Theatres of Mount Road and its Audience

The 80s
Theatres of Mount Road and its Audience
by Kannan Swamy

If the erstwhile Madras was synonymous with movies in the South, Mount Road, a stretch of it, was famous for its movie halls. Being a child of 60s and 70s, I can safely say that Mount Road and its cinemas were at their peak during the 80s. It provided a very vibrant addition to Madras and given its proximity to the beach, Chepauk cricket stadium, the bachelor paradise that was Triplicane, ensured its prominence on the map of the city.

Here is a look at that Mount Road, through my experience from the 70s and the 80s. Let’s take a walk down the memory lane and start with cinema halls that were past their prime in the 80s and were mainly used to showcase re-run of old Tamil movies.

Just off Mount Road on Wallajah Road, there were two cinema halls opposite each other – Paragon and Kalaivanar Arangam or Children’s theatre. While the former was a very old hall which featured mega-hit movies like Nadodi Mannan, the latter was a part-time cinema hall cum drama stage cum hall for government and political functions. The speciality of Paragon was the soundtrack from Clint Eastwood’s Dollar series trilogy that they used to play before the movie started; this coupled with the fleas, torn seats, and 50 paise ‘Samsa’ (not samosa) makes for a veritable mix of nostalgia, now. I had watched many black and white Tamil movies at Paragon and one of the unforgettable scenes was, the fans showering coins at the start of the song Naan Malorodu Thaniyaga. It was spine tingling.

Kalaivanar Arangam used to screen old English movies in their noon show slot and old Tamil movies in their other slots, only if there were no plays staged or functions held. The screen was unique, as it resembled a huge white ‘veshti’ and didn’t look like our regular cinema screens. Some of the movies, that I had the opportunity to watch there include Bullet Train (Japanese film), Flying Piranhas, Annie Caulder (Raquel Welch) amongst others. Bullet Train was very special for me and I watched the movie three times that week. Without this theatre being there, youngsters like me would have not been exposed to a wide variety of movies during those years.

The other old cinema hall was Plaza on Mount Road. Paragon and Plaza were the twin theatres that rolled off our tongues easily back then. Plaza had turned into an almost exact replica of Paragon by the 80s, with torn seats, flea bites etc. In its heyday, it had mega-hit movies like Gnana Oli being released here. Chiranjeevi’s ride to big-time stardom started with his super hit Qaidi movie and the dubbed version ran for 100 days in Plaza.

As you turn right, past Anna Statue you will come across Casino and Gaiety theatres next to each other. Even though Casino had featured many popular Tamil movies like Enga Veetu Pillai, Vaazhvey Maayam, etc, it was always looked at as the theatre for English movies. Some of the popular English movies released here include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Daughter of the Jungle (featuring Bond girl Tanya Roberts) and the Nazi spy thriller, Eye of the Needle. They all had hugely successful runs and established Casino as a premier hall for English movies. It was one of my favourite movie halls and I enjoyed the tree-covered place outside the theatre during the intermissions.

Gaiety had multiple lives as it went through some good and bad times. It was closed for a few years and then was opened after refurbishment. Kamal Haasan’s Saagar and Andha Oru Nimidam were released here but the theatre couldn’t establish itself for whatever reason and shifted back to screening adult-rated movies. These movies featured explicit sexual scenes and you can see the patrons dart in and out with furtive glances thrown around while averting the eyes of others. The most successful English (?) movie was the Drunken Monk, which featured the lead actor Gordon Liu Chia Hui of the famous 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

As you cross the Cooum River (what was left of it), you would come across the lone Chitra theatre. During its halcyon days, it had seen the release of movies like MGR’s Nalla Neram, and from memory, the last successful new movie released there must have been Kamal Haasan’s Neeya. Post that, it slipped into releasing old movies and was quite popular for such re-releases among fans of the various actors.

Coming back to Mount Road, the first theatre past Anna Statue is the ubiquitously named Anna Theatre. This was one of the smallest theatres, with around 300 seats. This hall featured Tamil, English and Hindi movies. The movies that stood out are few, with Rajinikanth’s Priya, K Balaji’s Vidhi and Ram Teri Ganga Maili, yes, the same one with Mandakini featured in the waterfall!

