21.4.07

Mumbai's Cinema Halls

The following project explores the inner arteries of Mumbai’s cinema halls. The buildings themselves are the narrators, speaking of the subliminal psychology of their form, their interaction with audiences and staff through the years, and finally, of their status–and eventual decay–as societal ideals.


© Zubin Pastakia 2007

To view more images from my project on Cinema Halls, click here to go to my photography portfolio website.

The project was partly supported by a fellowship from SARAI and The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). Many thanks to all the people there for believing that this was something worth doing.

6 comments:

the idiot said...

hey zubin

i love the work so far; beautiful emptiness about the photos. the second photo in the Dreamland sequence is a stunner, and the projection room shot is also instantly arresting. would be interesting to see some low light shots too, maybe the projector in action, or the glimmering screen. the cinema theme is definitely a winner.

keep me updated

nishant

Nilofar Haja said...

Hi Zubin!

Your shots are extremely captivating...the colour palette of the pics have the feel of an intimate parlour in East European countries - dark blues, yellows, reds...lovely! Tell me, along with exploring the function of the contemporary space that "an" audience or visitor share(s) with theatre, will you be exploring how these spaces have evolved over the course of a century and perhaps give a glimpse of how the functions of theatre space will change in the visible future? Like, doing a pre and post photo-op of some theatres that are currently under renovation in town.

Unknown said...

Zubin,
Your photographs possess a dream-like quality and each image, though masked by silence, exposes your vision and creativity. Superhero and Ghost in the hall, from the New Empire sequence, Palace-seats from Palace Talkies, and Dreamland as well as Front-row from Dreamland are my favourites. Though, I wish there were more pictures of projection rooms. Your work is atypical and I can't wait to see the pictures once your project is complete. Well done.

Sophie

Anuja said...

Hi zubin,
some really nice images...I am really keen on seeing how you will 'frame' and photograph the multiplexes. At a level ( I think these are some really stunning images) photographing the old theaters is slightly simpler because they have so much innate charm...so really looking forward to seeing the newer cinema halls, if one can call them that.

DB said...

Hi Zubin,
the colours,the lighting... the whole feel of the picture is superb. I'm sure you will do a lot more, and better. Would love to see the complete project.
Best,
Dilnaz Boga

Zubin Pastakia said...

Thank you all so much for the comments.

There will be new cinema work up shortly on the website. Will announce it on the blog.