In the 1950s, whenever Bollywood stars Raj Kapoor and Nargis visited the Regal, one of the oldest cinemas in Connaught Place here, they used to occupy a particular set of seats, says the theatre's 73-year-old manager.
Movie trivia like this make up the recent book "Delhi: 4 Shows: Talkies of the Yesteryear," penned by veteran journalist Ziya Us Salam.
The process of single screen cinemas being replaced by multiplexes is not unique to a particular part of India.
The capital city too has been and continues to be a victim of this development as every Friday, multiplexes across the city swell with movie buffs while single screen cinemas such as Regal in Connaught Place and Jagat beside the Jama Masjid and Ritz at the Kashmere Gate remain deserted.
The book, showcases how the milieu was different in the past.
It captures in nostalgia, the city's hitherto thriving theatre culture and the myriad experiences associated with it.
While cinema itself has undergone a conspicuous change, the experience of movie-going and watching too has altered significantly, from pink moppy tickets being replaced by crisp white ones to the fancy soft drink - nachos combos taking the place formerly occupied by stalls of chai and pakoras.
The book can be assumed to be an articulation of these experiences through stories, some pulled out of the author's own diary, others from cine goers from across the city.
"For people of my generation and those followed up till the 1980s, the film going experience often began with the pleasant anticipation of scanning the newspapers for exciting film ads," says veteran actress Sharmila Tagore in book's foreword.
In the same context, the author fondly recalls how as a child he would lavish his weekly pocket money of a rupee on the weekend edition of the English newspaper "Patriot".
With films strictly prohibited at his home, he says, "I satiated my appetite for films by looking at insertions in the Patriot."
"Watching films might not be the same today. Multiplexes lack the familiarity and warmth of single screen halls," points out the author.
