During all my
official travels to Madras,as a young executive, I always felt that I belonged to the city. I
dreamt of settling down in Madras, post retirement. I never imagined that it
will happen when I was only 32. Madras welcomed me with open arms and in the
last 46 years it has seen me grow not only professionally but also as a human being
. Among the many interesting memories I
have of the city, my brief association with Safire theatre complex stands out.
Before I elaborate on my story a few words about the theatre.
Started by the Veecumsee Family, the well
known jewellers of the city, the Safire
Theatre complex was India's first largest
multi-theatre complex located on Mount Road (now Anna Salai) close to the old
Gemini circle. The theatre complex was being
run by Mr. H.V. Shah & his sons. It was the idea of the eldest son
Yashwant to start the multi-theatre complex and also Silver Sands — the
first-ever Beach Resort in the country. The complex was an imposing
building with parking space for about 40 cars. It consisted of three screening
halls, viz. Safire, Blue Diamond, and Emerald. Safire, the biggest with a seating capacity of
0ver 1000, was also the first 70mm theatre in India which opened
to public in 1964. with the screening of Cleopatra. Many
other block busters of the time followed. Blue Diamond had the unique
concept of continuous shows where you
could buy a ticket in the morning and
stay inside the theatre throughout the day watching the same film several times. It is another
matter that most of the visitors, ,young and old couples, came to the Blue Diamond not to
see the movie but to indulge in amorous
pursuits in the dark, air conditioned
comforts of the theatre. It was also patronized by salesmen who were looking for a air
conditioned resting place between appointments.
I came to Madras in 1974,
to take up a job with Grant Kenyon &
Eckhart as the Resident Director. Since Grant was handling
the advertising for both the Theatre complex and the Beach Resort, we were
given an office space in the second floor so that Grant could be at the beck
and call of the client. It was a long
corridor located adjacent to the projection room with two rooms at the far end
of the office. While the administrative
offices of the theatre complex were
located in the basement, the first floor was used as the city office of Silver
sands and the third floor was occupied
by one of the family members running his own business.
My introduction to Safire happened under unusual
circumstances.I was to relieve HW, a pipe smoking
Anglo-Indian, who was always suited and booted and spent more time in the
Madras Gymkhana Bar than in the office. My boss Vijay Menon from Bombay who had come down to Madras to install me in my new job, asked me to
report at Safire theatre, at 9.00 am on a particular day. Instead of taking me
straight into the office, Vijay asked me to wait in the Foyer of the theatre, as
HW had not been told that he was being sacked! I was feeling bad and
embarrassed. After waiting for nearly 30
minutes, which seemed like eternity, Vijay took me and introduced me to HW. Surprisingly he was all geniality personified, as the sacking had
come as no surprise to him. He seemed to be happy that the management finally
had the courage to relieve him for non performance!
I was shocked beyond
words to see the items on display on the table and walls of the Manger`s office. Apart from finding several objects
arousing sexuality, the walls were full of nude model pictures, used in the
annual calendars which the agency had
produced for the liquor division of EID Parry. While going around the office I was intrigued
to find a room behind the manager’s
office with an attached bathroom, a cot and few other fixtures required for
living. Later I found out that the multipurpose room was used by HW for his
nefarious activities. Whenever he had a big fight with his domineering wife, who
was obviously always questioning him on his philandering ways, he would spend
the night in the office with some company. The facility was also offered to
friends in need..
As we came out of
the office, I told Vijay that I was not moving into the office without
performing a puja It was almost a week before I actively took over the reins of
an empty office with hardly any business. My tryst with both Safire & Madras
had begun.
. Every morning I
would come to the office by 9.30 am.. After
working in a big office in Delhi with a large
staff, it was quite depressing to be
seated behind a 25 year old mahogany table (which had multiple drawers on both sides) and find that I had no work to do!.Then it
dawned on me that the challenge of the job was to revive an almost dying Madras branch of Grant.and that I had to start building the business from
scratch. Based on a plan of action I started calling on prospective clients. In
the next two years I had brought in enough business to ensure that the branch was
self sustaining and I would retain my job! As the business grew I had to employ
additional staff. I decided to allocate
the rear room to the copywriter, whom I had hired so that he could work peacefully. But I
didn`t realize it would disturb my peace because every visitor to meet the copywriter had to pass through
my room!