Next to Anna theatre, was the famous Shanthi theatre owned by Sivaji Ganesan. Needless to say, for the most part, the theatre featured movies acted and produced by Sivaji and later on his son Prabhu’s movies. But, they also released movies of other actors and producers from time to time. One of the first movies I had watched there was Kamal Haasan’s Yaadgar. The fans were so loud and boisterous during the opening show that the fans of Sivaji went complaining to the management. They may have felt that they were the only ones with the rights to create a ruckus in that theatre.

As you walk past the shopping/office building next door and the famous Yaadgar restaurant, you can enter the complex of Devi cinemas. This complex had four theatre halls with Devi and Devi Paradise having over 1200 seats, while Devi Kala and Devi Bala had 400 and 300 odd seats respectively. Devi theatre essentially featured only English movies even though it did screen Tamil movies like Kamal Haasan’s Kadal Meengal and Enakkul Oruvan, Rajinikanth’s Polladhavan. It was famous for English movies and featured highly successful movies like Mackenna’s Gold, Gods Must Be Crazy, Towering Inferno and others.

Devi Paradise was considered a premier hall and the big films of the day were released here. MGR’s Rickshawkaran, Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban; Sivaji’s Raja; Kamal Haasan’s Sigappu Rojakkal, Guru, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu, Kakki Chattai, Aboorva Sagotharargal; Rajinikanth’s Moondru Mugam, Thambikku Entha Ooru; Baghyaraj’s Enga Chinna Rasa, Idhu Namma Aalu were some of the hit movies featured here. The record at this cinema hall for continuous houseful shows (CHF) was held by ‘Rickshawkaran’ with 201 shows at first, and was then broken by USuVa with 227 shows. The record by USuVa stood from 1973 to 1989 when Kamal’s AS broke it by recording nearly 300 CHF shows which remains unbroken to this day and it will not be broken ever. I saw Rajinikanth for the first time, on the first day of the release of his movie Thudikkum Karangal, when he came to watch.

Devi Kala and Devi Bala were mainly used to release small budget movies that benefitted by being featured in a prime locality, which was known for its huge floating population during those years. They featured Tamil, English and Hindi movies including movies like Amitabh’s Satte Pe Satta, running for 200 days and Kamal’s Sadma for over 100 days. One of the biggest successes of Devi Kala came with Ramarajan’s Karakattakaran, which was a blockbuster in 1989.

As you walk past Plaza, the famous Buhari and Sangam restaurants and swing left on to General Patters road, the first theatre on the left is Wellington. It used to feature new Tamil movies and showcase several super hit movies like Kamal’s Savaal, Thiagarajan’s Malaiyoor Mambattiyan, etc, It quickly became a centre for small budget movies and later on as a centre for the old movies to be re-released. There was nothing special about this theatre and also, being at a busy junction was not preferred by the movie-going public.

Once you walk away from the junction into the thicket of automobile spare parts shops (most of them were owned by Punjabi Sikh’s), you will find the twin theatre complex of Midland and Leo. While Leo (400 seats) featured small budget Tamil movies, Midland (900 seats) had a mix of Tamil, English and Hindi movies. Kamal Haasan’s 100th movie Raja Paarvai was released here.

Midland was famous for releasing movies featuring James Bond and Bruce Lee. There were many successful movies like For Your Eyes Only, Moonraker, Octopussy that had huge runs here while Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury was a major hit at this venue. The queue for the advance booking for that movie stretched from the theatre to well past Sarmani hotel, some 100 metres away. For those of my generation and prior, Bruce Lee was an icon and had a legion of fans in Madras, as he had around the world. I watched the movie on the second day of its release and his appearance on screen was followed by deafening whistles and showering of coins which was an awesome experience. Later on, actress Jayapradha bought these theatres and renamed them as Jayapradha and Raj.

If one backtracked from Midland along GP road and across the street from ‘Border Thottam’, you would find the back entrance to a famous theatre named Alankar, which was next to the iconic LIC building. Even though I found nothing special in the facilities on offer at this theatre, it was known for the movies it featured. Some of the famous ones were Kamal Haasan’s Kalyana Raman, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Sakalakala Vallavan amongst others. While Rajini’s movies included Andha Kanoon, Meri Adalat, Nallavanukku Nallavan, Maapillai, etc. The first Hindi movies of both Kamal and Rajini were released here, which speaks the popularity of this cinema hall. The most memorable scene for me at this theatre was the legendary queue for the reservation of Sakalakala Vallavan, which started at the theatre and stretched all the way to the corner of GP road which was nearly 150 metres away. This theatre was known as Globe in its previous form but that was well before the 80s.

