Fate of Priya cinema hall in Kolkata hangs fire

The fate of iconic Priya cinema hall in south Kolkata, where a fire had broken out recently, continues to hang in balance with the owner today saying that he was unsure if the building would be used as a single-screen theatre or for some other business activity.

Arijit Dutta, the owner of Priya Entertainments, said he was flooded with requests to reopen the theatre.

"All my family members and friends want me to re-open the 60-year-old theatre as public sentiment is involved with Priya Cinema. The single-screen theatre had witnessed special screenings of many cult Bengali films in the past few decades. I am yet to take a call on the matter," he said.

The fire had started at the first-floor office of the cinema around 10.15 pm on August 4, leading to a panic among the late-night show viewers. They were all safely evacuated.

After inspection, authorities at the fire department claimed to have found shortcomings in the safety measures at the cinema hall.

In a notice, the department asked the owners to install water sprinklers and smoke detectors within the auditorium for getting a "no-objection" certificate.

Dutta said he was ready to abide by the directions of the fire department, but insisted that the suggested norms were not common features in single screens across the country.

"To my knowledge, no single screen in the country has the equipment suggested by the officials. However, we are ready to go by the directions, considering public safety aspects," he asserted.

West Bengal Fire Services Director General Jagmohan, on his part, said the recommendations were made to avoid a similar incident in future.

"It is up to the owners to implement the suggestions. Once they enforce the guidelines, our team will inspect the site and act accordingly," he stated.

Talking about his plans for the five-storey building at Deshapriya Park in south Kolkata, Dutta said he was weighing his options.

"I am having second thoughts on whether the property will be used for screening films any more after enforcing the fire safety measures. I may use it for some other business model too. The decision is yet to be taken," he added.