After screening hundreds of films over five decades, the curtains came down for the last time at Kapali theatre in Gandhi Nagar on Wednesday. The last film screened was Huliraya, directed by Arvind Koushik.
“Kapali theatre was nearly my home for over 35 years,” said K. Muniyappa (67), who started working as a booking clerk when he was 20.
M. Lingaraj, who served as the manager for the past five years, told The Hindu that H. Dasappa and Sons, who own the theatre, decided to replace the building with a multiplex, as single screens have become unviable.
Mannina Maga, starring late Dr. Rajkumar, was the first film to be screened in Kapali. Mannina Maga was the first Kannada film to complete 100 days in a theatre. Om, starring Shivaraj Kumar and directed by Upendra, was released and re-released in Kapali more than 30 times.
When the theatre was built on a 44,184 square feet plot by Gopal Films and H. Dasappa and Sons Private Limited , it was the only cinerama theatre. It was inaugurated by the then Union finance minister Morarji Desai on February 16, 1968. It had one of the largest single screens in Asia and could seat 1,464 people. After renovation, the capacity came down to 1,112, according to Mr. Lingaraj.
Ravi Dasappa, the proprietor, says, “I have been associated with Kapali for the past two decades. It is a part of Kannada cinema. But we are forced to demolish it and build a mall because of economical reasons.”
According to sources in the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), the current market value of the land where Kapali theatre stands is estimated to be over ₹150 crore.
Though English and Hindi movies were being screened at Kapali, after screening of Haalu Jenu, starring Dr. Rajkumar, the theatre stuck to screening of Kannada movies. It boasts of screening the maximum number of films starring Dr. Rajkumar.
