Going to a single-screen cinema

Watching a film in a single-screen cinema is a luxury for hoi polloi. But these legacy halls provide a different kind of experience from multiplexes. Walking into a 'picture palace' is stepping into a time machine but customised for the 21st century.

The retro experience begins right from the ticket counter. Instead of meh steel and glass, you face an ornate wooden ticket window. The next attraction is the stately wooden staircase, a carpet topping the journey and leading to that 'single' - singular - auditorium.

There is a brief stopover: the cafeteria-bar. It's usually a spacious zone to sit and chat before the real show begins. No Americanos or lattes in paper cups here, but the steaming frothy stuff from the espresso machine in cutlery that actually clink. En route to the hall, don't miss the photos on the wall - not just images from 'coming soon' movies but classic vintage shots of stars, some showing them attending film premieres in this very cinema you're now in.


But don't be fooled by the 'old-fashionedness'. It's state- of-the-art audio and screen systems with plush seats to sink into. Glory days with the latest upgrades - experiential bliss if ever there is one.