Another Mumbai cinema hall to be 'redeveloped' into a mall
Cinema halls, especially single-screens, have faced the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic like many other businesses. But with many makers turning to OTT platforms or high-end multiplexes, the road to recovery for the good-old cinema halls is long. Dreamland Cinema, situated in Grant Road, South Mumbai, recently bit the dust. It will be "redeveloped" into a mall just like several other Mumbai cinemas before.
Current owner took over the cinema over 35 years ago
Current owner Yunus Supariwala told TOI, "It is going to redevelopment and a mall will be built here but there will be a small theatre which will continue screening of films." He said he took over 35 years ago adding, "Tezaab was the first film that was screened...and it ran for 50 weeks. The last film that played here was Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 3."
Dreamland Cinema bears a lot of history
Like many other theaters in the entertainment capital, Mumbai, Dreamland Cinema also has a lot of history attached to it. Many films during the '70s, '80s, and '90s like Shah Rukh Khan's Baazigar, Jaya Prada's Sargam, and Madhuri Dixit's Tezaab were screened here. It was originally named Krishna; the last film to be screened at the old theatre was Sunil Dutt and Nutan's Milan.
It came to be known as 'Dreamland' with 'Andaz'
It was with Ramesh Sippy's Andaz that the old, Krishna theater came to be known as the Dreamland Cinema. A critic who had watched many films in the theater noted, "This theatre made Madhuri Dixit, Shah Rukh Khan, and Jaya Pradha into stars as all these films ran for several weeks and drew an audience from all around the main city of Mumbai."
Many Mumbai cinemas have bit the dust recently
Many theaters in Mumbai like Capitol, Apsara, Strand, Opera House, Diana, Shalimar, Ganga Jamuna, Alishaan, and Edward, among others, have shut shop in recent times. One of the most iconic demolition is definitely that of the Ganga Jamuna theaters which shut some 18 years ago. Capitol Cinema, just in front of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, is a whopping 140 years old and reportedly awaiting demolition.
