Watching cinema has always been one of the most popular forms of entertainment and a medium of passing time in Saddi Dilli. As a matter of fact people all over India are crazy for movies, however Dilliwallas have deep rooted love for them and off late, a similar feeling has been reciprocated by the Indian Film Industry commonly known as Bollywood.
Movie theaters are not only major entertainment venues; they are major dating venues as well for teenagers. In recent years almost all of Dilli’s single-screen cinema halls have been giving way to large multiplexes.
The cinemas in Dilli have a remarkable history and it is probably the best after cinemas in Mumbai. The Delite Cinema, for instance, was once considered the tallest building in Dilli and was patronized by political leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi and such film stars as Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Nutan and Madhubala. The Delite has also staged various national and international theater productions.
Arguably, the first modern multiplex in Dilli, the Anupam cinema, was opened in 1997 by PVR (Priya Village Roadshow) in South Dilli and went on to break national records for attendance.
Initially people used to call cinemas as ‘Bioscope’ and by the 1940s there were about seven or eight cinema houses in Old Dilli.
Regal was the first cinema hall Dilli got in the year 1932 and it had a seating capacity of 694 people in all sections. With the trend of multiplexes and the concept of ‘Lower Stall’ the cheapest ticket section, ‘Upper Stall’ a slightly better and distant view from the screen and ‘Balcony’ for the elite; has diminished and in multi-screen halls today, an auditorium mostly has one standard sitting arrangement with an exception of some seats reserved for the ‘Gold’ or ‘Platinum’ class.
Plaza, in Connaught Place was the second in the league and was opened an year later in 1933. It was designed by architect Robert Tor Russell as a part of the Connaught Place development
Some other prominent names are Golcha (1954), Delite (1955), Eros (1956), Sheila (1961), Vishal (1970) and Chanakya (1970).
Complementing its name, Vishal (means Huge) located in West Dilli, by far holds the record of being the biggest cinema hall in India with a seating capacity of 1401 people at a time.
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