Goodbye Rex: ‘The End’ of the Road for Bengaluru’s Iconic Cinema

Decades after it opened as single screen cinema hall, Bengaluru’s iconic Rex theatre on Brigade Road is shutting

A movie-goer shows off his Rs 150 priced ticket at Rex theatre on Brigade Road.

(Photo: The Quint/Arpita Raj)

Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia

“Who could watch Omar Shariff and not want to take him home to daddy. I mean, really. That little smile. I came to watch <i>Funny Girl</i>, with Omar Shariff and Barbara Streisand. Do they make movie stars like that anymore? I don’t think so.”

Jyothi Thyagarajan, resident

For decades, Rex theatre on Brigade Road, has been the haunt of anybody in search of a good movie experience that wouldn’t burn a hole in their pocket. With tickets being priced much lower than the multiplexes that have recently cropped up everywhere, Rex was always a reliable option.

Despite being a single-screen theatre, it had the variety of a multiplex, with Kannada, Hindi, Tamil or Telegu movies all being screened one after the other, in the same hall.

Middle-class movie-goers, students on a budget, or anybody looking to pass time when shopping on Brigade Road, could always count on Rex.

But, come 1 January, the single screen Rex theatre, as it stands today will give way to a spanking new multiplex, complete with four auditoriums, a food court and retail outlets. The familiar facade of good old Rex, will be a thing of the past.

From Hollywood Movies, “Sex Pictures” to Something for Everybody

From only screening old Hollywood movies from the time it was started, Rex recently started showing other regional language movies.

Kamal Kapur, the owner of Rex from 1961 onwards, said that the theatre attracted an audience that consisted mainly of Anglo-Indians, and other elites, who were interested in and could afford to watch movies at the Rex, It was the non-Cantonment part of town that screened films in regional languages,

“There was the case of the flying skirts. We used to have an underground air-conditioning system at the time where there was a large fan installed in the basement. The air from that would be circulated through the hall through grills under the seats. This would make the skirts of the Anglo-Indian ladies in the audience fly up. So, they had no option but to clutch it tight for the duration of the movie.”

Kamal Kapur, Rex theatre owner

From only screening Hollywood movies, Rex also had a phase of showing “sex pictures” called so because of certain explicit scenes in the movies.

When the inflow of English language movies dried up in the mid 1970s, Rex started showing regional language films, attracting a far different audience than it was used to. Bruce Lee movies were also a big hit in Bengaluru of yore,

Affordable Ticket Prices, Then and Now

“Why would I go and watch a movie in a multiplex or mall, paying hundreds of rupees, when I can have the same experience with Rs 150. I cannot afford more than that.”

Shahir, movie-goer

Rex has always been the go-to place for those on a budget. From a few annas then, to a fraction of the prices multiplexes charge, people will miss the low-cost fun Rex afforded them.

More than anything, they will miss the quiet, unassuming presence of Rex theatre, sitting pretty on Brigade Road as the perfect testament to the time gone by.