ had successful runs here.
Hindi motion pictures took over after that. “Mughal-e-Azam” launched in 1960 and did such trade that employees got an advantage.
But nostalgia on my own may just now not maintain trade, hall officials stated, blaming heavy financial losses and money owed that mixed with depleting ticket sales and the increasing attraction of multiplexes. Manager Batabyal stated ‘Parmanu’s’ first-week collection was about Rs 30,000; the week sooner than, ‘Tarzan’ grossed about Rs 23,000 here. ‘Challenge Hain Kya Dum’ collected Rs 18,000 the week sooner than that and ‘Tishnagi’ collected Rs 22,000. “The collections include the distributors’ share. Our per 30 days power invoice on my own runs as much as Rs 1.5 lakh,” he stated.
The employees keep in mind that theatrical collections are insufficient. “But the bar used to generate good trade. That was sufficient to pay our salary. We don’t know what's going to be completed with the property,” Choudhury stated.
Batabyal, then again, would now not discuss long run plans yet. “The bar shut down two months again. It had no connection with the hall revenue. Our precedence now is to clear the workers’ dues. Subsequeently, the landlord will make a decision what to do with this belongings,” Batabyal stated.
End of show: 78 yrs on, it’s curtains for Elite
![End of show: 78 yrs on, it’s curtains for Elite]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
June 05, 2018
Rating:
