View source for Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
'''Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall''' was a hall in the [[Girgaon]] area of south [[Mumbai]], [[India]], used for variety entertainment shows, dramas and to screen [[movies]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Bhowmik|first=kaushik|title=The emergence of the Bombay film industry, 1913 - 1936|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/209910252/Kaushik-Bhowmick-s-Thesis|work=A Thesis|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>

The first full-length Indian feature film, ''[[Raja Harischandra]]'', was screened here, thus heralding the birth of the [[Cinema of India|Indian film industry]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Raminder |last=Kaur |first2=Ajay |last2=Sinha|title=Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through A Transnational Lens|date=2005|publisher=Sage Publications|location=New Delhi, India|isbn=978-0761933205}}</ref>

== Location and ownership ==
Coronation cinema, built in 1912 was located at Narayan chawl<ref>{{cite news|title=Happy birthday Bollywood: Indian cinema enters 100th year|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/happy-birthday-bollywood-indian-cinema-enters-100th-year/254477-8-66.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101022404/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/happy-birthday-bollywood-indian-cinema-enters-100th-year/254477-8-66.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 January 2014|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=IBN Live|date=3 May 2012}}</ref> at the junctions of Sandhurst road and Khetwadi road<ref>{{cite news|title=Coronation cinematograph, page 641|newspaper=The Times of India Directory|date=1912}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Baghdadi|first=Rafique|title=From playhouse to movie theatre|url=http://indiancinema100.in/from-play-house-to-movie-theatre-by-rafique-baghdadi/|work=Experts speak|publisher=National Film Archive of India|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref> in the [[Girgaum]] area of [[Mumbai]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Bose|first=Ishani|title=Dadasaheb Torne, not Dadasaheb Phalke, was pioneer of Indian Cinema|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/pune/report-dadasaheb-torne-not-dadasaheb-phalke-was-pioneer-of-indian-cinema-1826721|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=Daily News Analysis Pune|date=25 April 2013}}</ref> It was one of the so-called "Sandhurst road cinemas" of the 1910-1917 Bombay cinema era, during which this area hosted a number of cinema houses including Coronation, the American-India, the Olympia and the New Alhambra.<ref>{{cite book|last=Edwardes|first=S. M. |authorlink=Stephen Edwardes |title=The Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island|date=1909|location=Bombay|page=364}}</ref> The theatre was managed by Narayan Govind Chitre,<ref>{{cite news|title=Cinema on 18 May 1912|url=http://www.indianage.com/eventdate.php/Cinema/18-May-1912|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=Indian Age}}</ref> a friend of the film maker [[Dadasaheb Torne]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Gajendragadkar|first=Nikhil|title=Beginning of the dream world...|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/247170/beginning-dream-world.html|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=Deccan Herald}}</ref>

== The screening of Raja Harischandra ==
''Further information : [[Raja Harischandra|Raja Harischandra (Movie)]]''

On 3 May [[1913 in film|1913]] [[Raja Harishchandra]] (राजा हरिश्चंद्र), a silent [[Indian film]] directed and produced by [[Dadasaheb Phalke]], was screened at Coronation cinema. The film was based on the legend of King [[Harishchandra]], recounted in [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]] and was the first Indigenous Indian film.

== Other screenings and purposes of Coronation Cinema ==
Coronation cinema was also used for other variety entertainment shows such as dances (by Miss Irene Delmar), comical sketches like "The McClements", jugglery shows by Alexandroff,<ref name=poster>{{cite web|title=Publicity poster - Raja Harischandra|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Publicity_poster_for_film,_Raja_Harishchandra_(1913).jpg|accessdate=21 May 2014|via=Wikimedia commons|year=1913}}</ref> other Indian movies like [[Pundlik]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Dwyer|first=Rachel|title=Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415314251|page=Chapter 2}}</ref> (made by [[Dadasaheb Torne]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=227}}</ref> and dramas (A dead man's child).

== Current status ==
The theatre is no longer in existence. The area housed Majestic cinema for a few decades, which was replaced by an office complex.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mohamed|first=Khalid|title=Happy 100th Birthday|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/wknd/wknd_article.asp?xfile=/data/wkndentertainment/2013/May/wkndentertainment_May3.xml&section=wkndentertainment|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=Khaleej Times|date=17 May 2013}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:1912 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Event venues established in 1912]]
[[Category:Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Cinemas in Mumbai]]
[[Category:20th-century architecture in India]]


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