Delhi 4 Shows
About The Book
Since the days of veteran directors like Sohrab Modi and Mehboob Khan and actors like Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, Delhi had a thriving single- screen theatre culture. While some halls reserved a box for families, others seated women in an exclusive enclosure, or reserved aisle seats for the specially-abled, or gave first preference to members of our defence forces. From Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi, the Who�s Who of Indian politics too had their favourite halls. Single-screen theatres in Delhi were part of India�s freedom struggle, and a sociological phenomenon. While most �talkies� still provide the common man his preferred mode of entertainment, these halls shall soon become a thing of the past, overrun by an unrelenting multiplex boom. Delhi: 4 Shows�Talkies of Yesteryear is a clarion call to preserve Delhi�s single-screen theatre culture and the halls that are sentinels of the city�s cultural and historical heritage.
About Ziya Us Salam
Ziya Us Salam is Senior Deputy Editor with The Hindu. A noted film and literary critic, he has contributed to the following anthologies Being Young in the Worlds of Islam and Past Tense: Living on the Edge. He has edited an anthology entitled Housefull: The Golden Age of Hindi Cinema and authored Delhi 4 Shows: Talkies of Yesteryear, both published by Om Books International. His forthcoming book, Strands of Commonality: Postcard of Islam in the Subcontinent, is to be published shortly. He was a jury member of the International Film Festival of India (non-feature film, 2011), Best Writing on Cinema (2008) and Vatavaran.
