The big screen story

After entertaining Delhi for decades, Chanakya cinema finally bids adieu to a faithful audience.

The celluloid experience acquired a whole new dimension for Delhiites in 1970, when one of the city's first English language halls opened its doors.

Though Chanakya cinema's location is considered ideal today, in its infancy the hall was out of the way and almost inside a jungle. But it was this obscure location that made it exclusive those days.

"In those days the hall was located in an underdeveloped area of Delhi. So, to attract people away from Connaught Place, we had to do something unique and hence came up with the idea of targeting the upmarket audience by screening films that would suit their tastes," recalls Aditya Khanna, director of the hall and son of founder Rajesh Khanna.

Since ticket prices were controlled by the Delhi administration those days, Chanakya also banked on its technological advancements to pull audiences.

Awarded to Khanna through a public tender issued by the NDMC, Chanakya soon became the most envied hall in the city, with its superior video and audio technology and carpeted floors.

During the early '80s right through to 1993, the hall focused on English films and a few Hindi ones that came to be known as art films. Another major turnaround for the hall happened when ticket pricing opened up.

"That is when we converted the hall into a dual language hall and chose both language films depending upon our audience profile," explains Khanna.

Gradually, with the coming of the multiplexes and the development of the area, Chanakya became a hall for the masses, accommodating both, the lower and upper income groups.

The journey, however, has now come to an end. As Chanakya closes to give way to a multiplex, it is a painful time for the Khannas.

"This was my playground that turned into my office," says Khanna, "I have a collage of memories at Chanakya."