M Rafi Ahmed
It’s easier to demolish than to build. Yes, the heart bleeds for the oldtimers to see a century-old cinema house ‘Delite Theatre’, a first in south India, which entertained movie lovers for over three to four generations starting from ‘Valli Thirumanam’ to MGR, Sivaji, Rajni, Kamal movies besides mega hit movie ‘Sholay’ which ran for a year or so. The theatre downed the curtains with Rajni’s ‘Manithan’ last May.
This scribe, who was born, brought up and educated in the Manchester of the South while residing near the Town Hall area used to frequent the theatre during his teens. Some of the movies were Jai Shankar’s Kulandiyum Deivamum, Madras to Pondicherry, Aval, Rikshawkaran, Sholay, Bobby, Anbu Sagotharargal and scores of Sivaji, Gemini films. In 1971, the theatre was renovated and MGR’s Rickshawkaran was released both at Delite and Raja Theatre.
Much disheartening to hear that the theatre was sold to a noted furniture manufacturer having a showroom opposite to the theatre and the demolition work is going on to pave way for commercial establishments. The 56 cents plot where the theatre stood stall for a century will now become a memory to the Kovaiites. Cine Arts V Jeevananthan, a lawyer turned artist residing nearby recalls the golden days of Variety Hall theatre and later Delite Theatre.
Jeeva suggests that a theatre’s history and its architect Samikannu Vincent must be displayed at the proposed complex so that it would be helpful for the future generation to infer info about south India’s first movie house in Coimbatore. A pioneer in cinema banners, Jeeva’s dad Velayuthan brought life to several heroes with his artistic skill during the golden era of cinema. Like dad, Like son, Jeeva learnt the nuances and made magic with his dad in creating a history in cinema banners then. Now, it has been replaced with flex.Sadly, the movie banners have become a thing of the past.
Samikannu Vincent’s love for cinema made him construct Variety Hall, Naaz, Rainbow (converted as Rainbow Manor apartment) and Samy theatre (Now Hotel Rathna Residency). His passion for movies led to construction of theatres and gave an identity to Coimbatore city. Pulling down of theatres is nothing new as several cinema houses in Coimbatore are either closed or demolished. To name a few are Raja Theatre, Samy theatre, Arul, Diamond later Murugan, Apsara, Geethalaya, Central, Srinivas, Irudaya, Royal, Sreepathy, Aruna (Kuniyamuthur), Maruthi.
With OTT platforms ruling the roost in the entertainment medium as new releases reach the subscribers to their android phones, the concept of cinema theatres has taken a back seat and has become redundant in this electronic era. Even multiplexes are feeling the heat following the ‘Over The Top’ media service which is now handy for cellphone users which has become part and parcel of day today life.
