Thread by @ApnaSecbad

THREAD

Anand to Zamrud - The bygone cinema halls of Hyd.

For decades single screen theatres were not just a source of mass entertainment for the Indians but they also were considered as architectural landmarks. The unique design, the dark halls, division of seats,
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shared worship of larger-than-life actors, the interval breaks for smoking, cold drinks, chai, samosa, sandwich, the hooting, throwing coins, all made the movie watching experience a thrilling experience. The stranger next to you cracking a joke & the entire row erupting
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in laughter as was the rolling of the maroon/burgundy curtain just before start of the movie. These long-standing cinema viewing spaces hit a dead end with the advent of malls & multiplexes. Most remain as ghostly reminder of their glorious past.
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The movie watching experiences changed as multi-screens became the new found choice of people.

Thanks to many of you who shared their experiences, some interesting anecdotes, hilarious stories. Lot of content has been taken from FB posts, DMs, newspaper articles, blogs.
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Anand, SP Road - Owned by the same family that owned Sangeet Theatre. They got into an agreement in 1980 with the Asman Jah family to construct a theatre, run it for 42 years & return it to the owner. Sadly the owner passed away before the lease period could lapse.
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The agreement was dissolved. The Misra family took the case to Supreme Count but lost the case. In 2011 the GVK group acquired the rights to the property. The last movie screened was Ra.One in 2011. Theatre has been grounded now.
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Ajanta, SD Road - One of the many theatres in Sec'bad. It had a flawed balcony design. Tene Manasulu, released on 31/3/65 had 4 shows per day in its first 7 days at Ajanta. Famous movies screened here were Maine Pyaar Kiya, Yeh Dillagi, Saajan, Elan-E-Jung, Rudranetra.
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Amar (later name changed to Rama) Chilkalguda - It had a curved tin roof with movie watching experience comparable to sitting in an oven. Ticket price was 35 paise, 5 paise goli soda and 5 paise masala batani
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Amba, Mehdipatnam - Famous among the student community in Santoshnagar, Mehdipatnam, Gudimalkapur, Masab Tank. The single-screen theatre screened some popular both Hindi movies like ‘Qurbaani’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ to Telugu movies like ‘Vakeel Saab’.
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Amba was very popular among the students of the University of Hyd. as there was a ticket booking counter at the nearby bus depot. Univ. students used book their bus tickets, watch a movie & then catch the bus. For many it was routine. It has been demolished for a mall.
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Aradhana, Tarnaka - Mostly had the Osmania Univ. students bunking classes. Famous for bed bugs & rodents.

Alankar, Sec'bad - It started as Paramount theatre, later it's name changed to Alankar.

Amaravati, Lakdi-ka-pul - Rambo was one of movies that released here.
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Apsara & Menaka, Lal Darwaza - P. Anand Rao and one Vallabha Das Loya were the owners. The property has been demolised now.

Basant talkies, Kachiguda - Operating as a function hall

Chitra Theatre (later name changed to Anjali), General Bazar - 692 seater theatre
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Chitrani Theatre, Ranigunj Circle - One of the oldest in Sec'bad. It was demolised to make way for Mythri Arcade.

Dreamland - Built for the British troops with a Gothic styled structure. Famous for screening English movies during the British era.
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Nawab Salar Jung III and Kotwal Rahmat Yar Jung were frequently noticed there. With passage of time it faded & for survival started screeing c-grade movies then became a prayer hall.

Deepak Mahal, Narayanguda - Opened in 1967 with the film Ave Kallu.
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Some of the famouus Telugu movies that released here were Tenemanasulu, Anthima Theerpu, Simhagarjana, Seethapathy Samsaaram.

Devi 70mm, RTC X Roads - It was started by industrialist Dr T Nandagopal, owner of Devi ceiling fans. Devi was a famous for it's excellent sound.
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Nagarjuna's Shiva, had a stunning record of running houseful for 85 days continuously in 1989. It was famous for screening most of Nagarjuna's movies - Annamaiah, Ninnepelladatha, Hello Brother, Geetanjali.
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Dwarkamayi, Malkajgiri - One of the 3-4 theatres in Malkajgiri/Safilguda area catering to the local populace. It later changed name to Sri Sai Ram Theatre.

