One of Mumbai’s most cherished cinema halls, Chandan Cinema, has been demolished, marking the finish of an period for Bollywood and its followers. Opened in 1973, the iconic venue screened quite a few hit movies over its illustrious 46-12 months journey, starting with Raj Kapoor’s Bobby. Chandan Cinema closed its doorways in 2019 and now bids a bittersweet farewell to its place in cinematic historical past.
Film skilled Amod Mehra Reminisced about the golden days of Chandan Cinema. talking to etimeshe mentioned, “I remember they wanted me to help with tickets for Sardars who wanted to watch the film. I organized it as my friend Patni was handling the cinema at the time. I have to tell you, whenever a Dharmendra or Sunny Deol film released at Chandan, it felt like Punjab had descended on the cinema.” (It was very comparable to what used to occur when a Rajinikanth movie launched at Aurora Cinema in Matunga.)
Mehra added that watching a film at Chandan was very prestigious, as one was certain to come throughout a Dharmendra or Rakesh Roshan watching the movie. “Ajay Devgn had his office right opposite Chandan cinema, and if his film didn’t release there, he would go and plead with the management to release his film at the theater,” Mehra shared.
Chandan’s location additionally made it indispensable. Mehra defined, “Between Gaiety-Galaxy cinema and Juhu, there was no big cinema hall except for a small theater called Lido. The experience of watching a film with 1,000 people in the cinema was truly unique.”
While Amod Mehra referred to as it a prestigious second for movies to launch at Chandan, movie historian Dilip Thakur defined that Chandan had change into a barometer for the success and failure of movies at the field workplace. He added, “I remember Madhuri Dixit talking about her visit to the cinema. She was not in Mumbai when Tezaab released, so she visited Chandan with her parents, wearing a burqa, and was overwhelmed by the huge response from the audience, especially during the Ek Do Teen song.”
