First Cinema Theater in Tamilnadu

At the time, when, the Indian Cinema celebrates its 100th year, it is worthwhile to remember the person who had constructed the first ever Cinema theater in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Thiru Murugesa Mudaliar had built the first cinema theater known as the 'Majestic Theater'. Later, the name was changed to 'Kinema Central' and then to 'Sri Murugan Talkies'.

Thiru Balasubramaniam, the present owner of the theater, had shared some of the fond memories about his grand father Murugesa Mudaliar, who started the first ever theater in Tamil Nadu and also about his father Paramasiva Mudsaliar, who had brought in changes in it. He also had shared the other interesting facts about his family and gave the photos for publication.

He said. 'We are native of Veerangivedu, a small village in Ponneri, close to Chennai. Though, primarily we were engaged in agriculture, our ancestors moved to Chennai and were engaged in a variety of businesses. My grand father Murugesa Mudaliar had constructed a supermarket and he was also engaged in Kerosine selling business.

During those days, public were fond of witnessing stage dramas. Unlike, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta, Chennai was not having any exclusive halls to stage dramas. My grandfather Murugesa Mudaliar, who came to know about it, had constructed a hall to stage dramas by demolishing a portion of the supermarket owned by him. He named it as Majestic Theater.

In the drama hall, which was constructed in 1917, famous stage artists such as M.R.Radha, Kali N. Rathinam, C.T.Rajakantham and others had staged their dramas. Though the hall was earning good income from the staging of dramas, the silent cinemas released during the period without proper theater facilities caught the attention of my grandfather. He converted the drama hall into a theater and bought projection equipments from Mumbai.