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It was in 1934 that American film production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to set up a cinema hall in Calcutta to promote its films. The hall was inaugurated in 1935. Famous as an elite British city, the then Calcutta was a large market for Hollywood films.
Eighty-five years later, the iconic cinema hall on Chowringhee Road has made way for Future Group’s first ever movie themed ‘Central’ store.
The fashion and lifestyle retail store will play old Hollywood, Hindi and Bengali hits. These classics were big draws at the ‘Metro cinema’. The screenings are likely to start in April.
According to Vishnu Prasad, CEO, Future Lifestyle Fashions (which owns Central), the company is preparing a list of classics that have been screened. Plans are afoot to bring in the yesteryear stars who featured in these films. Over each week, a film will be played.
First thematic store
“This will be our first thematic store. In fact, Metro Central will be a filmi store. Going forward we may look to host theme-based movie screenings at the store. The idea is to bring alive a lost heritage of the city,” Prasad told BusinessLine .
Metro Central, as it is called, is expected to rake in ₹100 crore by FY20 with apparel sales accounting for nearly 70 per cent of it.
Down memory lane
Metro Cinema’s distinctive art deco structure has, over the years, defined the culture of the city. Initially, it screened only films produced by MGM. Gradually, Hollywood films made way for Hindi cinema and an occasional Bengali film.
The two-storied structure was designed by Thomas Lamb, a Scottish architect settled in the US who built several movie theatres around the world. MGM commissioned him to build two theatres in India. Metro Calcutta’s famous cousin in Mumbai was built in 1938.
Prasad points out that “special care” was taken at the time of renovation so that the art-deco façade, waterfall-style columns and grand staircase within were retained. The company has spent ₹22-25 crore on renovating the heritage structure that will have 55,000 sq ft of space.
Sources say the group had held talks for the renovation and reuse of Grace cinema, too, but issues such as structural stability of the building put things on the backburner.
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