End of an era

"With tears in my eyes and a very heavy heart I have to inform all that we are closing the first and oldest cinema of Rajasthan after completion of 86 years of entertainment to the public of Ajmer,” wrote Maj Noshir K. Marfatia (Retd), partner New Majestic Talkies, Ajmer in an email sent to Parsiana.
Marfatia explained that the reason for this step was the very heavy losses suffered during the last decade with the advent in Ajmer of five multiplexes with 10 screens. Also, new 35 mm prints are no longer easily available as digital forms now prevail. They did try to continue in the face of heavy odds, mainly in consideration of their old and loyal staff who had stood by them through thick and thin, but on March 1, 2015 Majestic will bow out forever. Marfatia asks for "forgiveness” from the Ajmer public, and especially his wife Gulnar who is the de facto owner of the cinema.

New Majestic Cinema in Ajmer in its heyday

When Majestic first opened its portals in a tin shed in 1929 they screened silent movies with background music provided by harmonium, tabla and sarangi located in a pit opposite the screen. The lower class was seated on the ground while first class patrons were provided with chairs. The owners had spent their last penny on procuring the land and building. Later, when the talkie machine and amplifiers were installed, Marfatia’s father had no money to pay the engineer, so he reportedly handed over to him the wedding band on his finger — and was roundly reprimanded by his wife when he got home!
Further renovation was undertaken in September 1952 when the cinema house was closed down for a week to install an imported RCA projector. When it reopened the cinema was known as New Majestic Talkies, with the first release being Daag, in which Dilip Kumar starred. A major renovation was undertaken again in 1970 when the cinema was closed for three months to put in a wide screen, central cooling system, sound system and false ceiling for acoustics. It reopened on December 8, 1970 with producer Ramanand Sagar’s film Geet. Unfortunately, the cinema house burnt down on May 7, 2000. It was closed for over four months, reopening on September 12, 2000.
In its golden period, though the Majestic showed mainly Hindi movies, during the talkies era English movies were shown in the morning as well as at 6 p.m., with an interval of 45 minutes during which alcoholic drinks, sandwiches, wafers and other snacks were sold, Marfatia recalls nostalgically.