Iconic Aurora Cinema in Matunga to be Auctioned: A Throwback to the Legacy

As soon as the BMC put up the auction notice outside the Aurora Theatre, it garnered the limelight in the conscience of heritage connoisseurs. Reason? The iconic yet dilapidated and debt-ridden Aurora cinema is to be snatched from the eye sights of movie lovers and those who might have fine memories of watching movies here. 

Located around the Maheshwari Udyan in Matunga, this single-screen cinema has the property tax already in arrears from 1984-85 to 2024-25 and the amount is over Rs. 2.74 crore, as cited by the BMC as reasons to put it to the auction. As a result, the BMC has also seized the property and will put it up for public auction. As of yet, however, the BMC has asked the public not to go for any other transaction about this cinema hall. Currently, the property tax bill is in the name of R.B. Raut, who is a resident of Fanaswadi, Girgaum.

A go-to for Tamilians in Bombay!

Questions like — “What does Mumbai have for Tamilians” led Nambi Rajan to purchase Aurora Talkies in the 1980s. It was a single-screen cinema that showed it in five languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, and even Marathi. Then, it was formed as a building that was deeply rooted in the history and imagination culture of its neighborhood, Matunga.

It was a place where Tamil folks would come to watch films starring stars like Shivaji Ganeshan, MGR, and Rajnikant. Reportedly, the theatre used to be decorated on the release of the Rajinikanth films. Fans would even erect large plywood cutouts of the superstar who would perform dances and pour hundreds of liters of milk, similar to the fan culture in Southern states. 

Aurora was a building signifying a smooth, circular structure resembling the shape of a vessel docked at port. It is nestled between a flyover and a busy street. Back then, it used to be the last stop on the tram. But today, lies along one of the city’s busiest routes in Matunga that has seen decades of cultural exchanges. The building has been a classic example of a '30s Deco interior and a late- '40s Deco exterior. 

It has also connected the landscape of the Deco cinemas. The prints of the movie would be taken to first, Metro at 8.30 a.m., 9 a.m. to Eros, at 9.30 and then to Regal. It involved the culture of people taking the prints across the city connecting the theatres like that. 

Other than being a theatre, however, being around Aurora would be an experience with walking around its disk-like structure. One could and can still see the couples here, men involved in regular business. It would be a public space as much private cinema. Going to history again lands us at it being a social hub. Records do show that it used to be a hotspot for Communist Party mobilization in the 1930s. It would house the densely populated Matunga Labour Camp for Mumbai’s mill workers. 

The place also motivated the performance poets and dramatists, such as the infamous Annabhau Sathe, to collate and host meetings and study groups. As per the reports, the mill workers used to be Aurora's major patrons for many years.

More about the present

Currently, Matunga is going through one of the major booms in the area and this is a prime spot. However, the cinema was shut down a few years ago and has also been in a dilapidated state, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. While it stood the waves of time and the competition from the multiplexes, it went to seed recently. 

There are reports about big builders being interested in the auction because of the potentiality of commercial activities.