Curtains for Diana

After languishing over more than two decades due to litigation, the 1942-built, previously Parsi-owned Diana Talkies was demolished in the last week of August 2017, relegating yet another single screen cinema to the history books. The cinema hall with the vaguely art deco exterior was popular as a second-run location for Hindi films till it downed shutters in the late 1980s. Second-run theaters screened movies after their release in major theaters and were mostly located in central Bombay. On April 10 this year, a demolition notice was served by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Diana Talkies: a theater downed Photo: Esa Shaikh

The Indian Express of June 27 reported that Poddar Infraventures Limited (PIL), owners of the decrepit structure, had purchased the property from the private Diana Talkies Trust. The report gives the background: "One Eileen Jamshedji Petit and others were originally owners of Diana Talkies property. By a registered declaration of the trust dated May 20, 1943, made by Jehangir Bhavnagri, Aimai Bhavnagri and Shapoorji Bhavnagri, the Trust was set up as a private one with Freni, Dinabai and Dhunbai as beneficiaries. Dhunbai, who got married after Independence, went to Pakistan.” The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared it an enemy property. The trustees were required to deposit the income accruing to Dhunbai with the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, which they did.
In February 2007, a memorandum of understanding for assigning the property was executed between PIL and the trustees, according to the report. The trustees informed the Custodian about the same, who after seeking a legal opinion of the Ministry of Law and Justice, provided a no-objection certificate for the sale. Despite this, in 2013, a show cause notice was issued by the MHA to PIL under the Enemy Property Act asking why the transfer of lease of the property from the Trust to them should not be termed void.