When there was space to make a little allowance for the sentiments of others

The cinemas of Old Delhi provide a unique lens through which to recall the tradition of shared living that helped Indian cities find equilibrium after the violence of Partition 

Just after India was partitioned in 1947, the legendary film actor-director-producer Ashok Kumar announced a new film,  Majboor, with some among cast and crew answering to the names of Nazir Ajmeri, Kamal Amrohi, Munawar Sultana, Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and her husband Shahid Latif, and Ghulam Haider. Coming so soon after Partition, some termed the move brave, others called it foolhardy. Back then the atmosphere in India was, as All India Radio was fond of saying, “tense but under control”. Many Hindu workers of Kumar were unhappy with his decision. Dadamoni, as he was affectionately called, ignored their reservations, confident that this spree of communalism would subside. 

One night, he decided to drop Manto home after a late dinner in Bombay. As they reached a Muslim-dominated locality, Manto worried for his friend’s safety. There was a marriage procession there, and Manto’s heart skipped a beat as he prepared for the worst. The crowd recognised Kumar almost instantly, and to Manto’s surprise and relief, there were chants of “Ashok Kumar, Ashok Kumar!” The marriage party was packed with Ashok Kumar fans, and even at the height of the communal divide and widespread killing, nobody identified an artist with his religion. After the violence of 1947, hope for a shared future floated. 

Much like it was in Amritsar, a city which had seen a massacre in the wake of Partition. Hardly any Muslim was left in the city. What remained though was the impressive Khairuddin Masjid. The mosque was located in a Hindu-dominated lane with many Sikh families in the vicinity. As Muslims fled to Pakistan, the mosque was left without worshippers. No harm was done to the mosque, as it was considered God’s House! Its dome, pulpit, niches remained safe. For almost a decade, no namaz was offered. Then one day, a muezzin came and gave the azaan call. Unsurprisingly, nobody objected in the neighbourhood. Instead, the mosque was given a fresh coat of paint, spruced up and readied for daily prayers. 

Many in the neighbourhood had lost their near and dear ones in the Partition massacre, but even in those dire times, they understood that people of all communities had suffered. If Hindus and Sikhs had been killed in Lahore, Muslims had met the same fate in Amritsar. It was all the doing of bad times, an evil eye. And Amritsar resumed its tradition of shared living. The city embraced the super-hit Muslim socials  Chaudhvin ka Chand and  Mere Mehboob with as much love and passion as it did  Woh Kaun Thi and  Bhakti Mein Shakti.

Hindi cinema, incidentally, played a big role in keeping people together, making space for each other’s faith even as movies brought people under the same roof. An interesting case was provided by the cinemas of Old Delhi in the 1960s and 1970s. In the famed Chandni Chowk area, there used to be  Majestic cinema right opposite the historic Gurdwara Sisganj. The cinema’s architectural design was inspired by the Mughals, and it was truly majestic. The cinema management kept in mind the sentiments of the believers at the gurdwara while choosing films to screen here. Back then, big cinemas used to have huge billboards of the movie playing at the hall. Here,  Majestic decided that there would be no cut-outs or big posters of the film’s heroines! When  Deewar ran here for 25 weeks in 1975, one could have been forgiven if one thought the film starred only Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor.

The age-old Jagat cinema near Jama Masjid operated on the same template. Back in late 1970s, a Hindi film  Man ka Aangan was supposed to be screened here. The management decided instead to shift it to Ritz cinema near the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) as both halls had a common owner. A film with provocative posters could be played near ISBT with its floating crowd but not at a cinema near a house of worship with its regular attendees. 

A similar episode, also in the 1970s, relates to Moti near Gauri Shanker Mandir in Chandni Chowk. The cinema, in pre-Independence days, was known to play Hollywood specials on Sundays. After a brief dalliance with mythological films, the cinema became a favourite of Raj Kapoor. His films would play at Regal in Connaught Place, Moti in Chandni Chowk and West End at Sadar. And Kapoor himself would attend the first day, first show. However, in the late 1970s, when  Satyam Shivam Sundaram starring Zeenat Aman in what were then considered skimpy outfits, Moti refused to show the film.