Embassy, Himayatnagar - It was a small theatre that had just 39 seats.
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Mostly english movies were screened. The hall was supposed to be private screening hall of Dr.Mehta, one of the leading eye surgeon in Hyd. Come September, 1961 american romantic comedy film was one of the movies that released in this hall.
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Feroze Talkies.- There were touring cinemas too in Hyd. These cinemas travelled showing movies. A large tent used to be put up, a couple of rows of plain wooden chairs. One such cinema that visited Hyd was called Feroze Talkies.
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Ganga, Dilsukhnagar - Believed to be the biggest theater when it was opened. The theater scene in @RGVzoomin's RRAT was shot here. It is now called Asian Shiva Ganga..

Kalpana, Kavadigua - A lesser known theatre catering to the people living in & around Musheerabad.
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Kalyani, Bowenpally - It had an aquarium in the roof which one could see from seats & weird disco lights next to the screen which would turn on during songs! Doesn't exist anymore.

Kamal & Tirumala, Chaderghat - Care Hospitals has come up in this premises.
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Krishna talkies, Gulzar House - Came up in 1932. It used to screen Republic Picture's Western serials.

Liberty, Himayatnagar - Came up in 1930s that screened English Movies. Area at the junction of the road meeting the Basheerbagh-Tank Bund came to be known as Liberty
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Lighthouse - This was a relic, a heritage structure. It had purse-friendly pricing, starting from 1 rupee to 1.75. Morning shows were much less. English movies done with their run at the Plaza or Tivoli would be screened.
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Navrang /Vikrant / Ashok, Jambagh - The three theaters stood side by side on the busy Jambagh road, at the junction of Mojamjahi market. They played Hindi blockbusters all the time - Don, Khoon Pasina. Yaadon ki Baraat, Fakira, Rampur Ka Laxman.
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Palace, Near GPO Abids - Built in 1940 at the place where shop & ice-factory of Abids was located. It was called SELECT CINEMA when it was first opened. Mostly played Hindi movies.

Close to it was Ajanta cool drinks near it. They had an elaborate set of rules one of which was that you cannot comb your hair in the store! Now the MPM exists in this place.
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Plaza, Secbad - Facing the Parade grounds in the same block behind Montgomerry’s bar. There are anecdotal tales of how Col CK Nayudu, who served as the first-ever captain of the Indian cricket team hoisted a six from Gymkhana grounds to Plaza, 148 mtrs.
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Paradise - It was opened in the early 1950s and owned by Anjaiah Goud. A canteen was opened alongside to clientele of the moviegoers. Who knew it will outlive the hall and become an icon. The 1955 Hindi movie, Insaniyat starring Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand released here.
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The Wesley Boys School arranged for a screening at 50% off for the students with the teachers accompanying them. The film featured a chimpanzee named Zippy whose camaraderie with Dilip Kumar was its main attraction and maybe the reason why the school had a screening.
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Mughal e Azam and Pakeeza were screened here. The prop. Anjaiah Goud died in an accident while he was going to get cinema reels. The theatre was shut in 1968.

Picture House, AC Guards - After disbandment of Hyd Army, an Army gymnasium was converted into a cinema hall.
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It screened English movies. Located digonally opposite the current "Mahaveer Hospital" in AC Guards, a massive fire destroyed this theatre in the early 1960. The bus stop adjacent to this erstwhile theatre still went by the name "PICTURE HOUSE" even as late as mid 1980s.
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Pratap, Langar House - One of the oldest in Hyd. Preferred hangout for lot of students due to presence of many engineering/medical colleges. Also closest theatre for people residing at Moinabad, Kalimandir, Aziznagar & Chilkur. Is it now known as Alankar.
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Manohar, Station Road - Built in 1935. Not so sought after theatre, it still exists. It started screening B-grade movies while it was closer to its demise.

Minerva Theatre, SD Road - The oldest theatre in Sec'bad area, it was called ROXY
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It had three balcony seatings on the first floor. The Minerva Complex now exists in it's place.

Maheshwari/Parmeshwari - Owned by T Subbarami Reddy was famous for its escalator. With it's rich interiors it became a sort of tourist attraction.
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Manju - Shankarabharanam was released in 1980 and played at Manju theater for almost two years. Recently is was demolished.