In the first year, since the job did not keep me busy throughout
the day, to kill time I would stand at the landing of the floor watching the
traffic on Anna Salai through the huge glass panels or find myself in the projection room of Safire
Cinema, watching the movies through the glass panels. This was possible thanks to the friendly Projectionists. There
were two huge projectors. Watching the Projectionists shift from one projector
to another, when the reel in one projector got over was fascinating. It was done so seamlessly
that the audience would not be aware of the change. The privilege of working in
a theatre complex also gave me an opportunity to see block busters on the first
day itself because of my closeness to ‘Appunni’, the manager of the theatre. A diminutive, balding, Malayalee who would be a most sought after man
during the first few weeks of any film release. Those days good films ran for 25 weeks or more. Thanks to my
closeness to Appunni, sometimes I could also oblige friends with tickets even
for the so called houseful shows in Safire.
While Emerald with a
seating capacity of 300 seats featured Tamil & Hindi Films, Blue Diamond
with a seating capacity of just 150 specialized
in featuring old films both Indian and foreign. Sometimes when I was early to
work, I would see couples hanging around waiting for the booking counter of
Blue Diamond to open. It was shocking to
see some of them coming out of the theatre only around 2 or 3 pm when I was
leaving in my car to visit some client. While they looked fresh waiting in the
queue, they looked exhausted with crumpled dresses when they came out looking
sheepishly around to ensure that they did not encounter any familiar faces. It
was indeed a sight to behold! It was not unusual for me to catch some known
faces indulging in such acts. To save them the embarrassment I would act as if I had not noticed them.
Safire cinema, like
many other big cinema halls of the time, had Family rooms ( Boxes) above the
balcony area which was patronised by rich and famous people including popular
film stars. Many of them would invariably keep the Manager informed in advance
of their visit so that adequate security
arrangements were in place for them. They would come a little late and leave before the film
ended to avoid being mobbed by the
crowd. Thanks to our connection with Appunni we would be tipped about the visit
of a celebrity star, enabling some of
our star stuck staff ( some times that included me) waiting at the landing of
the steps leading to the Box. Our day was made if we could shake hands with the
popular stars.
Though Grant had
been provided an exclusive parking space, it was tough getting in and out of the parking area when the block busters were
screened. At the end of every show there would be pandemonium both inside and
outside the complex, with cars trying to enter or leave the complex resulting in a big traffic jam on
Anna Salai outside the complex. I had to
plan all my client. meetings keeping in mind this factor. In spite of all the
planning, some times I would get stuck in the office unable to get out because
of unexpected processions by political parties on Anna Salai.
I can never forget 2nd
October,1975. The day the popular Congress veteran K.Kamaraj died. There was a massive
procession on Anna Salai accompanying the mortal remains of the popular leader
which took more than four hours to cross
the Safire point.. While I could watch the procession from a vantage point in
the building, I could not leave the
office until the road was cleared for traffic.
Watching fights for
tickets was another source of entertainment for me. But one fight I wished I
had not seen. One Sunday morning I was shocked to see a fight on some family issue by the warring sons of Mr H.V Shah,
in the foyer. The heated arguments between two brothers led to fisticuffs, watched by a motely crowd.
When the old man tried to mediate, he was also roughed up. This public
humiliation affected the old man very badly. I felt bad because the old man was
a good soul who was also one of my well
wishers.
Within six years of
my taking over the reigns of grant Madras the business had grown that I had to
appoint more staff. Apart from the need for a bigger office space, the problems
posed by the theatre complex to my clients who wanted to call on me at the
office necessitated my moving out of the Safire Complex to another more spacious
office on Greams Road in 1980. Though my day to day association with the complex had ceased I continued to
keep in touch with Appunni so that I could get tickets at Safire whenever I
needed it.
The
complex was acquired in 1994 by the local All India Anna
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam . which wanted
to construct its new headquarters. The entire Safire complex was demolished,
but AIADMK did not end up building its headquarters.
Today
the empty space where the Majestic Safire Complex stood looks forlorn, full of
weed and wild plant growth and is used
by many as a public toilet. Every time I pass the area, I am filled with nostalgia of the good times I
had at the complex. I can never forget that it was at the Safire office complex
that the
seeds of my reputation as a rural specialist were sown.
