Plush seats, air-conditioned halls and Dolby atmos sound system — that's pretty much what every cinema-goer expects these days when watching a film in their favourite multiplex in the city. But did you know that Indian cinema started with the age-old tradition of showing movies in tents, known as touring talkies? With the rise of posh cinema halls even in smaller cities, the state has, over the years, witnessed a slow death of the touring talkies. And what's more, the only one of its kind in Madurai, Lakshmi Talkies, which was considered to be Asia's last touring talkies, has downed its shutters recently. City-based photographer Dharma Chandru, who has a penchant for covering offbeat stories, takes us through the studio, which used the oldest movie-showing techniques, about the theatre itself, and more...
The theatre, located in Thiruparankundram,Madurai, was started by Swaminathan M in the 1970s. When Dharma was looking at covering something different, he happened to hear about this touring talkies. "My interest lies in looking for old films and vintage cameras, and I am always on the lookout for news related to it and visit all relevant exhibitions. I happened to learn about Lakshmi Talkies at one such exhibition. I travelled to Madurai for the same and met Swaminathan, the owner of the theatre. Their family is a huge fan of MGR and wanted to primarily build a theatre for him. They even had a photo of MGR right below the screen. Having shown some of the most memorable films starting with Krishna Bhakthi, the theatre slowly saw its end after the rise of multiplexes. Since the entire concept of touring talkies is to watch films under a tent, usually made of an asbestos sheet, it doesn't work anymore. So, the corporation has ordered them to close," says Dharma.
After the 1990s, Lakshmi Talkies began doing second releases of Tamil films, which is basically releasing a film after the multiplexes remove them from their screens. "Swaminathan used to buy the reel for `2,000. Since his tickets were priced really low, he couldn't make any profit. The last film he showcased was Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum," Dharma adds. The tickets were priced at `10 for adults (bench), `8 (sitting down), `5 for women and kids. The most expensive product in this theatre is said to be the cone ice, which was priced at `15. Dharma adds, "There were very few benches and mostly people who wanted to watch the film had to sit down, on the sand. Around 400 people could watch the film at one go. Since it was an open space, they screened films only at 7pm and 10pm." Dharma found interesting things when doing a photo feature on this talkies. Here he is, telling us what he found...
Courtesy: The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/The-era-of-touring-talkies-comes-to-an-end/articleshow/53433064.cms
The theatre, located in Thiruparankundram,Madurai, was started by Swaminathan M in the 1970s. When Dharma was looking at covering something different, he happened to hear about this touring talkies. "My interest lies in looking for old films and vintage cameras, and I am always on the lookout for news related to it and visit all relevant exhibitions. I happened to learn about Lakshmi Talkies at one such exhibition. I travelled to Madurai for the same and met Swaminathan, the owner of the theatre. Their family is a huge fan of MGR and wanted to primarily build a theatre for him. They even had a photo of MGR right below the screen. Having shown some of the most memorable films starting with Krishna Bhakthi, the theatre slowly saw its end after the rise of multiplexes. Since the entire concept of touring talkies is to watch films under a tent, usually made of an asbestos sheet, it doesn't work anymore. So, the corporation has ordered them to close," says Dharma.
After the 1990s, Lakshmi Talkies began doing second releases of Tamil films, which is basically releasing a film after the multiplexes remove them from their screens. "Swaminathan used to buy the reel for `2,000. Since his tickets were priced really low, he couldn't make any profit. The last film he showcased was Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum," Dharma adds. The tickets were priced at `10 for adults (bench), `8 (sitting down), `5 for women and kids. The most expensive product in this theatre is said to be the cone ice, which was priced at `15. Dharma adds, "There were very few benches and mostly people who wanted to watch the film had to sit down, on the sand. Around 400 people could watch the film at one go. Since it was an open space, they screened films only at 7pm and 10pm." Dharma found interesting things when doing a photo feature on this talkies. Here he is, telling us what he found...
Courtesy: The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/The-era-of-touring-talkies-comes-to-an-end/articleshow/53433064.cms
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