KOCHI: Once popular landmarks of Kochi, the twin theatres, Lulu-Mymoon, are now history. The buildings on Chittoor Road have been razed, and a state-of-the-art cinema complex is likely to come up.
The sight of bulldozers tearing down the walls of the old dual-theatre structure evokes mixed feelings among Kochiites. Nostalgia gushes in.
“The theatres were inaugurated in 1981,” recalls Siyad Koker of the Kokers Group, which owned the property. “The inaugural films that were screened were ‘Raktham’ directed by Joshiy, and ‘Vida Parayum Munpe’ by Mohan. Both ran for over 100 days.”
Siyad adds the theatres had a glorious run, and screened hundreds of hit films in multiple languages. “I still remember the Tamil film ‘Mundhanai Mudichu’ (1983), which ran for 100 days at Mymoon,” he says.
In fact, city residents recall people line up before the ticket counters, with queues snaking out onto Chittoor Road. ‘Oru CBI Diary Kurippu’, ‘Irupatham Noottandu’, ‘Kottayam Kunjachan’, ‘Inspector Balram’, ‘Lal Salam’, ‘Koodevide’, ‘Gentleman,’ ‘Kadhalan’, etc, were some of the biggies that played here. The last major release was Mohanlal’s ‘Mahasamudram’ (2006).
The golden run ended about 13 years ago when one of the four Koker brothers died. “There was a division of the property. It was amicably decided to sell the theatres off,” says Siyad, adding that the EMKE Group (LuLu) has taken over the property. An EKME official says a “cinema complex is likely to come up” on the plot. “The plan is yet to be finalised,” he adds.