Moti Mahal Theatre, Sultan Bazar, Koti - It was built in the 1930s. On June 14th of 1936 a fire accident occurred in the theatre.
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14 people were dead & several were injured in this incident. The film “College Girl” was screening in the theatre at the time of accident which occurred between 9.30 - 10.00 pm during the end of the evening show at lady's balcony near projector room.
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Nishat Talkies, Putli Bowli - The hall had Iron pillars which were conspicuously visible obstructing the view of the moviegoer . It had wall mounted fans on the side walls. They were rickety old ones, refusing to start on the turn of a switch.
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An employee of the cinema used to go around the hall, turning the fans. This was a daily affair. Still it managed to screen some top movies like TOHFA, Sohrab Modi's SIKANDAR and Filmistan's ANARKALI.
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Nartaki, Alwal - One among the handful of theatres that came up in Alwal, Bolarum areas. Growing up in the Cantonment area, this was our popular choice. Remember having watched Laawaris, Don, Desh Premee here. It is now called Nartaki Movie Max.
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Prashant, Secbad - Famous movies that released here were Qurbani, Sadma. It is still surviving.

Ramakrishna 70mm & 35 mm, Abids - Sholay is the first film to run with 4 shows for 50 days in a single theatre in the Twin Cities.
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It was released on 3rd Oct 1975 and achieved this distiction at RamaKrishna 70 MM A/C. The theatre management had to keep on extending morning shows due to the heavy demand for tickets till its 52nd day ( 23rd November).
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Royal & Dilshad, Sultan Bazar, Koti - Came up in 1927. It was stablished by Dinyar Dinshah, & later on purchased by Vennayya and Maisaiah in 1937. Was the only fully airconditioned theatre which offered cushioned seats in violet color for all classes.
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Tickets were priced 1,2,3,4 rupees. Royal initially used to screen English movies. The first movies released was Samson Delila starring Heddy Lamar and Victor Mature, followed by Tarana starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala.
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There was a horrific fire in 1930s at Dilshad. Records indicate that Capt.Ayub Khan (later Pakistan's president) was there helping firemen. Ayub K. was stationed at Secunderabad then with the British Army.
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Rameshwar, Malkajgiri - It was popularly known as 'munta' talkies as water was served in pots.

Sagar Talkies, Bank Street, Koti - It was originally called Excelsior Theater. The foundation stone was laid by the British Resident himself.
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Upon conversion of the theater into a cinema hall, the name was changed to Sagar Talkies. Apart from movies, cultural activities were held there. Jagan Mohini, Bhakta Siriyala were some popular movies that released here.
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Sardar Talkies, Saifabad - It was located near Saifabad Science College, on the road that leads to Banjara Hills. It was inaugurated by Nawab Azam Jah Bahadur. It also started with English movies, later turning to Hindi movies.
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Sandhya 70mm & 35mm, RTC C Roads - Built by M Chandraiah in 1980 with a seating capacity of 1323. The first movie to release in this theatre was Shaalimar and Sholay was the second movie at this theatre. Later they started screening more of Telugu movies.
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Shama, Jahanuma - Jaffer Hussain Meraj is the owner of the theatre and AIMIM legislator from Nampally. The theatre started in 1982. The first movie screened here was ‘Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai’ in the early 1980s. It used to screen most of Mithun's movies.
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Sheeshmahal, Ameerpet - Well known landmark in it stood proudly on the main road. It was a big theatre early on with many good movies playing there and later sleazy ones. It still is functioning
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Sri Sai, bolarum - Built to cater to the military personnel & local populace. The magnum opus Sholay released here as the theatre supposedly had westrex stereo which was considered among the best.

Sudharshan 70mm and 35mm, RTC X Roads - Built in 1979.
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Rekha and Naveen Nischal's Hindi movie 'Sawan Bhadon' is the first movie that was screened at this theatre. Sudharsan 70mm used to have a large aquarium with big silver sharks.
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Dolby Digital Surround system was installed in this theatre by RGA sound engineers who were supposedly the best sound engineers in India. Sudarshan 70 MM A/C was the pet theatre for Nandamuri Balakrishna.
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In 1975, Akkineni Nageswararao inauguarated Sudharsan 35MM A/C. Maabhoomi' had a distinct record of 365 days run with jus one show during the day.

