Harshini Brahmavar
Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Apr 28: One of the city’s well-known landmarks, Geethanjali theatre, stopped screening films on April 10. It has come as a jolt to the locals, especially senior citizens who have many pleasant memories of their youth associated with the theatre .
Decades ago, all theatres in the area were controlled by the TMA Pai Group, Manipal. After that, late Vidhyavarinidhi Theertha Swami of Kaniyur Math succeeded in getting this theatre in hand after a six-month struggle over a court stay order. The late Dr V S Acharya was the chairman of the Manipal Group then.
It is difficult to say when exactly the first movie was released but one can safely say it was about four decades ago. The first film was released by Gurumatha Films Bangalore and the next was the film ‘Sare’.
Now there are four single screen theatres remaining in Udupi city - Alankar, Kalpana, Diana, and Ashirvada, besides the new multiplex theatre INOX in Manipal. Geethanjali was a centre of entertainment for migrant workers. They used to come on weekends with their families to geethannjali.
Writer Muralidhar Upadhyaya said, “It was a good place for people of North Karnatakato to relax. Geethanjali served spectators by screening quality movies at cheap rates. It was a delightful spot for the labour class. But in the era of technology, everybody can watch movies at home or go to luxury theatres.”
Nithyananda Olakadu opined, “They should not have done this because it was a landmark for tourists. This theatre had a four decade long history. About 15 years ago, Kaniyur Math leased it to Vasanth Nayak. But due to the lack of maintenance, they failed to keep up the standard. Now the Math has paved the way for construction of a commercial mall in the heart of the city on lease."
The place was a convenient landmark for tourists and locals alike especially being close to the city bus stand.
The demolition work started a week ago and soon the iconic theatre will go down in the annals of history.