These buildings in Mumbai could be ageing courtesans from another time and place. Faded, wrinkled, abused and world-weary, they are the old single-screen cinema houses scattered all over the city. Some still have the spirit to don the war paint in the hopes of luring customers. Others have just given up the struggle.
At four in the afternoon, Royal Talkies near Grant Road in South Mumbai appears desolate. In a hall capable of seating over 600, around 40 heads are visible in the dim light. All eyes are on the screen where an old mother is pleading with her wayward son to mend his ways. The movie is from the 1980s, with stars who have long since retired. The large posters outside the cinema hall announce other obscure films starring macho men from the Hindi hinterlands of North India. “We sell tickets for 20 rupees (roughly 30p / 45 cents),” says the cinema manager. “Anything above that and even this audience will not come. But how can we afford to screen new movies at that cost?”
Read the rest of the story here – my article on the old single screen cinemas of Mumbai was published in More Intelligent Life of The Economist last month.