Twenty-two years ago, a small corner of south Delhi became the centre of the national capital’s cinematic world — and a pivot of its cultural life too — with the opening of India’s first multiplex.

The curtains came down on PVR Anupam, which changed the way Delhiites watched movies, on Thursday evening. It is the end of an era but also the beginning of one with PVR Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli promising that it will be back, better and snazzier in about six months.
It was initially called Anupam 4′ to make the message clear to cine-goers that they will now be able to watch four different films under one roof. More than brick and mortar, cinema halls are built of memories, unique to people just like their choice of films.

Virtually every film buff in the city has an Anupam story, of standing for hours in line to buy a ticket for the latest Hollywood or Bollywood film, of assignations with that maybe special somebody, of childhood birthdays or of noisy family movie nights. And then that sheer novelty of watching a movie show beginning at 11 pm, unheard of at the time. That it all involved a bus, auto, taxi or car ride to Saket was secondary. The whole movie going experience had been elevated with the advent of PVR Anupam — with more expensive tickets, more expensive but better popcorn and other stuff too, and clean toilets — and that was all that mattered. The curtains on the famous structure, which shut operations a month ago, came down in the presence of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Back in 1997, India’s first multiplex had opened with Khan’s “Yes Boss”, which went on to become a blockbuster. The film, also starring Juhi Chawla, was a shot in the arm for the cinema hall.

According to Bijli, the multiplex would be revamped and upgraded to make it more attractive for the youth of today.

“It will still remain a very young cinema, it will have all the technology available Dolby Digital, 4K, laser and the works… We will have a new seating arrangement, all new sound system and projectors, and F&B services, Bijli promised. “These are just black boxes but what happens on the screen and in those four boxes is what creates the magic,” he added.