Remembering Chennai’s Pilot Theatre, once Royapettah’s modern cinema

For many in Royapettah and nearby neighbourhoods, an evening at the movies once meant a trip to Pilot Theatre.

Opened in November 1968, the 900-seat cinema was among Madras’s most modern, with a large screen, imported projection equipment, an elaborate sound system, and air-conditioning. Built by the founder of Pilot Pens in India, P.A. Sanjivi, with Cinerama in mind, it initially used 70 mm projection after technical delays, opening with The Ballad of Cable Hogue.

Pilot soon became part of the cinema circuit for residents of Royapettah, Triplicane, Mylapore, and T. Nagar.

Retired bank employee T.P Gopal, 72, who lived in Triplicane in the late 1970s and early 80s, recalls how the cluster of theatres nearby made catching a film an easy part of evenings with friends. “We were residents of Triplicane in those days, and it was considered a bachelor’s paradise, with affordable messes for food, the seashore nearby and several theatres within two to three km,” he recalls.

For Gopalan and his friends, Pilot was often a post-work, post-dinner destination. On one occasion, expecting a Tamil film, they sat through an English film thinking it was a trailer, only realising their mistake when “INTERMISSION” appeared.

Film historian and actor Mohan V. Raman, who lived eight houses away, recalled watching hundreds of films at the theatre, sometimes returning home during the interval and making it back for the second half, in a 2017 The Hindu article.

The theatre featured cushioned tilt-back seats, generous legroom, a 53 ft. by 24½ ft. screen and an RCA sound system. Its air-conditioned projection booth was described as the country’s first of its kind. The broad-fronted building also had extensive parking, a landscaped compound with an underwater-lit lily pond, four main entrances and two side gates. Opening advertisements highlighted its Cinerama capability and 70 mm projection.

A notice announcing the demolition of Pilot Theatre.
| Photo Credit:
K. Pichumani

Pilot later hosted the Chennai International Film Festival in 2003 and 2008. Closed since mid-2014, it was demolished by February 2017 under court orders.

Pilot remains a reminder of a phase when the theatre itself was part of the attraction and of evenings that began with dinner, friends and an impulsive second show.