Delhi Four Shows

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Since the days of veteran directors like Sohrab Modi and Mehboob Khan and actors like Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, Delhi had a thriving single- screen theatre culture. While some halls reserved a box for families, others seated women in an exclusive enclosure, or reserved aisle seats for the specially-abled, or gave first preference to members of our defence forces. From Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, the Who’s Who of Indian politics too had their favourite halls. Single-screen theatres in Delhi were part of India’s freedom struggle, and a sociological phenomenon. While most ‘talkies’ still provide the common man his preferred mode of entertainment, these halls shall soon become a thing of the past, overrun by an unrelenting multiplex boom. Delhi: 4 Shows—Talkies of Yesteryear is a clarion call to preserve Delhi’s single-screen theatre culture and the halls that are sentinels of the city’s cultural and historical heritage.

Ziya Us Salam is a noted literary and social commentator. A student of history from the University of Delhi, he is engaged in building bridges of commonality between communities through recourse to the Quran and the Vedas. He has been associated with The Hindu for almost two decades and has been its Features Editor for North India editions for 16 years. At present, he is an Associate Editor, Frontline, and writes on sociocultural issues for the magazine besides doing book reviews. A prolific and an acclaimed author, in 219, he published Lynch Files, a take on victims of hate violence, and 365 Tales from Islam, a book that aims to introduce Islam to children. In the previous year, he had released Of Saffron Flags and Skull Caps, a take on the challenges to the idea of India, and Till Talaq Do Us Part, a study of various divorce options available in Islam. His book Delhi 4 Shows, a study of cinemas since the talkie era began, was released in 216. His book Women in Masjid: A Quest for Justice was released recently. Ziya was a jury member of the International Film Festival of India (non-feature film, 211), Best Writing on Cinema (28) and Vatavaran.

Ziya Us Salam

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