Casino Theatre Chennai Ticket Booking – If Madras used to be synonymous with films in the South, Mount Road, another part of it, is famous for its movie locations. Being 60-70 years old, I can confidently say that “Mountain Road” and its cinemas reached their peak in the 80s of the last century. This gave Madras a big boost and ensured its popularity on the map of the first paradise city that was Triplicane, Chepauk cricket ground given its proximity to the beach.
Here is a view of that mountain road through my experience in the 70s and 80s. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and start with cinemas that were past their prime in the 80s and were mostly used to screen reruns of old Tamil movies.
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There are two cinemas facing each other near the mountain road on Wallaha Road – Paragon and Kalaivanar Arangam or Children’s Theatre. While the former is a large hall that screens blockbuster films like Nadodi Mannan, the latter is a makeshift cinema that is occasionally screened for government and political functions. The Paragon Experience is the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood’s Dollar series trilogy that plays before the film begins; This, combined with fleas, tattered chairs and 50-pause ‘Samsa’ (not samosas), makes for a perfect mix of nostalgia now. I have watched many black and white Tamil movies at Paragon and one of the most memorable scenes was fans throwing coins at them at the beginning of the Naan Malorodu Taniyaga song. He would lean back.
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Kalaivanar Arangam shows old English movies in the afternoon show and old Tamil movies in a different slot if there are no plays or events. The screen was unusual because it looked like a big white “veshti” and was not like a typical movie screen. Some of the movies I got a chance to watch there are: Bullet Train (Japanese movie), Flying Piranhas, Annie Caulder (Raquel Welch) and more. Bullet Train was very special to me and I watched the movie three times this week. If it wasn’t for this theater, young people like me wouldn’t have experienced various movies over the years.
Another old movie theater is the Plaza on Dutzen Street. Paragon and Plaza are twin theaters that easily rolled our tongues at that time. The Plaza is an exact replica of the 80’s Paragon, with ripped seats, flea bites and more. In his heyday, he had big films like Gnana Oli which was released here. Chiranjeevi’s rise to superstardom started with his blockbuster Kaidi and that version ran for 100 days at the Plaza.
Turn right and you’ll find the Casino and Gaiety theaters next to each other behind the statue of Anne. Theater Enga Veetu Pillai, Vaajvey Maayam etc. Some notable English films released here include Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jungle Girl (starring Bond girl Tanya Roberts) and the Nazi spy thriller, Eye of the Needle. Both were very successful and established the casino as a major hall for English films. This is one of my favorite movie theaters and I loved the tree covered area outside the theater during intermission.
Gaiety has seen many good and bad times. It was closed for several years and reopened after renovations. Kamal Haasan’s films Saagar and Anda Oru Nimidam were released here, but the theater could not sustain due to various reasons and shifted to screening adult films. These films show sexual pornography and customers can be seen going in and out with their eyes closed, avoiding other people’s eyes. The most successful English (?) film was Drunken Monk, featuring Gordon Liu Chia Hui, the great hero of the famous 36th Shaolin Chamber.
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Crossing the Kum River (what’s left of it) you come across the Chitra Theatre. During the halcyon days, he saw the release of films like MGR’s Nalla Neeram and what is remembered was his last successful new film Kamal Haasan’s Neyya. After that, he was involved in the production of old films and is very popular among fans of various actors for such re-releases.
The first theater you pass by the statue of Anna on the mountain road is called the Anna Theater. It is one of the small theaters with about 300 seats. Tamil, English and Hindi movies are shown in this hall. Not many films like Rajinikanth’s Priya, K Balaji’s Vidhi and Ram Teri Ganga Maili are, yes, the same as Mandakini that was shown in the water!
Adjacent to Anna Theater is the famous Shanti Theater owned by Sivaji Ganesan. It should be noted that the theater mostly shows films made by Sivaji and later films by his son Prabhu. But they release films of other actors and producers from time to time. One of the first films I saw there was Kamal Haasan’s Yaadgar. During the opening match, the fans were so loud and rowdy that Sivaji’s supporters complained to the officials. Maybe they thought they had the right to cause a stir in this drama.
Devi cinema complex can be accessed by passing the commercial/office building near Yaadgar restaurant. The complex has four theaters including Devi and Devi Paradis with over 1,200 seats, while Devi Kala and Devi Bala have 400 and 300 odd seats. Devi Theater released only English films but screened Tamil films like Kamal Haasan’s Kadal Meengal and Enakkul Oruvan, Rajinikanth’s Polladhavan. He is famous for English movies and has shown very successful movies like Makenna’s Gold, Gods Must Be Crazy, Hell Down and many others.
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Devi Paradise was considered as the main hall and big movies of that time were released here. MGR’s Rickshowkaran, Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban; Sivaji Raja; Kamal Haasan’s Sigappu Rojakkal, Guru, Varumaain Niram Sivappu, Kakki Chattai, Aboorva Sagotaraargal; Rajinikanth’s Mundru Mugham, Thambikku Enta Ooru; Baghyaraj’s Enga Chinna Rasa, Idhu Namma Aalu were the hit films shown here. This Continuous House Cinema (CHF) first hosted the Rickshawkaran series with 201 shows and then USuVa renewed it with 227 shows. The USuVa record stood from 1973 to 1989, when Kamal’s AS set a record of around 300 CHF that is still unbroken today and will not be broken forever. I saw Rajinikanth for the first time on the first day of his film Thudikkum Karangal when I came to see him.
Devi Kala and Devi Bala were mainly used for the production of small budget films which benefited from screening in large local government which had high population and circulation in those years. They have released films in Tamil, English and Hindi, including Amitabh’s Satte Pe Satta, which ran for 200 days, and Kamal’s Sadma, which ran for over 100 days. One of Devi Kala’s biggest successes was the 1989 blockbuster Ramarajan’s Karakattakaran.
The Wellington is the first theater on the left when you turn onto General Patters Street from the Plaza, past the famous restaurants of Bukhari and Sangam. He has released new Tamil films and acted in Kamal’s Sawaal, Thiagarajan’s Malayyoor Mambattiyan and others. It was featured in many blockbusters, and later quickly became a center for small-budget films as a center for re-releases of old films. There is nothing special about this theater and being in a poor location does not contribute to the film’s release.
As you head off the site to a cluster of auto parts shops (mostly owned by Punjabi Sikh’s), you’ll find the twin theaters Midland and Leo. Leo (400 seats) has low-budget Tamil films, while Midland (900 seats) has a mix of Tamil, English and Hindi films. Kamal Haasan’s 100th film Raja Paarvai is released here.
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Midland is known for producing films starring James Bond and Bruce Lee. While Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury was a huge success, there are many successful films like For Your Eyes Only, Moon Raker, Octopussy. There was a queue for pre-booking this movie from the theater to Hotel Sarmani, 100 miles away. For me and before, Bruce Lee was an idol in the world and had a fan club in Madras. I saw the film on the second day of its release, and its release was met with obnoxious outcry and rain of money, which was unexpected. Later actress Jayapradha bought these theaters and named them Jayapradha and Raj.
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