Grant Road’s reel affair revealed

When Ipsita Bandopadhyay, a second-year student of St Xaviers College, opted for the ‘Understanding Cinema’ programme, trudging along the streets of Kamathipura, the city’s red light district, wasn’t part of the syllabus. But for the past five months, Bandopadhyay and 12 of her classmates (all doing graduate studies in mass media) have been scouring the streets of Grant Road conducting ethnography (scientific description of human societies) of single-screen theatres.

For the generation born into the glitzy world of multiplexes, turning the spotlight on the theatres that hosted cinema’s debut in the city, has been an eye-opener. “The area around Grant Road is unique as it has about a dozen theatres within a 1-km radius,” says project coordinator Anuja Ghosalkar.

The project concept cropped up when Ghosalkar was assisting a UK-based film historian on a research project on Indian cinema.

Stressing the need for recording the history hidden in these seedy by-lanes, she divided the students into three groups, asking each group to focus on a theatre. The discovery has been “exciting” and replete with filmy moments.

For the group that chose Alexander Theatre in the heart of Kamathipura, the study widened the meaning of the term ‘entertainment’. The hordes of people queuing up to watch re-runs of old films screened at the theatre are also willing targets for the local pimps. “During the 1992 riots the theatre played to packed houses by readjusting shows to curfew timings,” a student says.

At Super Cinema, film screenings have been adjusted according to the shifting population. With large numbers of migrants from UP and Bihar thronging the area, the theatre now screens Bhojpuri films. The local ‘bhaiyyas’ can watch a Bhojpuri flick from the balcony for a mere Rs30. While researching the theatre, the group bumped into Amitabh Bachchan, who acted in Ganga, the blockbuster made by his makeup man Deepak Sawant. He told them: “Bhasha alag hai lekin set or story ek hai.”

Alfred Theatre’s translations of English titles — Kiss Kiss Bang Bang became Chumma Chati Dhoom Dhadaka — had the students amused. Mill workers often stopped at the cool theatre before heading to their cramped homes after work. Artist Tyeb Mehta confessed to the students about being caught at the cinema bunking school.

The charm of the world, existing in a comfortable time warp, is encapsulated in a quote from one of the theatre regulars: “Is shaher ke sabse badnaam gali mein aaj bhi kuch aisi meethi baate hain jo sharif galiyon mein dikhayi nahin deti (These seedy streets hide some precious nuggets, which you won’t find else where).”