You cannot write about Alankar and not mention Jackie Chan’s movies that were released here. One of the first, non-kungfu, movies of JC to be released here was The Protector. I watched the movie on the first-day-first-show and it was exhilarating to see the stunts of JC. This movie was the popular than his previous kung fu movie The Snake in the Monkey’s Shadow, which made JC a popular figure in Tamil Nadu. Post the success of The Protector, there was a slew of his movies that were released here. Other popular English movies released here include Stallone’s Rambo, which I watched on the FDFS. The fight sequence at the police station, where he escapes, was a spine-tingling affair and the theatre was filled with claps and whistles. The other major movie that had a successful run there was Schwarzenegger’s Terminator 2.

If you trudge past Spencer’s Plaza, IOB, TVS Motors on Mount Road, you will come to the Anand theatre complex, which featured the 900 seating Anand and 300 seating Little Anand. This was owned by Umapathy, who acted as the villain in Agni Natchathiram. Even though Anand was tucked away from the main road, it still attracted good patronisation as it had a 70mm screen and the theatre featured lots of popular movies. Rajesh Khanna’s Aradhana ran for 50 weeks and Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon was released here repeatedly to huge runs. The first 70mm film in Tamil, Sivaji’s Raja Raja Chozhan was released here. Kamal Haasan’s successful releases include Oru Kaithiyin Diary, Punnagai Mannan, Nayagan, etc. Rajini found success here with Velaikkaran. Mohan had a big hit in Payanangal Mudivathillai which ran for over 400 days. Manirathnam’s movies were released here continuously which include Mouna Ragam, Agni Natchathiram, etc. Little Anand used to showcase new releases as well as old movies from time to time.

Another 200 metres away towards the Anna flyover, was the unique Safire complex with its 3 halls – Safire, Blue Diamond, and Emerald. It had many distinct features including a multi-level car park, Rajasthani restaurant, the continuous film shows at Blue Diamond and these were not a standard back then. The shows at Blue Diamond used to start at 9 am and continue throughout the day till midnight without a break. One can buy a ticket in the morning and sit through all the shows watching the same movie multiple times. Unfortunately, I cannot recall even a single movie of worth that was released there. I watched a lousy movie called Ice Castle in order to experience the feeling of buying a ticket halfway through a movie and then sitting through the next show to catch the beginning of it. The other speciality in that hall was the presence of working girls and this attracted a very distinct male audience, who were wishing to be serviced while watching the movie.

The main Safire theatre had 900 seats and featured multiple classes of tickets including Box seats. The Box seats had a sofa and there were six or so boxes which had individual doorways. You can watch the movie in privacy

and it was usually couples, looking to steal some alone time without disturbance. The concession stand used to sell what I thought was an exotic food item, ‘Frankfurter’. They used to have one hot dog on a revolving stand to attract people. The other feature was the listing of all the movies, screened in their cinemas along with the box office collection to the paise, at the corridor. People who were interested in such statistics, like me, would stand there to read about the movies.

The first movie at Safire was the hugely successful Cleopatra and the most famous was the path-breaking 36th Chamber of Shaolin. This was the movie which popularised Kung Fu for the Indian audience and which spawned a spate of such releases. I stood in line from morning and managed to get tickets for the evening show only. I was blown by the action sequences in this movie as was the whole of Madras and ended up watching it half-a-dozen times. Even though I was a great fan of Bruce Lee and having watched the legendary Enter the Dragon, this was very exciting to watch. The movie ran for over 40 weeks in Safire and I was so smitten that when I lived in Hong Kong, I used to go hunt for this movie at the video shops. But there was no print of this movie available until it was showcased in a film festival in 2003 or 2004. I watched it twice in that film festival and bought the original DVD once they released it.

One of the most popular long-running movies at Safire was Kamal Haasan’s Telugu blockbuster Marocharitra, that enjoyed a run of over 500 days. Emerald was the other theatre which featured Tamil, English and Hindi movies. The popular ones were Meendum Kokila, Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu and Qayamat Se Qayamat which ran for over 25 weeks.

