The 315 chairs at Malad's 1948-born Kasturba Talkies now come with taller backrests and a few recliners in the balcony that cost Rs 350 a pop on weekends

For at least two years now, no one has spat inside Kasturba Talkies, a single-screen almost as old as the nation that sits at a spitting distance from Malad station. Perched above a market bursting with boots and bras, the recently-refurbished 315-seater is not named after Mahatma Gandhi's wife but after the wife of a Gujarati road contractor named Dayabhai Vasanji whose quest for 'laal patthar' (red marble) had brought him from Rajkot to Malad during the Raj era. Laal was also the colour of the gutkha stains that dotted the auditorium floor of the theater begun by Kasturba Somaiya's son Padmanabh in 1948. 

Favoured by the "mastiwale" masses for several decades, the single screen donned a sophisticated red velvet carpet in 2022 when it reopened post Covid. Today, standing in its maroon spruced-up balcony whose new semi-recliner "sofa seats" get filled on weekends despite costing Rs 350 a pop, Nimish's son Dhun Somaiya - who manages the new offline and online presence of the theatre - delivers an unintentional whistle-inducer: "If you give them a good ambience, the audience will come."

In the wake of the headline-grabbing recent comeback of 90-year-old Eros Cinema near Churchgate - which reopened after a seven-year lull as a spiffy 305-seater operated by PVR-Inox - visiting little - known recently-refurbished single-screens can offer a glimpse into the inherently-different challenges and strategies that their self-orchestrated remaking's entail.

While corporates are able to absorb losses as they run multiple theatres, single screen owners say they are forced to take personal loans to meet daily expenses - ranging from incessant repairs to staff salaries - in the region of Rs 30,000. This, in turn, trickles down to the consumers in the form of ticket prices. "People sometimes ask us why they should pay so much when ours is not a PVR," says Kasturba Talkies' third generation owner Nimish Somaiya. "We don't even have parking," he adds.

As financial losses killed nearly a half of Maharashtra's single screens in the two decades preceding Covid, their number dwindled from 1200 to 475. Mumbai — which has seen a 100-odd single-screens in its black-marketing prime — boasts only around 50-odd today. Given that 25 of them — including Lower Parel's revamped Deepak Talkies and Dombivli's Tilak Talkies - shut down during the pandemic-ridden years, the new facelifts are driven as much by the desperate need to emulate multiplex-level services in the age OTTs as by state regulations that offer little choice. As per redevelopment laws, existing cinemas in Maharashtra can be redeveloped for residential and other uses as long as they retain a third of their seating capacity.

While occupancy has steadily returned to pre-Covid levels in the single screens, that’s not saying much. Various hefty taxes and costs of constant repairs and electricity add to the financial burden of theatres, causing them to see an anemic occupancy of 10 per cent.

Distributors, on their part, have different revenue-sharing terms with multiplexes as opposed to single screens. So, if a multiplex gets a 50 per cent share for a housefull show, a single screen gets only a "theatre share", usually about 10 per cent of the revenue for a packed house. “They get to celebrate Eid and Diwali while we get to celebrate funerals,” laments Manish Vira, who owns 1996-born Dombivali-West-based renovated single screens Madhuban Talkies & Pooja Talkies - among a handful of cinemas that appears on a popular ticketing app with the words 'newly-renovated' in parenthesis.

After the brief flush following Shah Rukh Khan's mammoth comeback 'Pathaan', a full house has eluded these millenial theatres where veteran cinema ushers from nearby phantom Tilak Talkies - which died during the pandemic - trickle in with their families to watch Marathi and Hindi movies at times. “We are running because the show must go on," says Manish.

"Until there is a film that warrants stepping out to a theatre, people are not going to spend exorbitant amounts," says Kapil Bhopatkar of 1930s-born Bharatmata in Lalbaug, which is currently in the process of sprouting a new air conditioner, a bigger screen, cushioned seats and a 2K projector. "The biggest challenge for exhibitors is that it all boils down to the content. And we are never the masters of content," adds Bhopatkar.

Typically, single screens install upgraded sound systems and projectors every seven to ten years, says Nitin Datar, president of the Cinema Owners And Exhibitors Association. “Handling this is much easier," says Kasturba's black-cap-sporting projectionist Vijay Jadhav, as he readies the new digital plug-and-play 2K projector for the 12.45 pm show of Akshay-Kumar-Tiger Shroff-featuring box-office-disappointment titled 'Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan'. Meant for Hollywood movies and 3D films, the projector — a far cry from the manual ancestors — has electric nerves that are cooled by two ACs. The window here overlooks its modest stall which grew taller chairs in 2022 when the two cafeterias boasting pizzas and burgers came up. Samosas that were sold at Rs 30 a pair, now come piping hot to your seat at Rs 90 a pair.

“Customer is king,” says Dhun, nostalgic for the packed houses he saw in 2023 — a plush phase that lasted from 'Pathaan' to 'Gadar 2'. To generate buzz for the current box-office non-kickstarter 'Maidaan'—a film based on the life of an esteemed football coach who revolutionized the sport in India — Dhun has invited a nearby football academy. “I wish the government gave us more sustained support,” says Dhun's father Nimish. Then, sipping on sugary chai, Nimish chides a colleague for ordering green tea.