For cinegoers, it's still 'Prabhudeva'

Walk the talkies

For the fans of thespian of Kannada filmdom, Dr Rajkumar, Padma talkies was the place to watch their screen god in action, writes Sreekantswamy B

Much before Prabhudeva made a mark as ‘Michael Jackson’ of India, this ‘Prabhudeva’ had struck a right chord with cinegoers. Though the name was changed later, it’s still ‘Prabhudeva’ for yesteryear’s fans.

The ‘Prabhudeva’ here is the earlier name of Padma talkies. The cinema hall at Noorondu (101) Ganapati Circle in Agrahara, coincides with India attaining freedom for being dedicated in the year 1947.

S Mahadeva Swamy who has been associated with the cine hall as manager for the past 41 years told City Herald- the theatre has the credit of screening Dr Rajkumar’s debut movie- Bedara Kannappa which saw 100 days run.

Not just that, name a movie of Raj you can find it screened here- Naa Ninna Mareyalare, Gandhada Gudi, Bhale Huchcha, Rowdy Ranga and Sri Krishnadevaraya  to name a few. Amarashilpi Jakanachari was the first movie shot in colour in Kannada, and it was also screened in Padma.

Vishnuvardhan’s debut movie- Nagarahaavu was also screened, besides another milestone movie Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu.

Needless to say, Rajkumar’s actor son Shivarajkumar’s launch pad- Anand is also successfully screened here.

However, what remains a record till date is 27 weeks run of ‘Sri Krishnadevaraya’ recalls Mahadeva Swamy with a sense of pride.

Memory lane

He goes down memory lane to recall another unforgettable incident. A mob of thousands who had descended in front of the theatre during the screening of ‘Bhagyada Baagilu’ Raj’s 100th movie. Police had to summoned to bring the erring mob under control.

The theatre was constructed by Nanjundappa a known businessman then.

As said earlier it was christened- Prabhudeva. However, he handed over the facility to Motilal for sometime on an understanding. It was later taken over by M K Ananthaiah Gowdar in 1956.

 It was then- Prabhudeva became Padma. The theatre saw tremendous growth when Gowdar’s son M A Ajitprasad Jain took over the reins. Now, M Jayrajkumar brother-in-law of Ajitprasad is managing the show.

Owing to changing taste of cinegoers the theatre was closed for sometime to give it a newlook, as seen now, four years ago.

Pushback seats replaced wooden chairs and 70 mm screen was put up among many other modern amenities.

Among the recent hits- it has screened Telugu movies- Arundati and Kanchana Muni part two.
Also the indication of Kannada losing over other language movies. Says Jayraj Kumar what lacks Kannada filmdom is professionals. Be it a producer or director all they want to bring out is a movie in a jiffy.