Chowdiah Hall in B’luru to host the play Vidyarthi Bhavan on 3-days from May 6

A teaser last week led to speculations that Vidyarthi Bhavan, the 79-year-old restaurant in south Bengaluru, famous for its crispy Masala Dosa, was opening a branch at Malleshwaram at the other end of the city.

As it turned out on Friday, it is not the restaurant that is coming to Malleshwaram, but a play named Vidyarthi Bhavan, scripted by well-known theatre personality Rajendra Karanth and directed by Arjun Kabbina with a cast comprising veteran theatre artistes.

The play is an attempt to chronicle many memorable events and anecdotes the Vidyarthi Bhavan’s dosa has been privy to for about eight decades, its owner Arun Adiga told the media.


What began as a small eatery serving south Indian snacks, the Vidyarthi Bhavan evolved into a centre where big names from art, theatre, book, cinema, politics, journalism, business and even corporate and technology, in recent years, routinely met to exchange views over dosa and coffee in an informal setting.

Portraits of Jnanapeetha awardees to popular film-stars and CMs and tech titans of Bengaluru adorn the walls of the restaurant. Bangalore Theatre Foundation will perform the play at Chowdiah Memorial Hall for three days from May 6.