One more iconic single screen theatre fades away

Mysuru: Three years after Saraswathi Theatre on Kantharaj Urs Road stopped screening in September 2021, the theatre is being demolished, hitting the last nail on the only single screen theatre in that part of the city.

For the past one month, the works on dismantling the structure is underway, with the workers along with an earth-moving vehicle, razing the structure from the rear side, with the interior of the demolished parts visible from the road.

With this, the theatre that entertained cine-lovers, mostly Kannada, followed by other languages, for over four decades, is joining the list of theatres like  Shanthala on Narayana Shastry Road and Lakshmi on Chamaraja Double Road, that were reduced to ground recently.

Lure of Multiplexes

It is no more a secret that for single screen theatres to sustain amid the challenges posed by swanky multiplexes in the last one decade, it had become extremely difficult.

Apart from the change in the mindset of cine-lovers, who prefer to watch the movies with the comfort offered in multiplex, the film producers and distributors too insisted on releasing the new flicks in multiplexes. Gradually, the number of multiplexes rose in the city — DRC Cinemas at B.M. Habitat Mall in Jayalakshmipuram, Inox in Mall of Mysore on M.G. Road and Centro Mall near KSRTC Sub-urban Bus Stand, PVR Cinemas in Nexus Centre City Mall on Hyder Ali Road near Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) and Garuda Mall, opposite KSRTC City Bus Stand and Mysore Vision Cinemas in Bannimantap, attracting the cine buffs.

Revenue cut

The advent of cineplexes cut into the revenue of single screen theatres, with the owners struggling to meet the maintenance costs. They had no option than suspending the screening, bringing down the number of theatres from 18 to a handful of numbers in the last five years. 

The furniture at now defunct Saraswathi theatre have been already dismantled and disposed of, along with windows and doors.

More profitable…

M.R. Rajaram, a prominent film exhibitor of the city told Star of Mysore that in reality, the film distributors and producers were earning more profit by screening the movies in theatres. But they were not paying the due amount to theatre exhibitors. In the case of multiplexes, the revenue generated from screening the movies is split among exhibitors and distributors in the ratio of 50:50 in the first week and 40:60 in the second week. But the ratio fixed for the single screen theatres is comparatively less, making it too difficult for the owners to meet the maintenance cost. Hence, the theatres are fading into oblivion.

Theatres, no more

Mysuru city earlier boasted of theatres like Shalimaar, Ratna, Ranjith, Opera, Shanthala, Olympia and Lakshmi and now it’s the turn of Saraswathi.

More theatres may follow suit in the coming years in the city alone, with 160 single screen theatres already meeting the same fate across the State in a short span of two years.

Hurting tax slab

Moreover, unlike other districts, the tax slab applied in Mysuru district is exorbitant, which is attributed to lack of awareness among those in the realm. Ironically, Bengaluru the Capital City of the State generates more revenue, but the property tax imposed on single screen theatres is comparatively less while the property tax collected is double in Mysuru.

The same tax slab is proving impediment in building commercial complexes in the place of theatres, forcing some of them to look beyond Outer Ring Road (ORR) to execute their commercial ventures.

With the authorities still in a bind over converting Mysuru City Corporation into Bruhat Mysuru Mahanagara Palike (BMMP) on the lines of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the existing tax slab is not only hurting businessmen, but also the common man, rued Rajaram.