The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Everest climbs a new peak

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Friday, Jan 02, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Everest climbs a new peak

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

An old cinema gets a makeover and draws big crowds

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Still going strong: The renovated Everest cinema in Bangalore.

Bangalore: In an era when single-screen movie halls are caught between the growing number of multiplexes and the increasing threat of piracy, one cinema has decided to boldly forge ahead and meet the market head on.

Everest cinema was recently renovated and after catching up with some of the latest film screening technology, opened its doors to the public last month. Located opposite the Bangalore East Football Grounds near the Bangalore East Railway Station in Fraser Town, Everest has for long been well-known in that part of the city. Over the past couple of decades it had lost much of its earlier glory and screened mostly reruns of regional films.

The houseful boards for Rab De Bana De Jodi and Ghajini that greeted late-comers over the past month seem to indicate that Everest is on its way to regaining its former glory.

“My father, Madan Lal, took over Everest in 1963 and he used to screen only English films in the beginning,” said Purushottam, son of Mr. Madan Lal and the current owner of Everest cinema. “During that time there were several Anglo-Indians who lived in the area who loved watching English films and were our regular patrons,” he said.

Fond memories

Several local residents have fond memories of how they used to play hooky from school and watch English and then later, Hindi films.

N.R. Sudhir, who is in his late 40s and used to live on Assaye Road, remembers how he used to bunk school and go to Everest to watch films. “Apart from bunking school I also used to bunk my tennis coaching classes and watch films at Everest,” said Mr. Sudhir, with a nostalgic smile. Some of the English films screened at Everest include Hatari, Come September, To Sir, With Love and Roman Holiday.

In the 1970s, Everest started screening Hindi films that drew huge crowds from the surrounding areas. There were no other cinemas in the area because of which every weekend you would find hordes of young men gathered at the ticket counter. “Films such as Bobby were screened for several months and they were big hits,” said Mr. Purushottam.

The glory of Everest cinema started to fade when an incident of serious vandalism occurred in the 1980s.

Work

Mr. Purushottam’s son Yogesh (21), who is doing his MBA, was mainly responsible for persuading his father to renovate the cinema to keep pace with the times. The renovation work took around nine months. The cinema’s seating capacity has been increased from 372 to 546, and a digital theatre system (DTS) and air cooling system has been installed.

Mr. Purushottam and Mr. Yogesh are very optimistic about the cinema’s future.

Seeing the crowds since the theatre reopened, it is heartening to note that some of the city’s heritage is still intact.

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