Bombay and its derivative ‘Bollywood’ – the Hindi film industry – both go hand in hand to give us great cinema to cherish forever. While watching movies on TV and mobile phone has become the norm in these Covid times, nothing beats a theatrical experience. 80s and 90s kids like me understand the sheer pleasure of watching cinema on 70MM silver screen with stereophonic sound – whether it is Sholay at the Minerva or Hum Aapke Hain Kaun at Liberty. The cinematic impact is truly unparalleled!!
Unfortunately, with advent of multiplexes, the era of single screens is slowly fading into oblivion and many iconic yesteryear cinemas like Minerva, Naaz, Apsara, Novelty, Ganga-Jamuna (Tardeo) and Chitra (Dadar) have become memories today. This column is to highlight some of these great single-screen cinemas (existing as well as defunct) in Mumbai and reflect on their past glory as well as current status.
The Minerva needs no formal introduction due to its famous association with Hindi cinema’s biggest hit ever – Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975). Often referred to as the Sholay theatre, the blockbuster was screened here for five consecutive years from its premiere in August 1975 till end of 1980. Sholay played in regular three shows till 1978 and then shifted to matinee shows for the next two years. An unparalleled record, indeed!!
Situated at Mumbai’s upmarket Lamington road, Minerva was owned by noted film producer F.C. Mehra and actor Shammi Kapoor also held a minority stake in it. In fact, the theatre was inaugurated in 1971 with FC Mehra’s own Lal Patthar. Later, most of F.C. Mehra’s home productions like Manoranjan (1974), Ashanti (1982), Sohni Mahiwal (1984), Aakhri Adalat (1988), Mujrim (1989) and Chamatkar (1992) premiered here.
One of the very few theatres in Mumbai equipped with 70MM stereophonic sound, watching a movie on Minerva’s gigantic screen was a sheer delight for its audience. Sholay, Ali Baba Aur 40 Chor (1980), Mahaan (1983) and Dayavan (1988) were few of the appreciated films released here in 70MM format. The stereophonic sound for Sholay was so awesome that Dharmendra flipping the coin in the climax would resonate from the upper stall right till the balcony; it became a fad for the audience to visit Minerva multiple times just to experience this sound effect. The 1970s and ‘80s were boom time for the cinema hall when it was considered prestigious to release a film at Minerva. The one thousand three hundred capacity theatre, segregated in to lower stall, upper stall and balcony, would invariably draw Housefull boards for all Amitabh Bachchan blockbusters like Deewaar (1975), Kaala Patthar (1979), Shaan (1980), Naseeb (1981), Shakti (1982) and Satte Pe Satta (1982).
The theatre held record number of silver (25 weeks) and golden jubilee (50 weeks) hits but invariably got itself tagged to Sholay which was played in re-runs at Minerva throughout the ’80s and ’90s right till 2004 when it was formally re-released across India. I vividly remember not getting a single ticket for a Sunday afternoon show and returning home disappointed. Can you believe this, Sholay was still running to a packed house in its 29th year. Phew!!
Like most single screens, Minerva started slipping in the 2000s with the advent of multiplexes. In 2006, its owner – the Mehras – decided to exit the business and sold off the theatre to Neville Tuli of the Osianama who intended to build an exhibition centre there. Unfortunately, the financial meltdown of 2008 made the enterprise go bust, and today, all that remains of the glorious theatre is an empty plot of land. A tragic end of an era!!
Like any avid movie buff, I saw quite a few films at the Minerva, the last one being Mahesh Bhatt’s Kalyug (2005). The only regret I shall always have in life is unable to watch the iconic Sholay at the Minerva. Truly envy those who did!!
All images courtesy Internet
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