India celebrated ‘National Cinema Day’ recently on September 20. In the backdrop of this information, it’s worthwhile to retrace the history of Aryan Talkies, the first cinema in Pune. Aryan Talkies is no longer in operation, having closed down in 1982, but books, documentaries, and memories act as record-keepers of the hall’s contribution to the city’s cultural history.
The hall was established on February 6, 1915, by Gangadhar Narhar, who was also known as Bapusaheb Pathak.
“Pathak was employed in the railways but was unhappy with his job. He enjoyed painting and music, so, to amuse himself and others, he began covering a window in his house with a white sheet and dangling cardboard cut-outs in front of it. Passers-by enjoyed this show. This gave him the idea of getting into the motion picture business. He leased a plot of land from Pune Municipality and built Aryan on it,” mentions an article on Sahapedia. The hall was always easy to find – it was located in front of Tilak’s statue, where Hutatma Babu Genu Mandai Parking now stands.
“Budhwar Peth was likely chosen as the location for the building because Pathak had a flour mill nearby and the area was… crowded,” says Suprasad Puranik in his book Dnyat-Adnyat Pune. Budhwar Peth was also referred to as the City Centre at the time.
“With excellent seating arrangements, a 35 mm screen, grand arched doors on both sides, and a separate room for the projector, this cinema hall stood majestically in front of Mandai. There was a special seating arrangement at the back. Since women seldom came to watch movies, Pathak had appointed a female doorkeeper,” writes Puranik.
A picture of the kind of chairs used at Aryan Talkies. (Express Photo by Vansh Chauhan )
“Audiences were given various gifts, and advertisements for the films were done by playing a band in the city. In the beginning, the price for watching a movie was two annas, four annas. Before the rickshaw arrived, the tongas were ready in front of the Aryan cinema,” adds Puranik in his book.
Aryan Talkies was known for screening numerous silent films, with new titles debuting every Wednesday and Saturday. “An orchestra, suited to silent films, was set up in the wings beside the screen, playing music according to the scenes,” adds Puranik.
Diamond Ring was the first silent movie to be shown here. In 1931, Alam Ara, India’s first sound picture, was also screened. The first Marathi film to be screened was Sant Tukaram, which was released in 1936. Ek Gaon Bara Bhangadi was screened here for 12 weeks. As stated in an article in Loksatta – in 1933, the film Sairandhri, produced by Baburao Painter’s company, premiered at Aryan Talkies.
The film Brahmachari, written by Acharya Atre, had set a record of 50 weeks in the same cinema. Kela Ishara Jata Jata, Saval Maja Aika, Bot Lavin Tithe Gudgulya, Ekta Jeev Sadashiv, Ganimi Kava, and Molkarin also broke records here.
Pathak soon began to scale up his company, adding theatres in Panchgani, Sangli, Vadodara, and Solapur. In those cities, these were also the initial theatres. “Over the span of 67 years, many films celebrated their bronze, silver, and golden jubilees here. To celebrate Aryan’s 50th anniversary, Anand Rao Pathak, the son of Bapusaheb Pathak, made a documentary on its history,” Puranik writes. The film was screened at a festival in the US and in many American cities.
Silence, images, and sounds
Renowned Marathi poet, G D Madgulkar dedicated a poem to Aryan Talkies on the occasion of its silver jubilee. Lokmanya Tilak, Acharya Atre, Dada Kondke, Hirabai Barodekar, S M Joshi, and actor Usha Chavan were among the visitors to the cinema.
“Wrangler Paranjpye (Indian mathematician and diplomat who served as the First High Commissioner of India to Australia from 1945 to 1947). Novelist Hari Narayan Apte and many other great personalities watched silent films here,” writes Puranik.
According to Sahapedia, in 1971, Aryan Talkies conducted a unique experiment called ‘Mirror Screen’, invented by Prof Marathe of IIT Bombay. A mirror was used as a screen, placed in the middle of the hall, allowing audiences to sit on both sides. Normally, this would result in a reversed image for one side, but the mirror corrected the inversion, offering an undistorted viewing experience and allowing the theatre to accommodate more viewers. The experiment, which ran for six weeks, attracted industry professionals, such as Raj Kapoor.
Movie block
A small movie theatre named Shri Krishna Cinema opened in the middle square of a private wada and later on the area around the Mandai came to be known as a movie block.
Many theatres, such as Vasant, New Srikrishna, Vijayanand, Rahul, Minerva, and Apsara, came up in Pune in the years that followed. The sites of Aryan and Minerva cinemas were owned by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Due to the increasing crowding in Mandai, the roads became insufficient for vehicles. The PMC needed the spaces – and the cinema couldn’t stand in the way.
“In 1982, PMC took over the ownership of Aryan. At that time, there was a back and forth discussion on this issue… This historical building was demolished in 1983. A large parking lot was constructed there. This proves that we cannot preserve our heritage,” writes Puranik.
But Pune held on to this slice of nostalgia. The National Film Archives celebrated the 100th anniversary of Aryan Talkies. One of the old chairs of this theatre is still kept at Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal along with a picture of Pathak.