Jonaki Cinema Hall: From cultural landmark to crumbling relic

Jonaki, Assam's first cinema hall, established in 1937 by Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the doyen of Assamese culture, has not been operational since long. The cinema hall occupies a special corner in the heart of every Assamese, so I visited the premises in my recent trip to Tezpur and saw for myself the dilapidated condition of this once glorious film theatre. It is to be noted that the world's oldest cinema hall, the Washington Iowa State Theatre, which opened on May 14, 1897, is still open, screening the newest of films.

Jonaki, which was inaugurated in 1937 with the British Film Elephant Boy, scripted history by beginning a new era in film business in Assam. Prior to Jonaki, no permanent cinema hall worth the name existed in Assam, though motion pictures were screened in makeshift settings in school buildings, public halls, theatre halls, even in temporarily erected tents at places like Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Shillong. The first Assamese film-Joymati, was screened in a similar makeshift setting. It was Agarwala's debut as a film director and producer. And the absence of a permanent cinema hall was one of the reasons why Joymati incurred heavy losses. That eventually led him to establish the first cinema hall in Assam.

The place selected was the backyard of the Agarwala family's ancestral home -the Pokee building at Tezpur. This site had many big trees and wild vegetation growing naturally. The place was dark and serene, people who passed by the area found it difficult as there were no provisions for streetlights back then, except for fireflies (jonaki poruwa) to lead the path in the midst of darkness. Agarwala constructed the cinema hall at lightning speed and completed it within a record time of one month. He aptly christened the cinema hall Jonaki, which stood as a metaphor to illuminate the minds of the people through artistic amusement and pleasure. The building was built partly with brick and mortar and was half-walled, with iron posts and trusses; 27 feet in width, 80 feet in length, and 18 feet in height. Chun-Churki was used instead of pure cement. The walls were originally mud- plastered on ekora, a wild weed. One wooden balcony added to the beauty of the cinema hall. Nothing original can be traced as of now, except an iron truss of 34 feet span, which has been carefully preserved till today, placed as a gate at the entrance of the Jonaki premises.

But within a short timespan, Jonaki faced closure due to the dwindling of audiences, as Tezpur was a small town then, with a meagre amount of earnings to carry on the business. Both Kamalaprasad Agarwala and Jyotiprasad Agarwala plunged into the freedom movement; Bibekananda Agarwala was entrusted with the management of the family-owned tea garden, the Bholaguri. As such, Jonaki was leased out to Abdul Hussain at a rent of Rs. 42 per month in 1940. Hussain too failed to maintain the hall; the government cancelled the licence on grounds of structural weakness. Hridayananda Agarwala, after coming from Kolkata, revived the hall with financial assistance from Tarun Chandra Agarwala, a cousin. With much difficulty, after necessary renovation, permissions were obtained for screening, just prior to Durga Puja, under the banner of Chitralekha Distributors. On June 20, 1941, Jonaki reopened with the screening of MGM's Block-Heads.

In those days salaries were listed as such-Manager: Rs. 15, Machine Operator: Rs. 10 per month. And the daily earnings from sales were Rs. 60-70. Sometimes it dipped even to Rs. 2.50. During WW-II, Tezpur was flocked by allied forces and the cinema business flourished with the screening of English movies. Sales increased to the range of Rs. 100-Rs. 250 per day.

The original hall was demolished on December 3, 1973, and the seating capacity was restricted to 700 due to financial crunch. In 1978, it saw a second transformation when Monoranjan Agarwala extended a helping hand; the length was increased by 40 feet to accommodate 1,000 seats. He managed the hall for two decades. After Monoranjan Agarwala's death in 1999, the management changed hands to Hridayananda Agarwala. On February 28, 2009, the first digital film Slumdog Millionaire was screened here.

This is the chequered history of Jonaki. With the decline of footfall and the expansion of television, the downfall was imminent. However, Jonaki stands as a cultural epitome of Assam and it is in urgent need of revival.

To renovate and to match up with modern needs, new facilities and features must be incorporated. Multiple screens may be added, along with comfortable plush seats or ergonomic chairs and advanced projection system. There should be provisions for food courts, digital sound system, shopping outlets and online ticket booking system, etc.

Comfortable lounge and waiting areas and car parking facilities are a must. To renovate the hall, the architect must draw inspiration from the original look of Jonaki from old photographs to retain its original beauty.

It is gathered that the government had sanctioned Rs. 50 lakhs for renovation work, which may not be sufficient. Former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the renovation work in 2019, though no work is in progress. Nothing is visible except a big marble plaque to this effect. In view of financial crunch, Jonaki could be an ideal private-public partnership model for a successful film business, with the involvement of the government to rejuvenate the iconic cinema hall.

By

Ranjan Kumar Padmapati