Chaya Cinema

Chhaya has been showing films at the Maniktala crossing since 15 August 1934, when it opened with Catherine the Great, and the building is a piece of Kolkata history in its own right: an Art Deco hall of 993 seats built by the Barik family, its name — "shadow" — bestowed by the painter Abanindranath Tagore. Pather Panchali, Aradhana and Sholay all had celebrated runs here. Nine decades on it still runs three vintage analog projectors and has never gone digital; there's no air conditioning, just ceiling fans and open windows, and tickets cost about fifty rupees. For generations of gay and bisexual men in north Kolkata, that darkness has meant something more than cinema. Chhaya is one of the last survivors of the city's single-screen cruising-hall culture, and the pattern is unchanged: a modest weekday crowd, then Sunday shows several times the size, which is when the hall really functions as a meeting place. The crowd is local, working-class and all ages, and everything happens quietly in the stalls and balcony. Be realistic about what this is: a decaying, much-loved old hall, not a licensed venue. Discretion is essential — Kolkata's cruising cinemas have seen police attention over the years, and what happens inside is technically prosecutable. Pay cash, keep your head, and treat the building gently; there aren't many like it left.