84-year-old cinema hall Regal Cinema Shutting Shop

TIL Desk Bollywood/ Regal, the 84-year-old cinema hall will bring down its curtains on March 31, only to return in a bigger and hopefully a better avatar. Situated at the heart of the capital, the single-screen theater has weathered many a storm in its eight-decade-long life but now, the owners feel, it’s time to close the doors. “It needs repair, maintenance and renovation. With time everything changes and it’s high time for Regal to close down and open up again in a new avatar,” says Vishal Chaudhary, one of the owners of the hall.

Built in 1932, the architecture of the movie buff’s paradise is a blend of Georgian construction style and exquisite Mughal elements. The owner admits that the building is too old and the practices too passé to withstand the growing competition in the business. “The building has become very old and we cannot give the facilities the patrons deserve. It’s so much competition right at our throat – from multiplexes and other sources. We’ve got to upgrade and stay in the competition.”

“You can’t run business on sentiment all the time,” he adds rhetorically. The landmark building, to be converted into a four-auditorium theater with a combined capacity of over 620 viewers, is expected to enter the renovation process in a year and a half’s time. “It’ll take some time. To make something good, it takes time and I think 1-1.5 year we should be opening up!”