Mumbai: Sahakar Plaza, a single screen cinema hall in Tilak Nagar which regaled movie goers for more than five decades, has been pulled down to make way for a multi-storeyed commercial complex.
“Excavation work has begun to lay the foundations of the commercial building,” said Shilpin Tater, founder of Superb Realty, the company that acquired the cinema hall for ₹72 crore from eight families which jointly owned the property.
The glass facade building could be launched in the coming days, Tater said.
Sahakar Plaza commenced commercial operations in 1968, and exhibited numerous popular movies in various Indian languages across decades till the Covid-19 pandemic, depleting footfall and rising popularity of OTT (Over The Top) platforms brought about its closure.
The hall’s closure coincided with the shutting of several other single screen theatres in the city, including Chandan Cinema in Juhu, Novelty Theatre at Grant Road, and Shaan Cinema in Vile Parle East.
The standalone commercial building which will come up in place of Sahakar Plaza will measure 1.5 lakh square feet across 11 floors. Basement floors will be dedicated for parking, ground and first floors for retail stores, the second floor for food and beverage outlets, while the terrace would house a cafeteria.
“Boutique offices for businesses, professionals and small and medium enterprises would be located between the third and eleventh floors,” Tater said.
The building would also have a 200-seater auditorium with an attached recording and editing studio on the second floor to ensure the land parcel remains reserved as an amenity plot, Tater said.
As per rules, developers of plots with cinema halls need to establish an auditorium with 33% of the earlier licensed number of seats or 150 seats, whichever is higher, to redevelop and retain the land parcel.
The Sahakar Plaza theatre could accommodate 600 people before it was pulled down. The new 200-seater auditorium could be used for a wide range of programmes, including film screenings, annual meetings, functions and plays.
Rajendra Nikalje, who later became famous as gangster Chhota Rajan, was an employee of Sahakar Plaza in the 1970s and 1980s and used to live in building number six on the same plot.
Nikalje came in touch with gangster Bada Rajan, who ran a movie ticket black marketing ring outside Sahakar Plaza, while working at the hall. He joined Bada Rajan’s gang after he was released from a brief stint in jail, and went on to be identified in due course as Chhota Rajan. He is currently imprisoned in Tihar jail.