Regal Cinema Hall - Please Dont Go Away .Concluding Part .

While in the University Hostel ,we normally took a bus to go to C.P .The bus used to start from Maurice Nagar  and go to Shivaji Stadium  (  Maurice Nagar – maybe the name has changed now!! ). I think it was  route number 101.!!

The things we did at C.P ,were monotonous. But each time we did it , we felt a new kind of high .We would meet around the “Cellar” , the Amitabh Bacchan of discotheques in Delhi those days .!! Its long since disappeared. It was where Pind Baluchi is these days .Next to it was Vadheras ( or was it Vaish Brothers???) – a famous tailoring and clothes shops .

I have some very vivid memories of the Cellar .Once you entered it  - it felt like you had entered a room which was on fire .The smoke , the music ,the gyrating crowds , the familiar food ( sizzlers thrown in to good effect ), and the latest music played by very good DJs – you could hear everything from Grand Funk ,Jethro Tull  and the Doors  to something softer like Don Mclean singing “ bye  bye Miss American pie”. !!

Just across from Cellar used to be another iconic  restaurant called Ramble .It was open air ( where Palika Bazaar lies buried now )Around Rambles was a stand from where one could get a “Harley Davidson, phut phut”. And beyond Ramble were the iconic eateries - Wengers and Kevintors .We would have the patties at Wengers  ( 1.25 rupees !!), and a big bottle of strawberry milk  at Keventors ( 1 rupee a bottle )!!. Sometimes we would eat “ chola bhaturas”  behind  Regal  at Kwality .And  nearly  always  we would have cold coffee at De Pauls   and chocolate éclairs at Annapoorna   on Janpath  .!!

 But this blog is about Regal Theatre .I saw many movies in it – including  2  with my late brother  Vijay .Dirty Harry and Soldier Blue ( with the amazing looking Candice Bergen in it ).I also remember seeing Garam Hawa ,Aakrosh  ,Bhuvan Shome .The last movie I saw at Regal  I think  was in 1983 ,when we travelled from Rai to see “Masoom” . I wonder whether  it was by chance or by choosing – but I never saw a movie in Regal which would   NOT find itself in my top 20s list  of best  movies I saw .

The really odd thing about Regal Theatre  was the numbers on the back of its seats .For example  ‘6’ comes after ‘9’. Then ‘11’, and so on. Like  a pack of cards shuffled before being dealt !!

Experts  say ,that Regal was the  first building that  was  built in Connaught Place in  1932, by Sobha Singh( Khushwant Singhs Dad),  and designed by British architect Walter Sykes George.. It went on to host, along with Hollywood movies, Western Classical maestros,- Russian ballet and British theatre groups.It screened the classics like “ Gone With The Wind”( 1939 !!!!), and Pride and Prejudice” . On the top floor was a restaurant called Davicos (later ‘Standard Restaurant’) that was the toast of the town.!! The corridors and staircase of the cinema hall are lined with large black and white photographic portraits of stars from the yesteryears. Dev Anand, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Raj Kapoor…

The high and mighty graced Regal .Jawaharlal Nehru ,Lord Mountbatten,  Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Indira Gandhi, Sir Strafford Cripps ( yes of the Cripps Mission fame – he and Nehru saw a film together here ), Viceroys .Raj Kapoor premiered many of his films here .He would come with Nargis.!

By the time , we went to see the movies in REGAL ,the  palm trees at Regal’s porch back had dissappeared,.The foyer  which had chandeliers  had started to look old .The staff who must have  donned  dinner suits and, on occasion, bow ties were no where to be seen .. Scotch and soda that was available  was no longer served .Where once upon a time  everyone would stand in queue to buy tickets , including the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi, there  were jostling crowds , always feeling insecure that their pockets might get picked .A thick maroon velvet curtain would slowly rise and fall at the beginning and end of a movie .The red carpet ,that was laid out to welcome the dignitaries had vanished .

Regal , was clearly in the hospital ward during my University Days .And now it is in the ICU on life support which is going to be unplugged on the 31^st of March .

Before I end – let me narrate a incident at Regal .We had gone to see a movie and were waiting outside the foyer .Just next to the foyer was a cigarette shop .And next to the cigarette shop , used to sit a cobbler who made money by polishing peoples shoes .And guess who we saw getting his shoes polished ? It was Jalal Agha , who was a fairly well known actor ( he became really famous after he was picturized in the  song “ Mehbooba ,Mehbooba” from Sholay.) We went to him and got talking .He told us ,that he always came to Regal and hung around it whenever he was in Delhi . “ I love seeing the crowd  passing by.” He said .He also told us that the cobbler was a personal friend of his .He  then  pointed to the cigarette shop and told us that he had been buying cigarettes from him for donkeys years .He added “ You guys are young – don’t smoke “

When I look back – neither the cigarette shop is there , nor the cobbler , nor Jalal Agha , and shortly there will be no Regal .

At times – one feels lonely .!! But tomorrow will come .And life will go on .