Click to play videoNew Delhi: Long queues at the ticket counter just ahead of a matinée show of Chak De India - the crowd is predominantly young, as has been the case with Chanakya Cinema, a popular hangout for the youth from before the days of multiplexes.
But these are probably the last few months of Chanakya the way we know. The theatre, built in 1970, is now going to be razed as the Supreme Court has cleared the New Delhi Municipal Council's (NDMC) plans to set up a multiplex in its place. The NDMC's lease with the theatre owners had expired just recently.
Standing tall for the past 37 years, this single screen theatre is the place for film lovers in south Delhi. No wonder then the very idea of converting it into a multiplex is not going down too well with the Delhiites.
“I’m almost 50 years old and I used to come here when I was young so there is a lot of nostalgia involved,” said a film buff.
“It’s an old theatre and I think it should be left as it is,” said another.
And some others saw Chanakya as a cheap alternative to the multiplexes in the city. “This theatre is an affordable place as the PVRs and other multiplexes are very expensive,” said another Delhi resident.
“We already have so many multiplexes this is like a real big screen experience” reasoned another.
The owners of the theatre, however, say this is a case of power play.
"They are arm-twisting us and it’s a case of extorting money by the NDMC,” said owner of Chanakya Theatre, Rajesh Aggarwal.
The Supreme Court has now asked the theatre owners to hand over the building to NDMC by December 31 this year. The municipal body will, in the meanwhile, float a global tender for its new venture.
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