Kolkata-based Priya Entertainment and at least three municipal corporations have joined hands to revive the theatre legacy in Bengal through what has been a successful public-private partnership since 2001 for the development and modernisation of public properties.
For instance, Star Theatre in Kolkata, which was the centrestage of Bengali culture till 1991, when it was completely destroyed in a fire.
The 925-seater air-conditioned theatre was later on reconstructed by Kolkata Municipal Corporation at an investment of close to Rs 14 crore and a private company, Priya Entertainment, was roped in for development and management of the property.
According to Arijit Dutta, chairman of Priya Entertainment, “It became a more profitable business after we completely revamped Star Theatre to include other revenue generating streams with conference rooms, restaurants and cinema halls. We spent close to Rs 1.3 crore redoing Star Theatre. With mucipalities, we have a 50:50 revenue sharing arrangement. Before giving the complexes to us, Kolkata Municipal Corporation was losing Rs 4,000 per hour for Star Theatre. Now thats how much it is earning per hour.”
"Many theatre owners have become too old to look after the business themselves. Such theatres are run by the staff, and ultimately, the hall collapses completely. "When I bought over Annapurna in Sonarpur four years ago, I found that the staff was running it without bothering about maintenance, modernization and upgrading of infrastructure. Jagat cinema at Sealdah had to close down because the owner, Jagat Sen, had become too old to look after and the staff was running the show. In these conditions, any cinema hall owner will get out the minute he gets some scope to exit. I saw Bidhusree, an old theatre next to Star close down within 15 days where the front now has a board called "Unique Realtors Pvt Limited."
The Gitanjali Cultural Complex in Shantiniketan, owned by the Shantiniketan Sriniketan Development Authority (SSDA), was revamped for close to Rs 25 lakh and managed by Priya Entertainment since then.
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Priya Entertainment, since 2001, operates and manages multicomplexes and has been successfully running various cultural centres, theatres and cinemas owned by government or municipal authorities. These include, besides the nearly 50-year-old Priya Cinema in Kolkata which Priya Entertainment directly owns, the Star Theatre complex in Kolkata, owned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Krishti Cultural Complex in Memari, Burdwan, owned by Memari Municipality, and the Vidyasagar Memorial Hall in Guskara, Burdwan.
Balurghat Municipality recently signed an agreement for the operations and management of Satyajit Manchat in Balurghat, owned by the Balurghat Municipality.