From popcorn bags to prayer books
JOYFUL congregational worship songs, accompanied by acoustic guitars and drums, fill the air as the devoted clap along to the rhythm.
They wave their raised arms in unison from left to right, or sway back and forth with eyes closed.
The delicately divine fragrances of Coco’s Chanel, Dior’s Poison and CK’S Eternity compete with the spicy, sweat-suppressing scents of Hugo Boss, Paco Rabanne, and Drakkar Noir.
Gone is the aroma of fresh popcorn, the bouquet of purple Kilty’s sweets, the violety smell of Chicks chewing gum, and the vanilla whiff from cups of real ice cream.
Mercifully, gone, too, is the heavy pong of cigarette smoke and, what was sometimes a feature of the far back rows, the disinfecting odour of Jeyes Fluid battling to smother the stale stench of urine.
The shrines once dedicated to silver screens of the superstars have been turned into captivating charismatic churches. At yesteryear’s cinemas, devotees of movies have made way for the worshippers of God.
Fans of Hindi films once flocked to take in the pangs and passion, joys and sorrow of, among others, Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Meena Kumari, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Saira Banu, Sharmila Tagore, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Shatrughan Sinha, Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman.
In the past, aficionados of movies from the south of India laughed, cried, and sang along with MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjantimala, Gemini Ganesan, Peter Nagesh, Muthuraman, Manorama, Padmani, KR Vijaya, Sowcar Janaki, and a host of others.
Today a six-piece rock band belts out “Oh, beautiful sound, the joy of heaven here”, where once reigned the lilting singing voices of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle, Mahendra Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar, TM Soundararajan, S Janaki, P Susheela, Ghantasala and a whole chorus more of playback artists.
In halcyon days when a flick was a movie and not a kind of knife carried by criminal elements, Durban and environs boasted some of the biggest and most opulent cinemas on the continent.
From the 1920s and 1930s, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films played a significant role in Indian life in Durban.
The films had a positive impact for retention of vernacular languages and became a source of religious and moral education.
Then from about five decades ago, various factors began to spell the demise of single screen cinemas that once stood so proudly within the Indian enclaves of Durban. The advent of television and the birth of home video movies first sounded the death knell for the cinemas. It was cheaper and more convenient to get the latest movie (often pirated) and watch in the comfort – and security – of one’s lounge. This was also around the time that one’s safety in the city’s CBD became compromised.
Muggings and hijackings became common place.
The onslaught of multi-screen cinema complexes from the 1970s onwards hastened the transforming into ruins of what were once the pride and joy of every community – those grand old independentlyowned cinemas or “bioscopes”.
Today the Natraj in Merebank, Gemini in Isipingo, Adam and Twin City in Chatsworth, the Majestic in Umhlatuzana, the Luxmi in Verulam and Adelphi in Overport are some of the many cinemas that have been converted into churches.
The Rani in Clairwood is now a hardware store; the Mayville Theatre has been demolished; the Odeon in Silverglen is a function venue; the Scala in the Warwick Avenue Triangle is now a cafeteria for Durban University of Technology students; the Raj Cinema in the former Prince Edward Street is a blanket shop; the 2 000-seater Shah Jehan Cinema in the former Grey Street has metamorphosed into shops and apartments; while the Naaz, Isfahan, Avalon (which later became Dreamland), Albert and Topaz cinemas in the Grey Street casbah; as well as the Vijay Cinema in Asherville; have been turned into office and shopping complexes.
I wonder what has become of the Astra, Regent and Roxy cinemas in Pietermaritzburg; the Murugan in Dundee; the Casa in Port Shepstone; the Picture Palace and Raj Mahal cinemas in Stanger; the Ajanta in Tongaat; and the Robin Hood Cinema in Umkomaas.
Today the last remnant of the community’s ownership of cinemas is vested with the Moosa family of the Avalon Group who will later this year celebrate 75 years in the movie industry.
AB Moosa, junior, heads the company’s multiplexes in Durban and Johannesburg. Here’s wishing AB endless box-office success.