'We are now planning to reopen Savitri, making a 350-seater from the earlier 1,000-seater. Renovation is under process and it will be operational in three to five months,' said Amit Shah, seat manager, programming, DLF DT cinemas.

'Not only are the interiors of the theatre now plush, the poster windows, etc. will also be of high quality. It'll have an upgraded candy bar and cafeteria set-up like other multiplexes.

'As Savitri is on the third floor, there are also some shops coming up downstairs, bringing a mini-mall kind of set-up, which will also bring footfalls,' Shah added.

Both Odeon and Savitri will continue with the print format screenings.

'We are looking at enhancing one of the audis to the digital format in the near future... But we don't know when that will happen, as a digital machine costs around Rs.4 million,' said an Odeon employee.

Then there are Kumar in Chandni Chowk and Deep in Wazirpur. 'Both are almost complete and waiting for licences,' said an industry source.

Kamal Mehra, ex-owner of Kumar Cinema who sold the theatre to Ashok Aggarwal after it was shut down in 1999, said: 'In the 1940s, it was as a pre-partition property and built by our grandmother for us.'

'The hall is in old Delhi and we were not getting gentry audiences. The collection wasn't like earlier. So we sold it,' he said.

'It is expected to reopen. I don't really have any details, as we sold it way back in 1999. We thought the future of single screens was not good considering the proliferation of the multiplex business. Moreover, to keep them running, you had to deliver a lot of facilities to your patrons like comfortable seats, good food, effective air-conditioning,' he added.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)