Chennai to Lose its Shanti
CHENNAI: The iconic Shanti theatre, owned by the prestigious Sivaji Ganesan family is soon to be restructured into a commercial multiplex. The project, a joint venture announced on Tuesday by Akshaya Pvt limited will kick off later this year. T Chitty Babu, chairman and CEO of the company said that it will remain open for the next six to nine months. “And we promise to deliver the project two years from then,” Babu said. This theatre means different things to different people. For the current owners, it is a property which isn’t probably fetching commensurate returns which has prompted a re-modelling deal. For the many central government employees, bus conductors and drivers and old-timers, it is an important bus stop. For many movie goers, it is a cineplex where tickets cost less than `120 and one of the few theatres which offer the `10 ticket online. However, for a vast majority of Sivaji Ganesan’s fans, it is nothing less than a pilgrimage destination.
“Every evening 15 to 20 from our group would meet at the entrance of the theatre and collect the collection details of Sivaji’s movie from all over the State till he passed away. There is obviously a huge sense of nostalgia attached to it,” says 52-year-old P Anand, a trader and Sivaji Ganesan fan. Anand, like many of his friends, are sad that their favorite hang-out spot will be demolished and re-built. “Change is necessary, but we have suggested that a single floor of the multi-storied building should be dedicated to housing memorabilia of Sivaji,” he hopes wistfully.
Another fan, K Babu, used to work at the Syndicate bank which was inside the theatre complex. He recalled an interesting anecdote when Karnan was recently re-released and ran to packed houses. “Hordes of oldies walked into the theatre and reminisced Sivaji’s movies as well as about the times they spent in Shanti theatre,” he says.
V Janardhan, the 50-year-old supervisor of the complex and Sivaji’s nephew remembers watching Vasantha Maligai 22 times when he was in Chennai. “MGR’s movies would release in Devi theatre. Both sets of fans would take out processions to prove their respective star’s superiority,” he says. M Ramachandran, a 55-year-old staffer says it wasn’t all men though, “In those days, we had a difficult time managing the female crowd which came for Sivaji’s movies. But today, one rarely gets to see any women at the theatre,” he says.
Popular character actor Mohan Raman’s everlasting memory of Shanti theatre is the huge number of beautiful portraits of famous Indian actors kept on display on the verandah. “I remember marvelling at the statues of romantic couples like Heer-Ranjha from the balcony. Both were removed when another screen was added to the complex,” he said.
It would be difficult for theatre owners to build and maintain such museums, points out Raman, adding that the State government could probably chip in. Janardhan has a slightly more high-tech idea to keep the torch burning for the legendary actor, “In the new complex, I have submitted a plan to have a touch screen arena where photos and videos related to Sivaji can be viewed,” he says. Will Shanti ever be the same again?
Shanti and our Superstar
Mannan gave Rajinikanth his big break. But then it was Chandramukhi which created history with its screening for 888 days, the longest for a Tamil film. Also on the eve of the release of Chandramukhi, the Superstar inaugurated a renovated Shanthi theatre, on April 14, 2005