Delhi's Iconic Regal Cinema Likely To Be The Home Of Madame Tussauds In India

Delhi's iconic Regal cinema will soon be turned into a multiplex while the first floor of the heritage building, sources said, is set to house the city's first Madame Tussauds wax museum.

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Regal, designed by Walter Sykes George and completed in 1932, is the oldest cinema hall in the city. Owner Vishal Mahajan told TOI that a multiplex would replace the existing theatre. "Single screen halls don't work any more here. That's why we plan to convert Regal into a multiplex," he said.

According to sources, the first floor of the building -from where the once-popular Standard Restaurant ran -would be Delhi's first Madame Tussauds museum. The restaurant owner, Vikram Bakshi, did not confirm or deny the development.

Sources said that Madame Tussauds representatives had zeroed in on the building due to its prime location and were in talks for several months to have the wax museum there. Massive renovation work was on at the site, the sources added.

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Museum representatives needed a large space for the museum and the Regal building's first floor fits the bill, the sources said. The first floor was sold to Bakshi by the owners of Regal cinema about a decade ago and has been vacant for some years now.

When contacted, Delhi tourism minister Kapil Mishra said: "If talks materialise to open Madame Tussauds museum at the Regal building, it will be a prime location and perfect for Delhiites to visit." The London museum has branches in 20 cities across Europe, US, Asia and Australia, is slated to come to Delhi by next year.

Sources also said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has accepted the invitation of the Indian partner of Madame Tussauds for installing his wax replica at its upcoming Delhi museum.

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Regal was once the most popular cinema hall in the capital and was frequented among others, by India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and Indira Gandhi. Until Independence, it was also visited by British bureaucrats. In later years, the hall hosted major film premieres.

But Regal has fallen on tough times in the past decade or so. Vijay Sharma, the theatre's manager, admitted that ticket sales at the cinema were dismal and at any given day, barely half the seats were filled.

"The hall has a seating capacity of 660, but a good crowd is rare, usually only on the opening night of popular films. On an average, there are about 250 seats filled in the afternoon show and around 80 for evening shows.For the night show, we barely sell 30 to 40 tickets," he said.