Changing Culture of Cinema Halls
Mohammad Asim Siddiqui
DELHI 4 SHOWS: TALKIES OF YESTERYEAR by Ziya Us Salam OM Books International, Noida, 2015, 280 pp., 385
June 2015, volume 39, No 6

The subject of films has been approached from the perspective of stars, auteurs and spectators. At other times the collaborative nature of the cinema is emphasized by bringing in the contribution, or noise, of other players which include, among others, story writers, lyricists, music directors, cameramen, fight masters, choreographers and even minor actors. Zia Us Salam’s book Delhi 4 Shows: Talkies of Yesteryear while showing awareness of all three perspectives, tries to approach cinema, Hindi films in particular, from the perspective of cinema halls and the cultures associated with them. His narrative of the rise and fall of cinema halls in the capital of India strikes a chord with people living in any big city of India as the process of urbanization, especially in the era of technology-driven globalization, has had a similar impact on the film viewing experience. This book could have been written only by somebody with a deep knowledge of Delhi and its love affair with cinema—insider knowledge which comes from living in a city and watching films with the elites and the subalterns—and a deep understanding of the variety that the city offers in terms of its people and their cultures. His description of the usual business in Chandni Chowk on a winter afternoon presents a tableau of just one dimension of this variety.

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