Delhi 4 Shows – Talkies of Yesteryear by Ziya Us Salam

Since the days of veteran directors like Sohrab Modi and Mehboob Khan and actors like Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, Delhi had a thriving single- screen theatre culture. While some halls reserved a box for families, others seated women in an exclusive enclosure, or reserved aisle seats for the specially-abled, or gave first preference to members of our defence forces. From Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, the Who’s Who of Indian politics too had their favourite halls. Single-screen theatres in Delhi were part of India’s freedom struggle and a sociological phenomenon. While most ‘talkies’ still provide the common man his preferred mode of entertainment, these halls shall soon become a thing of the past, overrun by an unrelenting multiplex boom. Delhi: 4 Shows—Talkies of Yesteryear is a clarion call to preserve Delhi’s single-screen theatre culture and the halls that are sentinels of the city’s cultural and historical heritage.