Baahubali, the mighty warrior, has felled a new victim – the iconic Shiela Cinema, which is the latest single-screen theatre in Delhi to shut down.
Fifty-six years after it was set up, Shiela downed its shutters on Friday. It was facing losses, compounded by not being given the rights to screen “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion”, which shattered records on its opening day.
Missed opportunity
“We were running at a loss and it was getting difficult for us to maintain the theatre,” said Shiela Cinema owner Uday Kaushik. He said the closure was on the anvil, but “Baahubali 2” might have given the hall a temporary lease of life.
The last film Sheila screened was the Hollywood hit, “The Fate of the Furious”, which ran well, Mr. Kaushik added.
Shiela’s closure comes a month after another iconic theatre, Regal, shut shop on March 30. But Sheila’s exit was quiet, unlike Regal’s grand closure, which saw a houseful theatre on its last day with the screening of actor-director Raj Kapoor’s films — “Mera Naam Joker” and “Sangam”.
Mr. Kaushik said he was already looking forward to turning Shiela into a multiplex. “We want to turn Shiela into a multiplex. But we will take some time for that. We are planning to have at least 10 screens,” he said.
