Once the place to go to, Neelam a no-go show

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Kaveesha Kohli

Earlier cinema-goers would chase us, now we have to chase them,” says a despondent Sucha Singh, who has been a gatekeeper at the Neelam Theatre in Sector 17 for the past 35 years.

“People would throng the theatre, tickets would be purchased a week in advance,” he reminisces of a time long gone.

“Various government offices and the district courts shifted from the Sector 17, then the bus stand to Sector 43. The malls came up, and spelled our doom,” he says.

Today, Neelam Theatre remains a tall, imposing building, right in the heart of the Sector 17 plaza, but wears a deserted and dilapidated look, as if it’s only purpose is that of a relic invoking nostalgia.

The screen where once large movie posters displayed the latest Bollywood hits has been replaced by a poster of Jacqueline Fernandez selling shampoo. Almost as a metaphor for the state of affairs, below it is a smaller poster, that of an Akshay Kumar starrer being screened at the theatre.

Neelam was constructed in the early 1950s and was one of the first three theatres envisioned for Chandigarh by its planners. The theatre was primarily designed by architect Aditya Prakash under the guidance of Pierre Jeanerret. The architectural style of the theatre has been described as modernist.

Today, in a brazen violation of norms, the entrance to the theatre is occupied by illegal vendors selling clothes, jewellery and a few minutes on a massage chair. The vendors continue to function despite being reprimanded by the Estate Office, which has also sent a show-cause notice to the owners — three brothers of the prominent political Kairon family: Adesh Partap Singh, Gurpartap Singh and Uday Singh.

“Yes, they are illegal. But what do we do? We have salaries to pay,” says SK Sharma, the manager of Neelam, who has worked for the Kairon family for 45 years now. Behind the theatre, too, one can spot a bicycle stand, where the vendor pays about Rs 30,000 as rent.

Currently, the theatre has been leased out to Rajan Batra, who has plans to renovate it.

Batra, who pays about Rs 2 lakh per month to the owners, said he will construct a food court, re-build toilets, introduced reclining chairs and a better sound and cooling system. A better projection quality with clearer images has already been put into place.

Batra estimates the entire project to cost him about Rs 25 lakh.

While Batra calls the renovation project a “gamble”, he is hopeful it might be able to draw in middle-class families.

Sharma, however, does not share Batra’s enthusiasm.

Uncertain future

Manager Sharma says the proprietors are considering converting Neelam into a multiplex, but cannot tinker with the facade of the theatre.

“We already have permission from the Chandigarh Administration. The plan got derailed due to a conflict between the contractor and proprietor, but everything is sorted now,” he adds.

According to architect Gurjot Singh, a consultant with the Administration on the Sector 17 rejuvenation plan, feels Neelam’s neglected state is because “the owners hope they can get more land around the theatre for expansion, which is unlikely”.

“There is single-screen PVR in Vasant Vihar in Delhi, one of its most post areas. It gets all kinds of crowd. We can do it too. We can retain the theatre, but it needs someone with a lot of business acumen,” Singh says.

Was considered central community space

According to Eikmanjeet Singh Walia, a student at the Chandigarh College of Architecture, Neelam Theatre was planned as a central community space and remained a vibrant one for years. Dr Chandrashekhar Prasad, a theatre artist who has staged many plays in front of the theatre, perceives the plans to change the Neelam as an encroachment of pubic space.

“The area in front of Neelam has always served as a place for cultural dialogue. Urbanising it would kill discourse,” he adds

The government shares the blame as well, says Walia.

“The government finds it easier to destroy such heritage structures to be replaced by phoney malls which destroy the vibe of the place, as it has happened in the case of Jagat Cinema,” he says.

850 capacity, but 50-70 viewers

• Currently, each one of the four shows gets about 50-70 viewers, even though the theatre has a seating capacity of about 850
• A ticket costs anything between Rs 50 and Rs 70
• Plans are afoot to construct three screens, a shopping complex, an entertainment zone and even underground parking

Can draw in families

"I think I can get families who don’t want to spend a lot on tickets. I am not even aiming for the rich to come here, I know they will only visit Elante" Rajan Batra

Catch-22 situation

"Sector 17 needs to pick up again for the theatres to pick up, but the sector isn’t picking up because of the theatres. It’s really a catch-22 situation" Gurjot Singh, consultant on Sec 17