“Many theatres are in the queue to become permanently closed because of the pandemic.
JAI SIMHA USA THEATER LIST MOVIE
Jaya Simha, owner of Simha Movie Paradise in the Chamarajanagar district, is the latest new theatre to come up in the district, in 2003. A relatively smaller district than Mysuru, single-screen theatres here have been relatively faring better than the theatres in Mysuru. “Now that these theatres are closed, Mysuru is losing its charm,” she says sadly.Ĭhamarajanagar district has 11 single theatres to boast of. Standing in long queues, waiting to buy tickets, going in and watching the movie, it’s a different experience altogether, nothing compared to what multiplexes are doing,” says Shaila, a movie aficionado. There was a bakery nearby that sold delectable food.
“I still remember watching movies at Lakshmi Talkies. Last year alone, the state lost around 32 of them, and this year, around 40-50 are estimated to be permanently closed.
Once numbering 1,200 in Karnataka, the number of single-screen theatres now has come down to 585. They also added that they have not received any sort of relaxation or compensation from the government. The Shanthala Talkies, popularly known as Family Talkies, in Mysuru shutdown due to COVID-19 pandemic It’s only a matter of time,” Rajaram sighs. “Saraswathi and Prabha theatres in the city are for sale. These theatres join the long list of theatres like Ranjit, Opera, Vidyaranya, Ganesha, Shree Nagaraj, Shalimar, Rathna and Srinivasa that have shut shop. Last year, in 2020, Mysuru lost another iconic theatre, Shanthala, to COVID-19. It was evident that the questions about the history of his theatre brought back painful memories.
“A lot of people working for us left after the pandemic struck, it was a very difficult time,” Jayanth says, his voice shaking. Jayanth Subramanya, the son of Srikantan had been running the theatre until recently. Initially owned by a Bombay businessman, it was eventually bought by Srikantan and K Ramarao in 1970. Lakshmi Talkies has been in Mysuru since 1949. We were already reeling under the pressure of taxes and digital platforms, and COVID-19 just became the ultimate reason to sell the theatre,” he says. “It was not a kneejerk reaction to COVID-19. Jayanth Subramanya, the owner of Lakshmi Talkies, has a sad story to narrate. Rajaram is also the owner of the Gayatri Theatre opposite Lakshmi. There has been zero income for the last 15 months, cinema producers are extremely reluctant to release new films with 50 percent seating capacity, and even though we briefly opened in March for a month, the second wave pushed it further down the ladder,” adds Rajaram. “COVID-19 acted as a driving force and accelerated all these issues. “Why does Mysuru have to pay more than Bengaluru when the latter is more commercially viable?” asks Rajaram.Īlong with property tax, there are minor issues regarding obtaining trade licences and the government notifying theatres as multi-storied buildings which would mean that the bracket to pay the electricity bill is also more. According to the Self-Assessment Scheme introduced by the Government of Karnataka in 2000, theatres in the Mysuru district pay the property tax according to the actual size of the property as opposed to what the theatres pay in Bengaluru.
When that seemed like a huge blow in itself, there are other issues that these theatres are trying to battle. Any ordinary person can just walk in, buy tickets and watch movies because it’s affordable unlike multiplexes that seem to have taken the film industry by a storm,” says Rajaram, the Vice-President of Karnataka Film Exhibitors Federation. “Single screen theatres cater to every class of the society. With the blatant replacement of these theatres with multiplexes at first, and then with Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, the survival of the remaining 10 single-screen theatres hangs in the balance. Mysuru had 21 single-screen theatres at one point. While curtains are down on Lakshmi, the fate of Gayatri is not sealed yet. If you’re a Mysurian, then you know that the 100 feet Chamaraja Double Road is synonymous with the twin sister-theatres Lakshmi and Gayatri.
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