This complex was eventually bought by AIADMK and has been lying in disuse ever since.

Right behind Mount Road, in the Royapettah area lies the Sathyam complex. In its early form, it had only 3 halls – ‘Sathyam’, ‘Santham’ and ‘Subham’. Sathyam with its 1100 seats was the biggest and it featured big budget and star-driven movies. The famous of them was Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay, MGR’s Idhaya Kani, the first Indian 3D film My Dear Kuttichattan, the blockbuster Sankarabaranam.

There was a spate of Kamal Haasan’s movies that were released here including Tik Tik Tik, Sankarlal, Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey (TTT), Salangai Oli, Vikram etc. In fact, TTT broke the record for CHF at this hall for a Tamil movie that was held by Idhaya Kani. Rajini’s Ranga and Maaveeran were released here. One of the English movies that we all watched with an open mouth was Bo Derek’s Tarzan the Ape Man. The two friends that I took along were grateful for introducing them to this movie.

Santham which had around 600 seats, mainly featured English movies and this is where I watched (many times) one of my favourite World War II movie Von Ryan’s Express. This was about a bunch of British and American prisoners escaping from Nazi Germany during the war. This movie hall was very special to me as they used to sell something called a ‘Japanese Cake’. I was crazy about that cake and surprisingly they never sold that cake either in Sathyam or in Subham, even though it was in the same complex. I wonder if they did some research and decided only the audience to Santham will prefer to eat that cake or what?!

Subham was the smallest of the lot with 300 seats or so and is popular for Kamal Haasan’s super hit Moondram Pirai, which ran for over 300 days. Every show of that movie invariably had the audience (fans) curse out Sridevi in the end with abusive language that cannot be printed! One time I went to that movie with my mother and sisters and they were all turned off by the curses thrown at Sridevi but still, that movie attracted a sizeable female audience throughout its run.

Venturing still further into Royapettah and opposite Wesley High School, you will find Woodlands and Woodlands Symphony theatres. There was nothing special about the theatres or its location. Even though it was a releasing centre for Kamal and Rajini’s movies, it still didn’t acquire the popularity as other cinema halls in the Mount Road. The most successful movie released there was Hum Aapke Hain Koun, which ran for over 40 weeks. I cannot recall any other movie that achieved good success in that complex.

On the other side of Wesley High School and opposite to the present Express Avenue Mall, there was a theatre called Odeon, which used to feature old movies. I remember watching Yaar Paiyan, featuring Daisy Rani and Lava Kusa movies there. Nothing much to write about that experience. This was later converted to Melody theatre and they became popular by screening mostly Hindi movies, given that there was a good population of North Indians and Muslims nearby. I remember watching Dayavan and everyone came out spitting venom including the North Indian audience on the performance of Vinod Khanna and Feroz Khan.

There are two more theatres that are a little off the Mount Road beat but nonetheless form part of this group. Star Theatre, in Triplicane, was smack dab in the middle of Triplicane High Road. They routinely screened Hindi movies and also old Tamil movies. Some of the popular movies that I had watched there include Roti Kapada Aur Makhan, Laila Majnu, Laawaris and Kamal Haasan’s Sanam Teri Kasam and Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya. It was a fun experience watching STK as the queues were always long and one had to stand in the unpaved lane by the side of the theatre to get the tickets.

The other theatre complex is Albert, which is closer to Egmore Railway Station but is still considered as part of the Mount Road. This theatre complex with Albert and Baby Albert became famous by routinely screening movies of Rajinikanth. Almost all his movies including Padikkathavan, Un Kannil Neer Vazhinthal, Naan Adimai Illai, Rajathi Raja were released here in the 80s. During this period Kamal Haasan’s movies were released in Devi complex so there was a bit of a rivalry between the fans and the theatre. The thing that attracted me to Albert was the cutlet that they sold in their canteen. They used to fry it fresh upon order and I used to feel jealous about the fans of Rajini just for that. Devi complex had a poor choice of snacks at that time.

This concludes a walk back in time to the theatres of Mount Road in the 80s. There are a lot more details about movies and related happenings that I can recall and one could write a mini book to cover all of them.

Kannan Swamy was born and brought up in Thiruvallikkeni, Madras. Even after accumulating 25 years of global experience, his passion for the erstwhile Madras hasn’t diminished and he enjoys reminiscing about the good old times.