The Show’s Over At Rex Theatre In Bengaluru. A Mall, As Usual, Will Replace The Iconic Landmark

Rex Cinema, a name no true Bengalurean is unaware of, has finally announced that the show’s over. The cinema will now be making way for a new mall that is being built by the Prestige Group. Rex is owned by Kapur Investments Pvt Ltd and is located on Bengaluru’s Brigade Road.

Over 80 years old, the single-screen cinema had survived the tsunami of multiplexes in the city which scalped most old cinemas.

Managing Director Anil Kapur was quoted by The New Indian Express as saying, “It is for better utilisation of the property. The land measures one acre, with the auditorium occupying only a little space. Even if we refurbish it, it will involve major construction work and it doesn’t make any sense. With single screens, you can expect 20 per cent occupancy, but with four screens, you can expect 15 to 20 per cent at each screen.

Back in the 60s, the space was bought for Rs 8 lakh. By the 1980s, the tickets were selling at Rs 5 per seat for balcony seats and Rs 2.35 for normal ones. The cinema attracts a lot of college students who bunk class to watch movies in the mornings. The first-ever movie that was screened after the purchase in 1962 was Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.