32,000km, 655 screens: Documenting India’s endangered cinemas

A journey to archive single-screen cinemas that have been part of India’s entertainment landscape for over 100 years.

Looking back, it was fortunate that Hemant Chaturvedi cut his visit short to the Kumbh Mela, a major Hindu festival and pilgrimage, in the north Indian city of Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad) in January 2019. Bored by the ostentatious spectacle, a marked difference from simpler celebrations he had attended in the past, he left to explore Allahabad University, an architectural landmark from the 1800s. On the way, he remembered Lakshmi Talkies, an old, single-screen cinema in the area. He took a detour to the site, which had been closed since 1999, piles of rubbish around it adding to the air of neglect. The 1940s’ Art Deco structure was soon to be demolished and replaced by a mall. Saddened by the destruction of physical heritage, he decided to photograph it. Inside the stripped shell of the building, traces of its past still lingered: a dust-laden statue of the Goddess Lakshmi in the lobby, one of her four arms missing; beautiful Art Deco bannisters; and sweeping murals from the Ramayana inside the auditorium. Chaturvedi realised this was just one of many single-screen cinemas that were rapidly fading due to changing technology, the arrival of multiplexes, and financial difficulties – a realisation that spurred a journey across India.