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Novelty Chambers, home to the once-celebrated Novelty Cinema at Grant Road, South Mumbai, is set to be demolished after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared the building unsafe. The cinema, which stopped screening films 19 years ago, was one of Mumbai's most prominent single-screen theaters before the multiplex boom forced its closure. The building currently has only one operational office out of nine stories, while the ground floor remains home to the now-defunct theater. The site is expected to make way for a new residential high-rise.
Novelty Chambers, a historic structure that once housed South Mumbai's cherished single-screen, Novelty Cinema, is headed for demolition. Although the cinema ceased operations nearly two decades ago, the final occupants of the building have now been instructed to vacate. Advertisement
Located at Grant Road, the ground floor of Novelty Chambers was home to the cinema, while the upper nine floors functioned as office spaces. Presently, only one of these offices is still in use. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently issued a notice under Section 354 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, declaring the building dangerous for occupation. The civic body has warned that demolition will proceed within the next few weeks.
In 2006, there were ambitious plans to revive Novelty under the Big Cinemas brand by converting it into a multiplex. However, the project never materialized, leaving the theatre in limbo ever since. The property, owned by Bhawar Jain, is now widely expected to be redeveloped into a residential tower, according to sources familiar with the matter.
During its prime, Novelty Cinema was one of Grant Road's most iconic movie halls, situated in an area that was once a thriving entertainment hub for Hindi cinema. Over the years, other single-screens like Minerva, Super, Apsara, Shalimar, Alankar, Moti, Capitol, Liberty, New Empire, Central, and Majestic have also disappeared from South Mumbai's landscape. Only a handful, such as Nishant, Maratha Mandir, and Regal, continue to survive, while theaters Sterling, Metro, Roxy, New Excelsior, and Eros managed to reinvent themselves as multiplexes.
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