Cinemas in and around Kandy in the last century

The first cinema built in Kandy was the Empire at Mulgampola on the Kandy-Peradeniya Road. This cinema was owned by Ceylon Theatres Ltd.and its name was changed to Regal. At this time, Ceylon Theatres changed the name of their cinemas in Nuwara Eliya (Tivoli), Diyatalawa (Waverly), Jaffna and Ambalangoda also to Regal.

This cinema hall used to screen English films for the matinee and the evening shows. For the 9.00 pm show, Hindi, Tamil or Sinhala films were screened with the Ceylon Theatres circuit films exhibited.

The next cinema hall that came up in Kandy was the Wembley which was in Katukelle on the Upper Kandy Peradeniya Road screening Sinhala and Tamil films. In the early part of the last century only one Sinhala film was produced by the BAW Jayamanne group in a year and when screened at the Wembley used to run for at least six months. Later, when other producers came on the scene there were more films shown in a year. Other than the Sinhala films, Tamil and Hindi films were screened at the Wembley. All those films were from the Cinemas Ltd. Circuit.

The third cinema was the Wales. It was originally located behind the hiring car park which was right in front of the road opposite the landmark clock tower. When plans for the new market became operational, the Wales was demolished and given new premises above Torrington Road with access from Torrington Road as well the road in front the mosque on the side of the Bogambara prison.

The Wales mostly screened Hindi and sometimes Tamil films. Unfortunately, when the new DS Senanayake Public Library was to be built, the Kandy Municipal Council decided to locate it on the land where the Wales stood. Thereafter, the Wales was demolished to give way to the library building.

The fourth Cinema Hall within the Kandy Municipal limits was the Bogambara Cinema. It was aptly named because it was situated just outside the Bogambara grounds, Kandy’s famous playground hosting inter club football matches. These matches drew large crowds bigger than for any other sport in Kandy.

This cinema screened English as well as Hindi and Tamil films. Serials such as Flash Gordon, Superman, Tom Mix etc were screened here. Unfortunately, when the Bogambara ground was expanded to a stadium, this cinema was demolished so that Kandy lost two cinemas within a short period of time.

The last cinema that came up in Kandy was the Laza Cinema which was on the hill above Trinity College. This cinema hall was named Laza as it was constructed by Lazarus who owned a bookstall on Castle Hill Street. People owning vehicles were able to drive right up to the cinema while others relying on their feet and stamina had to trudge up the hill if they wanted to watch a film. Coming down after the show was not too bad as it was almost on ‘freewheel’ !

Later, the Laza was renamed Odeon with the ownership transferred to the owner of the Odeon Cinema in Mount Lavinia. The films screened here were those that played at the New Olympia, Liberty and Rio cinemas in Colombo. However, this cinema did not last long and it was converted to a hotel and Kandy lost a third cinema.

Outside the Kandy Municipal Council limits, the Sigiri Cinema was established in Katugastota on the Kurunegala Road. After some time, another cinema named Thusitha was established in Peradeniya.

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE