Film buffs may finally be able to catch a movie in the last-standing single screen theatre in the central business district — Shankar Nag Chitramandira. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which owns the theatre, has finally found a bidder to run the theatre.
The theatre (earlier called Symphony), located on M.G. Road, has not screened any film since June 2017 after lease period of the previous bidder ended. All eyes have been on the theatre — one of the few remaining single-screen theatres in the city after Rex, another iconic cinema, shut shop in its current avatar in December 2018.
BBMP Joint Commissioner (East) G.M. Ravindra said it was only after the palike called for tenders for the third time that they managed to get a bidder. “Finally, a party who is into film and theatre business showed interest,” he said.
Mr. Ravindra said the civic body was hoping to get the theatre back in action in around three months after an upgrade. “We will restore the building and upgrade the interiors, which may take about two to three months,” he said.
Shankar Nag Chitramandira was earlier leased to INOX. Last January, the BBMP called for tenders to run the theatre, six months after the lease period of the earlier bidder ended. The palike had then cited the transfer of the theatre from one BBMP department to another (from the Revenue Department to the Projects Department) as the reason for the delay in calling for tenders.
K.V. Chandrashekar, former president, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, said the reopening of Shankar Nag Chitramandira would draw film enthusiasts who prefer single-screen theatres back to the CBD. “This is the only government-owned theatre in the city (owned by the BBMP), apart from HMT Cinema (which is under HMT Ltd.). Many single-screen theatres that have wound up were affordable to the public, but not viable to those running them,” he said.
