The Mumbai Regal cinema was the city's first art-deco styled cinema and is also one of the few old style movie theatres operating in the city that has now been captured by the growing multiplex culture.
On 14th October 1933, Regal pulled up its curtains with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy starrer The Devil's Brother. Even in those days the hall had an underground car park that boasted of elevators that would take the car owners right up to the hall (a major innovation at that time).
A step ahead of its times, the hall was even air-conditioned and the stalls and balcony seats were topped up with box seating. In fact, the hall could host more people back then than it can now.
Today, though renovated, Regal has managed to keep its charm intact and it is often revisited by those seeking a change from the hustle and bustle of multiplexes.
