A City, Cinema & A Community: Reflections
By Brig (retd) A.R. Siddiqi
ISBN: 978-969-407-545-7
152pp.

The cultural, social and political life of the vibrant city of Delhi, during the last three decades before Partition in 1947, has been remarkably described by Brig (retd) A.R. Siddiqi in his recent book, A City, Cinema & A Community.

Delhi, which remained the capital of undivided India for centuries, including during the Mughal Empire (1526 –1857), was truly a cosmopolitan metropolis. The city hosted people from different ethnicities, beliefs, cultures and customs, speaking a variety of languages, who lived together peacefully.

The 20th century brought a revolutionary change in the cultural and social life of people in the Subcontinent with the advent of cinema, originally known as bioscope. The author saw his first movie at the age of six or seven, accompanied by his mother.

She, along with some other ladies of the family, had gone to Purdah Bagh, a ladies-only garden, where a film was also being screened free for the visitors. The small boy could not comprehend what was happening and fell asleep leaning on his mother’s shoulder. But the vague memories of this experience developed in him a deep interest for movies later in life.

Brig (retd) A. R. Siddiqi’s recollections about city life in Delhi and the advent of cinema culture before Partition transport the reader to another world

As the author is an eyewitness to the era of silent movies in the 1920s and then talkies in the following decades, there are some interesting facts linked to their screening in cinema halls. For example, during the screening of a silent movie, there would be two side screens, projecting the dialogues in Urdu or Hindi script. In a corner of the pit or the third-class enclosure, musicians would play live harmonium and tabla to provide background music, commensurate with the........

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