Suraj, Dabeerpura - Namak Halaal release here. Ticket prices were 1.20/2.20/3.30/4.50

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Sree Mayuri, RTC X Roads - Established in 1968 by Badam brothers, Rangaswamy & Ramaswamy, it was called Sangam. Several celebrities including NTR used to watch movies here. The theatre got a facelift in 1992 and was called Ram Lakhan.
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In 2001 after another round of renovations the name was changed to Sree Mayuri. Lying defunct now.

Shobhana & Vimal, Balanagar - Oldest theatres in Balanagar area. The go to place for people residing in Bowenpally, Balanagar, Ferozguda & HAL, NRSA employees.
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Srinivasa 35mm, Narayanguda - One of the biggest movie that released here was Enter The Dragon, which kind of started the martial arts craze in the city.

Tarakrama, Kachiguda - Opened in 1978, NTR’s Akbar Salim & Anarkali was the 1st film released in the theatre.
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Venkatesa 70 mm & Srinivasa 35 mm - Started with Akkineni Nageswara Rao's film Jai Jawaan in February 1970. NTR's Adavi Ramudu was houseful for 47 days and ran for 175 days. Lot of Shoban Babu's movies released here.
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Venkatramana & Padmavati, Kachiguda - It is now called Indra Venkataramana Padmavati Cinema. Pataal Bhairavi ran for a year at Venkatramana.

Vijaylakshmi, Ameerpet - The lowest ticket was 45 paise & highest 1.20 paise, had a separate block for ladies covered by curtains.
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Yakut Mahal, Yakuptpura - Opened in 1930, it was one of the oldest single-screen movie theatre in Hyd. They had a 1927-make projector imported from Chicago. They had separate seats for ladies and also a curtain between the ladies and gents sections.
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Yashoda, Sikh Village - This was right opposite the Hockey Grounds. Now functions as a function hall.

Zamrud, Abids - Built in 1934 by Nawab Gulam Hussain Khan & named after his grandmother Zamrud Begum.
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At that time it was the largest cinema hall in india, measuring 200 by 70 feet. The first movie was Devaki Bose‟s “Sita” (Durga Kote and Prithvi Raj Kapoor) movie. Zamarud Mahal was actually an auditorium converted into a cinema Hall.
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The early batches of Osmanians used it as a vehicle to exhibit theire dramatic talents. The front row was the most expensive and the most back seat was the cheapest. This changed after several years when Zamrud was renovated.
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Few other theatres.
Alka & Asha (shah-ali-banda)
Balaji Theatre, Bakaram
Farheen & Shaheen (later became Surya)
Galaxy theatre, Toli Chowki
Geeta, Chandanagar
Jagat, Saidabad
Jyothi cinema, BHEL - It is now Asian Jyothi Cinema
Kishore, Narayanguda - Stands demolished.
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Kamal & Tirumala, Chaderghat - Care Hospitals has come up in this premises.
Konark, Dilsukhnagar
Lata Talkies, Nampally - One of the oldest in that side of the city.
Prabhat, Kachiguda
Meera Deluxe, Lakdi-ka-pul - Became Sensation sometime in 2000.
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Milan, Mehdipatnam
Noor Mahal, Golnaka
Paramount theatre, Ranigunj (later became Alankar)
Prakash, Mangalghat
Priya, Mallepally - Opened in 1979
Ramachandra, Safilguda
Raghavendra, Malkajgiri
Sangeetha, Ramachandrapuram
Santosh/Sapna, Abids
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Shiva, Malkajgiri
Satyam, Ameerpet
Sharada, Saroornahar
Saptagiri, RTC X Roads
Shiva Shakthi, AS Rao Nahar
Radhika, AS Rao Nagar
Sridevi, Chilkalguda
Skyline & Sterling, Basheer Bagh
Subhash, Musheerabad
Swami, Sanatnagar
Zia, Taj & Noble, Mallepally
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Most of these were landmarks. Some don't exist anymore, some lying defunct with paint peeling of their walls, bird droppings covering the floors.

The movie watching experiences changed as multi-screens became the new found choice of people.

Thanks for reading.

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