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End of scene one
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Cityscape The sandwiches, paratha rolls and chai... memories of Sangeet
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Intermission The Sangeet staff gets nostalgic
The screen, the projector and the lights have been taken away. The demolition has begun and in a few days, all that will remain of Secunderabad’s famous landmark is the rubble. Sangeet, which entertained the city from 1969, downed its shutters
last week, promising to re-open in a multiplex avatar in 2010.
Ever since the news was out, the management has had varied requests. Avid moviegoers have been visiting, taking photographs for keepsakes, picking up movie posters from the office and looking around for a few more keepsakes. The Rs. 35 board at the booking counter and the ‘fire’ sand buckets are some ‘souvenirs’ that have been taken away. The core team is still coming to terms with the closure, narrating these anecdotes to us.
Narsing, who has been making the famous sandwiches laced with mint chutney at the premises for the last 17 years, is nostalgic. “An Iranian, Nauzar, introduced the concept of sandwiches much before they got popular at eateries in the city. I joined when I was studying in std VII, coming here after school to earn some pocket money. The sandwiches were then priced at Rs. 5 and were Rs. 10 when we closed last week,” he recalls. The multiplex wave didn’t change the fortunes for these sandwiches, he says. “Around 13 to 14 loaves of bread would be used up on a houseful day.”
“It was touching to see people’s reaction on the last day,” says Shaik Sheriff, the booking clerk, who has been at Sangeet since its inception. “Only English films were screened in the first two years. I was a gate keeper back then, and remember watching portions of Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments and Sound of Music. Dev Anand-starrer Gambler was the first Hindi film,” he says.
Fantasy, the chai place that doubled up as an adda for 15 years, and the Paratha Rolls now wear a deserted look. The tea counter will function again, to attract passers-by, Sangeet’s Ali bhai tells us. Ali bhai? Well, he has seen the foundation stone being laid for Sangeet in 1967. Over the years, he has been answering phone calls non-stop every Friday that a big movie opened. “The booking requests have been innumerable, from regular movie buffs to VIPs,” he says with a smile.
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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