On Saturday, May 2, the last independent Indian theatre in Dubai will roll the credits for the final time in 43 years.
But Golden Cinema is going out in style. The long-standing landmark will host the world premiere of the Tamil comedy-drama Uttama Villain at 10.30pm on Thursday, April 30. Lead actor Kamal Haasan, one of South Indian cinema's biggest celebrities, will walk the red carpet.
The 1,500-seat theatre, which is located opposite Al Ghubaiba metro station in Bur Dubai, opened in 1972 and “is the only one in the Middle East with a balcony”, according to general manager Hassan A Kannu. Over the years it has screened the biggest films in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam cinema, regularly attracting Thursday-night world premieres ahead of the usual Friday-night opening in India.
In 2013, it hosted a free screening of the Tamil film Aarambam, which was partly shot in Dubai, for 1,500 labourers from the ETA Group in conjunction with the Dubai International Film Festival.
Delphine Garde-Mroueh, Diff’s head of programme administration, says the theatre will be sadly missed.
“There really isn’t anywhere else to hold those huge screenings for labourers anymore,” said Garde-Mroueh. “There’s a new cinema being built nearby, but the biggest screen will only seat around 200 people, so we really are losing a piece of history.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae
