A recent news report about the closing down of many single-screen cinema halls of Guwahati has left many heartbroken. Let’s take a nostalgic ride back to the golden days of one of the iconic cinema halls of Guwahati.
Kelvin Cinema of Guwahati — the second cinema hall in the fledgling town — with an audience capacity of 302 persons who were to sit on chairs, benches and planks and enjoy the show, came into existence in 1935 at Tokobari.
About 125 years ago, Ganeshdas Goenka arrived in Assam from Rajasthan in search of a fortune. He settled in Shillong, and exported potatoes and ginger from Shillong to Calcutta.
In later years, Ganeshdas's son Jeevanram, decided to start a cinema hall in Shillong after landing a contract of electric wiring of the governor’s house. His idea metamorphosed into the Kelvin Cinema — the first full-fledged cinema hall in Assam.
In 1895, Ganeshdas had purchased a plot of land measuring 2.2 bighas at Fancy Bazar, Guwahati for Rs 500 only. The plot had been lying vacant for nearly four decades. The successful run of the cinema hall in Shillong convinced Jeevanram into starting a similar venture in Guwahati. He and his new partner, Unger, built a cinema hall on the vacant plot. And thus in 1935 came into existence Kelvin Cinema. Both halls, in Shillong and Guwahati, derived their names “Kelvin” from their movie projectors branded “Kelvin.” These were kerosene and petrol-run projector made in Germany which had been imported by Unger.
Unfortunately, unlike in Shillong, the Goenkas failed to run the Guwahati theatre very successfully and within two years it was leased out to a Bihari gentleman named Biajnath Chowdhury. The latter ran the business successfully for nearly two decades. Later, in 1956, the possession of the hall again passed into the hands of the Goenkas through litigation.
By that time the next generation of the Goenkas had come into the picture. Shankar Goenka and Mahavir Goenka now took up the Kelvin business in Guwahati and this started a fresh chapter in the history of the hall.
In 1956, a new Philips projector was installed replacing the old Kelvin but the hall retained its name. The first documentary on Laksminanth Bezbaroa too was released in this hall by Sri Bishnu Ram Medhi. The Kelvin Group of halls introduced the first cinemascope, the first “television” and the first 70 mm screen in Assam.
Matinee and noon shows first started at this very theatre. Shankar Goenka recollects, “Mughal-e-Azam was such a super-duper hit that we had to arrange an extra show to cope up with the rush.”
The hall was also nicknamed “Silver Hall” in the film distribution circle as most of the movies released here from 1950s to 1970s celebrated silver jubilees. It was also the first theatre in town to screen an English movie.
In recognition of his great contribution, Jeevanram Goenka was honoured with the title of Rai Bahadur by the British government in 1934.