Hyderabad: silver screen losing sheen

Hyderabad: There is sadness in the voice of Ramesh Babu as he speaks from his home town in Nagar Kurnool about the state of cinema halls in the state, especially in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. "Films ate into drama, then television of cinema and now OTT to films. Cinema halls that not so long ago were the go-to places for entertainment are now losing sheen. The first theatre Select Talkies came up in 1920 constructed by Nawab Salar Junj Mir Yousuf Ali. It was the first permanent theatre. In those times there were 'dera halls' dera meaning tent. Nishat Dera hall was popular."

The rich and the poor alike would go and watch films but today, it is almost impossible for the daily wage labourer to watch a film in a multiplex. The distancing of the poor started when the former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao introduced the slab system, under which tax had to be paid even for empty seats, says Ramesh.

Ramesh recounts an incident when film director Dasari Narayana Rao once wrote to the Information Ministry to stop airing movies on Saturday on Doordarshan as it was eating into the revenues of film makers.

Cinema houses played an important role in the lives of people. Some theatres have been demolished but the bus stops are still known by their names, Sangeet and Ram theatre, for instance. OTT is dangerous for films. The cinematic experience is lost. Nothing can match a film enjoyed in a theatre, says Ramesh.

RUDE JOLT

The rich and the poor alike would go and watch films but today, it is almost impossible for the daily wage labourer to watch a film in a multiplex. The distancing of the poor started when the former Chief Minister N T Rama Rao introduced the slab system, under which tax had to be paid even for empty seats