Ooty’s ‘Cinema paradiso’: Where culture came to life

Udhagamandalam: Sprawling across 1.13 acres on Garden Road in Ooty, the Assembly Rooms, stands tall. Established in 1886, this was a place for entertaining the then British settlers and was known as Ooty’s ‘cinema paradiso’. Nobody knows why it was called ‘Assembly Rooms’ but over the years, it became an institution in Ooty and locally well known as ‘Assems’.
Rummaging through history one finds that in 1922, Lord and Lady Willingdon - Governor of Madras and his wife- purchased the Assembly Rooms presumably from a Mr.Brown, for Rs.50,000. He created a trust with Lady Willingdon as the president, for the proper management and development. As per the trust deed, the Rooms were to be developed as a place for theatres, cultural events and musical performances. The trust deed explicitly states that the Rooms shall not be used at any time for political meetings.
Over the years, the Rooms saw several additions and alterations and in early 1931 the stage was pushed further back and widened for a cost of Rs 34, 200. In the same year, the question of installing ‘Talkies’ was broached upon by the trustees and after enquiries from many quarters, it was decided to accept the offer of Western Electric Co.
Lady Willingdon, who apparently continued to take an interest in the progress of the Assembly Rooms even after returning to London, sent a cheque for Rs 10, 000 to cover part of the cost. The remaining was met by a handsome donation from Sir Annamalai Chettiar.
In a league of its own, from 1946, the Rooms began concentrating on screening only English movies. A practice it stuck to till as recent as a decade ago.
“For the first time, a film in ‘natural colours’, was exhibited in October 1939. That was the first Tamil talkie, ‘Chintamani’ and was a great success, the total receipts being Rs 3583,” writes late N.H.Vajifdar, past trustee, Assembly Rooms.
In the early years, the Rooms also held western music exams of the Trinity college and the Associated Board (both of Britain) because of the availability of a grand piano.
“With the TN governor as its patron, the Assembly Rooms Trust, perhaps, is the state’s only public trust, which runs a cinema hall on a non-commercial basis. The constitution of the trust is unique. As the patron of INTACH-Nilgiris Chapter, I am sentimentally attached to the heritage building of the cinema hall”, said Geetha Srinivasan, one of the trustees of the Assembly Rooms and Patron of INTACH-Nilgiris chapter.
In 1974, the Rooms underwent another major structural change for around Rs .3 lakh. The wooden flooring, which served as dance floor and skating rink, was removed and new modern seats were installed.
Again in 2011, the Rooms was set for a revamp under the ‘maintenance of heritage building’ scheme and was closed to the public for nearly four years. Only in 2015, it was reopened as a digitalized theatre with a new sound system and a projector.
On Dec 6, 2017, a ‘Cine Museum’, a first of its kind in the south of India was dedicated to the public at the Rooms. The cine museum, developed at the cost of Rs.6 lakh, showcases two 60 –year old Bauer projectors made in Germany, film reels, spool, film rewinding table among other accessories of movie theatre, old gramophone records, carbon rods, and old photographs, including those of Lord and Lady Willingdon.