Bollywood movie experiences in 1970s and 80s Pune
I grow up in Pune in the 70s and 80s. I moved to the US in the mid 90s after my engineering, and have been here ever since. Some of my evergreen childhood memories are of movie experiences with my family. Pune was a beautiful city back then — quiet, green and a simple pace of life. The city was pretty much closed in the afternoons and by 8:30pm in the evening. The area around Chaturshringhi/Pune University where I grew up had one general store (Ravindra), and a fairly happening shopping center for the times called Vinees Shoppe, which had shopping carts and an ice cream shop.
In the days before VCRs ( and long before Yotube), movies was an event to look forward to. The hype of new movies began on radio, and subsequently on Black & White TV music programs like Chhayageet. In my middle school and later years, I used to avidly read movie reviews in the Times of India by critics like Khalid Mohamed. Much before that, we had the in-class reporters who saw a movie as soon as it released, and spent several lunch hours describing scenes and stories from the movies. My earliest memories in school are listening to a classmate waxing eloquently about Amitabh’s entry scene in ‘Muqaddar ka Sikander’. The motorcycle he rode in during the entry song, and the fight scenes with Amjad Khan. The movie was screening in Mangala theater. By the time my parents took me to see the movie, it was already celebrating its silver jubilee. My dad had done an advanced booking for the show, and I was excited all day at school that day. I recall the hugh cut-outs outside the movie theatre with Amitabh and his motor-cycle, Rekha in all her finery, Vinod Khanna standing tall — all the cut-outs were embellished with silver color to celebrate the jubilee.
One theater which was my favorite back then was Nataraj in Deccan. It was air-conditioned, with plush carpets, a big Nataraj statue as you entered, and mirrored walls all the way to the Balcony area. I recall watching so many wonderful movies there — Trishul and Mr Natwarlal are two that specifically come to mind. Mr Natwarlal had a massive cutout of Amitabh in a rope harness being pulled by horses. Back then, outside the theater hall , there were snapshot photos of the movie on display. We used to see all the photos, and eagerly wait for the actual scene to play out while watching the movie. Qurbani played at Nataraj a couple years later — we drove in for tickets at the last minute but were disappointed since it was houseful. Few years on, I remember seeing movies like Saagar and Hip, Hip Hurray at this theater as well. Right next to Natraraj theater, there as a small by-lane were there was Sharmaji’s Pav Bhaji stall. They used to bring buttery and tasty Pav Bhaji to our old Fiat car — was quite an experience eating Pav Bhaji and then going for the night show at Nataraj.
Other theaters that we frequented often were Neelayam in the Sadashiv Peth area and Apollo in Rastapeth. Golmaal was a big hit in the late 1970s and played at Neelayam for quite a while. Also, I recall seeing Khatta Meetha at Neelayam. Much later, in junior college, we saw masala movies like Kishen Kanhaiya there. And way off (from where we lived), was Laxmi Narayan theater where we watched Jurmana and Masoom. Masoom was so houseful that we got two separate pairs of dress-circle tickets — my sister and I at one end, and my parents at the other end. But what a movie!
Apollo had its share of movies that we frequented — one funny incident I recall when a movie called Aakhir Kyon that was playing there. We had advanced bookings for the movie, and were all set for a good evening out. However, what my parents had forgotten was that it was Ganesh Visarjan day. By the time we headed from our home near Chaturshringhi to Rasta Peth, there were so many traffic jams and detours, that we we landed right in time… for the movie interval. Fun times !
I can’t end this nostalgia article without mentioning a few exclusive English movie theaters. West End was one, but it closed down when I was still a kid, and made a comeback when I was in college as a Hindi movie theater. As a toddler, my dad took me to watch a Laurel and Hardy movie at West End. Later in college, we saw Roja, Rangeela etc. Other movie theaters that exclusively screened English movies back then were Rahul (with its 70mm screen) and Alka talkies. We frequented Rahul very often since it was close to our home and my dad liked good English movies. I vividly remember seeing Steven Spielberg’s Duel at Rahul and just being enthralled by it. Another movie we saw there, which scared the heck out of me was Savage Harvest. Some of the best English movies we saw though were at Alka — classics like Great Escape and Return of the Dragon. Alka was the go-to place when we bunked classes at college — Revenge of the Nerds, The Accused, Ghost, and so many more.
These are some of my memories from Pune from many decades ago. I haven’t been in touch recently with the latest at these old haunts, but it’s a slice of life that shall stay evergreen in my mind.