Showing posts with label Atul Gupta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atul Gupta. Show all posts
Eros cinema to rise again; heritage features intact
8:27 AM
Bella Jaisinghani (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 28, 2024)
Mumbai: The iconic Eros cinema hall at Churchgate, long veiled under a green curtain, has been refurbished and restored, and is set to draw a different generation of leisure seekers shortly. It was started in 1938 and had familiarized generations of Mumbaikars with the best of English cinema in its Art Deco setting, which has been preserved.
In its new avatar, Eros will be a 300-seater cinema on the upper storey apart from two levels of retail and food courts.
Other landmark single-screen theatres in South Mumbai such as Liberty, Regal, New Excelsior, New Empire, Sterling and Central Plaza have all faced challenges to their existence amid the onslaught of multiplexes and the pandemic.
Atul Gupta, managing partner of Metro Realty, the firm which has undertaken redevelopment of Eros, said, “The structure will house a 300-seater cinema. It will become the first IMAX cinema hall in the world that is located in a 90-year-old building and will have two levels operating as retail and F&B spaces. We have preserved heritage Art Deco elements including the circular lobby, staircases, murals and other features, just as we did in Metro Cinema. We have honoured all heritage guidelines.”
Gupta said, “The theatre was shut for 10 years, and we decided to take over after our successful experience of renovating Metro Cinema as an 8-screen multiplex. So we signed a deal with the owners of Eros, the Cambata family, who continue to own the property but have given it to us on lease for 30 years.”
Conservation architect Kirtida Unwalla was the consultant entrusted with preserving the Art Deco ethos of the Grade 2A cinema hall. She said, “The essential elements of the Art Deco form are all preserved. In fact, we have not only preserved but enhanced the 6-ft-tall artistic panels depicting the journey of cinema and other arts. The famous 2 staircases are still there, and we have retained and restored the old doors and windows on the ground floor. The ‘frozen fountain’ has been reproduced to the scale possible. That is a rich element of Art Deco. We have carried out all the work after securing permission from the heritage committee.” The new features too are in sync with the Art Deco style, including a canopy of light.
Meanwhile, speculation surrounding the new cinema gathered steam online. Eros theatre team invited those who had expressed misgivings and alleviated their doubts at a trial show a few days ago.
Single-screen theatres have fallen on hard times. Mrunal Gole, owner of Liberty Cinema, said the hall has been shut since Covid with government rules not enabling relaunch. Nitin Datar, president of COEIA (Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association, India), said a list of policies has forced a majority of the 150 single screens in Mumbai to shut. “Barely 40-50 halls are left. If one refurbishes a large theatre, it can cost up to Rs 1 lakh per seat to do so, given the expenses on AC, seating, projection and other infrastructure. Our ticket rates are Rs 40-70, how can we manage?” he said.
Amid the gloom, one single-screen theatre that has got its revenue model right is Hindmata Gold in Dadar. General manager Amit Singh said, “We thankfully have 80-90% occupancy and we show the latest movies because our ticket and food rates are accessible. Many families are returning to single screens given the low costs.”
Coming soon at Eros: a store & a 300-seat cinema
8:41 AM
Eros, located in Grade II-A heritage building at Churchgate, shut down in 2017 because of poor ticket sales
Yogesh Naik (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 29, 2018)
Eros, one of Mumbai’s first single screens and an integral part of the city’s Bollywood history, could soon reopen in a new avatar with a smaller theatre on its first floor and a sprawling departmental store on the ground.
Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee is looking at a proposal by the Cambata family, which owns the space, to turn the theatre’s lobby and stall section into a department store and the balcony into a 300-seat theatre.
Eros, which is located in Grade II-A heritage Cambata building on the junction of Maharshi Karve Road and Jamshetji Tata Road at Churchgate, shut down in 2017 because of poor ticket sales in the face of competition from multi-screen theatres.
A few months later, the building was attached by the collector upon the orders of the labour commissioner following the Cambatas inability to clear the dues of the employees of Cambata Aviation, the family’s ground handling business at the Mumbai international airport.
The redevelopment plan is parallely being reviewed by the state governnment’s Urban Development Department and the BMC’s Building Proposals Department. The project will require multiple permissions as Cambata building is part of Mumbai’s World Heritage Site of Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensemble and it is located in the Oval sub-precinct of the Fort precinct.
The proposal seeks change of user and alterations within the part of the building that housed the cinema hall. It promises that the art-deco elements in the theatre’s lobby and the atrium will be retained and rejuvenated.
In a statement released on Friday, Metro Realty, which has won the mandate to redevelop the property, said the structure has deteriorated considerably in the past 80 years and it will be a challenge to restore it to its past glory. “We have the experience of rejuvenating Metro Cinema and we intend to do the same here,” said Atul Gupta, director, Metro Realty.
The Cambata building has several tenants, including a bank and a coffee shop, and the theatre is surrounded by commercial establishments on all sides. Once the redevelopment is complete, the current entrance to the theatre will become the entrance to the departmental store, while the access to the cinema hall will be from the east façade of the building.
Eros Cinema with a capacity to seat 1204 people, opened in 1938. The two wings of this art deco building meet up in a central block. The foyer is in white and black marble with touches of gold. Marble staircases with chromium handrails lead up to the upper floor.
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