Mumbai: The film on Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s life seems to have breathed new life into Geeta talkies, Worli. The theatre had remained shut for eight years after redevelopment. But now, it is open to the public, with affordable ticket prices. The theatre used to cater to people from the middle and lower middle classes. During the golden era of old Bombay (now Mumbai), workers who were employed and residing in areas around Parel, Worli and Elphinstone Road (now Prabhadevi), would throng to single-screen theatres, namely New Shireen, Satyam, Geeta and Deepak.
Over the years, all these single-screen cinemas had to down shutters under the onslaught of escalating entertainment tax theatre-owners had to pay. However, taking inspiration from the Sena founder, Thackeray, who was a staunch proponent of holding fast to one’s identity, Sainiks fought to reopen this cinema hall. On Friday morning, at Carnival cinema, Wadala, at 4.30 am, there were huge crowds for the first day, first show. A pooja was conducted before the first show, with the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue being bathed in milk. The director of the Thackeray film performed this abhishek and launched the biopic. The biopic showcases the life and political ideology of Sena founder. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is playing the role of Thackeray. Meanwhile, in Navi Mumbai, Sainiks protested at the Inox multiplex on Friday morning, because the proprietors had failed to put up a single poster of the film. The Sainiks threatened an indefinite sit-in andolan, until the time the proprietors put up posters of the film. Since the multiplex is located opposite Vashi railway station, office-goers and other commuters were in a tizzy. Only when the management agreed to display posters of the film in the next half-hour did they relent.
