It is sad to hear that ancient and popular theatres are continue closing and going out of business in the city of Chennai.

Theatres like Anand, Pilot, Nataraj Kamadhenu, Paragan, Rocky, Rajakumari, Krishnaveni, Nagesh and star are some of the few closed a while ago.

Recently Shanti, AVM Rajeshwari joined the list of theatres that went out of business.

Now one of the most ancient and historic landmark of north-madras, Agastya theatre in Thandaiyarpet is closing the doors permanently from September 1.

The 53 old iconic Agastya theatre is huge with 1004 seats, started in 1967 and screened the movie 'Bama Vijayam' as its first film. This theatre has screened uncountable numbers of blockbuster movies of all the superstars of the Tamil cinema industry.

Starting from MGR, Sivaji, Rajini, Kamal, and now top trending actors like Ajith, Vijay, Suriya, etc. This theatre has won the Association awards for the best maintained non-air-conditioned theatre. And also this theatre has been a great platform and acted as another school of cinema for many people who loved cinema. But now Agastya Theatre had been facing a substantial loss for over the period for 3 years.

Dropping revenue number are due the owners not renovating into an AC hall and single-screen theatres across the country have given way to multiplexes. Currently, due to the continuous lockdown, the authorizing committee of the theatre has planned to shut down the theatre permanently.

Venkataraman, the manager of Agastya Theatre stated to TNIE that this theatre has 1004 seats and a 70-mm screen with Dolby audio.

Apart from the AC issues, the traffic diversions due to the metro construction on the Thiruvottiyur High Road also gave a major blow to the theatre. The manager adds “The road became one-way following the underground track constructions, making it inconvenient for many to come. Crowds drastically reduced.”

However, the manager who managed this theatre for decades belives that this place will g down in history for its screening of successful movies and spacious halls. He revealed that very few theatres in Chennai offered balcony and box in the earlier days. And when Agastya Theatre initially opened it offered tickets for just ₹1.10. Just 30 workers worked here.

This news melted most of the 80s and 90s kids of Madras who might have ravishing memories of watching the movies of their favorite stars in this theatre. It remained a source of entertainment for poor people across North Chennai. While you might miss Agastya Theatre, it’s definitely made a mark for not only Chennai but also Tamil Nadu. One of the landmarks in North Chennai is coming to sunset.