KOLLYWOOD CINEMA HALLS

A visiting European exhibitor first screened a selection of silent
short films at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras. The films all
featured non-fictional subjects; they were mostly photographed records
of day-to-day events.

In Madras the Electric Theatre was established for the screening of
silent films. It was a favourite haunt of the British community in
Madras. The theatre was shut down after a few years. This building is
now part of the Post Office complex in Anna Salai. A Mr. Cohen built
Lyric Theatre in the Mount Road area (now Anna Salai).This venue
boasted a variety of events, including plays in English, Western
classical music concerts, and ballroom dances. Silent films were also
screened as an additional attraction. Samikannu Vincent, an employee
of the South Indian Railways in Trichy, purchased a film projector and
silent films from the Frenchman Du Pont and set up a business as film
exhibitor. He erected tents for screening films. His tent cinema
became popular and he travelled all over the state with his mobile
unit. In later years, he produced talkies and also built a cinema in
Coimbatore.

To celebrate the event of King George V's visit in 1909, a grand
exhibition was organised in Madras. Its major attraction was the
screening of short films accompanied by sound. A British company
imported a Crone megaphone, made up of a film projector to which a
gramophone with a disc containing prerecorded sound was linked, and
both were run in unison, producing picture and sound simultaneously.
However, there was no synched dialogue. Raghupathy Venkiah Naidu, a
successful photographer, took over the equipment after the exhibition
and set up a tent cinema near the Madras High Court. R. Venkiah, flush
with funds, built in 1912 a permanent cinema in the Mount Road area
named Gaiety. It was the first in Madras to screen films on a
full-time basis. This theatre is still functioning, although under
different ownership.

In tent cinemas, there were usually three classes of tickets: the
floor, bench and, chair. The floor-ticket purchaser sat on sand to
watch the movie, but he enjoyed certain advantages that other patrons
did not. He could sit as he pleased, or he could turn over and take a
short nap when the narrative was particularly dull and roll back again
when the action was again to his liking—luxuries in which the upper
class could never indulge.

CHENNAI HALLS :

There are about 2,400 cinema halls in Tamilnadu, which is the main
market for Tamil film industry. Of these around 125 are located in the
Chennai district. Below is a list of the most prominent exhibitors in
the box office.

Sathyam - 1,266 seats (Chennai )
Albert - 1,225 seats (Chennai)
Devi - 1,212 seats (Chennai)
Melody - 998 seats (Chennai)
Abirami - 927 seats (Chennai)
Kasi - 917 seats (Chennai)
Sangam - 877 seats (Chennai)
Maharani - 733 seats (Chennai)
Udhayam - 700 seats (Chennai)
Santham - 567 seats (Chennai)
Padmam - 540 seats (Chennai)
Suriyan - 480 seats (Chennai)
Devi Bala - 369 seats (Chennai)
Subham - 306 seats (Chennai)
Mayajaal - 178 seats (Chennai)

INDUSTRIAL TRENDS:

Average annual film output in Tamil film industry has risen steadily
in the 20th century.
• 1930s—22.5 releases per year on average
• 1940s—22.1 releases per year on average
• 1950s—32.6 releases per year on average
• 1960s—43.0 releases per year on average
• 1970s—62.5 releases per year on average
• 1980s—104.6 releases per year on average
• 1990s—101.2 releases per year on average
collected and posted by Thomas
source:www.en.wikipedia.org