Majestic Cinema

Majestic Cinema was by far the most popular film theatre in town. Established by the Parsi-owned Madan Theatres in the interwar years, as one of just three talkies or sound theatres in the country, it was bought over by Ceylon Theatres owned by Chittampalam Gardiner and was soon showing some great American movies. It stood where the present Majestic City stands, between Station Road and Arthur’s Place, and looked somewhat like Roxy Cinema (now Savoy Premiere) in Wellawatte—quite a modest affair.

However, the films they screened were some of the best and attracted movie buffs of all kinds, especially the truant-playing Bambalawatte boys. They mainly showed Metro Goldwyn Mayer movies like Scapegoat, Green Helmet, Tarzan the Apeman, Secret of Monte Cristo and The Mirror Has Two Faces in the early 1960s. Tickets back then cost a little over a rupee. Not bad for a cinema that offered a great variety of exotic films that could be enjoyed in air-conditioned comfort.

Credit – Roar Media, Asiff Hussein