The demolition of Bengaluru’s Urvashi Cinema marks another step in the steady decline of India’s once-thriving single-screen movie theaters. Opened in the 1970s as a 1,200-seat venue, Urvashi was a cultural landmark where generations of filmgoers gathered to watch Bollywood hits, offering a communal viewing experience increasingly rare in contemporary India.
Manjunath, a local shopkeeper situated opposite the cinema, recalled the venue’s heyday when his snack shop was bustling with customers before and after shows. “That was the rush… now I have a lot of free time,” he said, reflecting on the dwindling crowds leading up to the theater’s closure and overhaul. The decaying facades and empty auditoriums of cinemas like Urvashi symbolize the fading era of single-screen venues, which once served as more than just sites for watching films — they were social spaces pulsating with collective enthusiasm.
Photographer Hemant Chaturvedi, who has spent seven years documenting the state of these cinemas across 1,000 towns in India, has captured both their ornate architecture and their deterioration. Over his seven-year project, he has photographed roughly 1,350 theaters, chronicling a cultural landscape that many say is disappearing. “People would be cheering, jumping on the seats, even throwing money at the screen,” Chaturvedi said, describing an interactive atmosphere in which audiences actively engaged with films. “Now that old ecosystem is fading, and the charm is being lost.”
India’s single-screen theaters have been challenged by the rise of multiplexes, expanding online streaming platforms, and escalating property values, alongside the financial burdens of maintaining aging infrastructure. Researchers estimate that India had about 14,000 single-screen cinemas in the 1980s, while current numbers have dwindled to approximately 2,000. These old halls often accommodated around 1,000 patrons, creating a communal experience less common in the smaller, segmented screens of modern multiplexes.
While multiplexes offer amenities like air conditioning, reclining seats, and in-theater food service, some former patrons find these newer venues less appealing. Chaturvedi, a former Bollywood cinematographer with three decades of experience, described multiplexes as “generic” and “cold,” lacking the distinctive atmosphere of the old theaters.
Despite the decline, some single-screen cinemas continue to draw audiences. In Bengaluru, Mukunda Cinemas still attracts dedicated patrons, even for early morning screenings. Santosh, a 47-year-old businessman, recently joined hundreds of people in a queue outside, where fireworks were set off in anticipation. Veerain Reddy, the third generation of his family to operate the 50-year-old theater, acknowledged the challenges of sustaining the business.
In Mumbai, the Regal Cinema remains one of the few historic single-screen venues still operating, having opened in 1933 in an Art Deco building. Fans like 23-year-old Vanshika value such spaces for their reminder of a bygone era, contrasting them with what she described as the “artificial, commercial, very blingy” ambiance of most multiplexes.
As India’s film industry continues evolving, the single-screen cinema endures as both a nostalgic symbol and a vanishing piece of cultural heritage.