Naaz Cinema lobby, Mombasa!!

 Do you remember the wonderful Naaz cinema lobby where you could view the numerous posters of upcoming releases!! The lobby floor ceramic tiles was always gleaming and spotless. In the photo below you can see the doors to the stalls in the center. On the left was the cashier/book keeper (Suleiman) for the balcony. And on the right was the cashier/book keeper for the stalls - in the early 1970's you would have seen Suresh Chauhan here!

The lobbies at the Regal and Naaz in Mombasa resembled a village square with lots of continuous activity: patrons walking in to book tickets and going in, staff hanging around, by standers walking around to look at the posters & chat with the staff, film patrons leaving the auditorium during the interval to buy concessions, patrons coming in on their way to the bar etc. And of course there were always the bargain hunters who would gain access to the auditorium by slipping the doorman a little cash!! There was never a bored moment!

At the other end the lobby at the Kenya cinema was quiet and uneventful as you first had to buy a ticket to gain access to the lobby!! Almost no one got in to the Kenya cinema without a ticket!!

The Odeon Cinema, Kampala

 Advert in a local publication sometime in the 1950s:

There were 2 cinemas (Regal & Majestic) in Mombasa in 1944

 There were only 2 cinemas in 1944!! note how multi racial and multi faith the community was!

excerpts of a description of Mombasa and the cinemas from http://asmrb.pbworks.com/w/page/23143131/Pulp%20Mombasa

from the Seamen's Guide to Shore Leave, 1944:

Population 42,000

Hotels for Officers. MANOR, Salim Road, Tel. 112, rooms 15/50 up. PALACE, Killindini Road, tel. "Palace", rooms 15/- up. REX, Killindini Road, tel. 319, rooms 15/- up.

Seamen's Homes. SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE (Missions to Seamen, London), temporary quarters Killindini Road, tel. 262. Shower, canteen, reading and writing rooms, library, billiards, table tennis. THE SERVICES CANTEEN, tel. 432. Restaurant, lunch counter, reading and writing rooms, library, table tennis, concerts, dances, cinema, etc.

Seamen's Bank. Consult Port Captain, dock area.

Legal Aid. American Consulate, through the Provincial Commissioner.

Hospitals. European Hospital (whites), tel. 561. Native Hospital (colored), tel. 550.

Venereal Disease Clinics. At the hospitals (8 a.m. to 12 m.).

Physicians. Medical Officer, European Hospital. Dr. W. N. Sargent, Native Hospital. Dr. J. H. Chataway, Native Hospital.

Dentists. C. E. Thomas (dental surgeon), tel. 921.

Laundries. European Laundry, Killindini Road, tel. 209.

Amusements. Moving pictures: Regal; Majestic.

Points of Interest. The town itself. Fort Jesus, 16th century.

Caution: Not a "pay off" port. Seamen who miss their ships are subject to penalties provided by law. Tropical helmets should be worn because of great heat.

American Consulate: At Nairobi, 400 miles.

Most of the policemen are Sikhs; the railway staff, crane operators, and other "technical" people are largely Indians. Small shops are run by Arabs; larger shops and markets are run by Chinese, Goans, Persians, Indians, etc.. There are Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches, Hindu temples, mosques, etc

Local languages in Mombasa: English, Swahili. Arabic, Chinese dialects, Portuguese, Hindi, Farsi, etc. are used by immigrants and traders. Out of the 40,000 persons in Mombasa in 1932, "... 900 were Europeans, 6,000 were Arabs, 12,000 Asians, and 20,000 were Africans." Back in 1918, the total population was only 30,000, with only 230 Europeans

The Regal Theatre was constructed in 1931, on Salim Road.

Mohamed Rafi performed at the Regal Theatre, Mombasa 1956/57!!

 quote from Letters to the Editor Awaaz:

https://www.awaazmagazine.com/.../letters-to-the-editor

"Reading the varied and fascinating contributions on the Indian Cinema theme brought back some further memories. Ameer Janmohamed, in his ‘Romance of the Regal’ (extracted from his book) writes that the Regal Cinema had a stage behind the screen that was often used for live shows. I remember going to a musical concert by Mohamed Rafi and his ensemble visiting from India, in around 1956/57. This was the first time I had been to anything like that. Seeing them sing and play the various instruments, especially the electric guitar, made a huge impression. It was an exciting performance to a cheering full house."

photos:

Rafi on a 2003 stamp of India

Rafi on a 2016 stamp of India

Mohammed Rafi at the Mother India (1957) premiere

Mohammed Rafi in Nairobi

            

Casino Cinema, Nairobi (1964 advert)

The photo below on the right shows an advertisement in the Daily Nation for the film Rustom-E-Baghdad, Aug 1964!!...Wow!! 2nd week with continuous shows every day....there were around 170,000 Asians in Kenya around 1964 and 35% of Nairobi's population was Asian!!

                                                    

Regal Theatre, Mombasa bosses with Indian Dancers around 1950-1955 at home in old City House!!

 can anyone recognize the Indian dancers??

                                                                      

     

Kenya Cinema, Mombasa stopped operating as a cinema on Sunday May 23rd 2010

 The last film to play at the Kenya Cinema, Mombasa was 'Prince' with Vivek Oberoi, Aruna Shields, Nandana Sen, and Neeru Singh. and Indian film with English subtitles.

By this time Indian films were just shown on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.

This film opened in India on Apr 9th 2010 and was a box office flop!

The reasons for the cinema closing appears to be the continued decline in film attendance, the success of Nyali Cinemax, the upcoming move from celluloid 35mm to digital in Kenya the following year and the exit of Raman Samji Kala!

After this Kenya Cinema was rented to a Church

Cinema listings Jan 12th 1968 East African Standard

Kenya and 20th Century Cinemas are not listed...probably this was during the 3 months period or so when 20th Century Fox (EA) Ltd closed down their cinemas in protest of the newly formed government Kenya Film Corporation that wanted to be the sole film distributors. 

In a few months the cinemas reopened after a settlement. 

Both 20th Century Fox and KFC then operated as film distributors!

20th Century Cinema, Nairobi (in the 1960's)

 

Nairobi, 1960s

The photo was taken from the just constructed Ambassadeur Hotel in Nairobi

Can you see the cinema??

see photo on the far left towards the end of the parking lot .You can see the sign 20th Century shown perpendicularly!! Next to is the lighted sign showing which film was showing. 20th Century Cinema was on Queensway Road. This was later changed to Mama Ngina Street. In those days you could park your car across the street in the large outdoor parking lot before Hilton hotel was built in 1969!

Railway Cinema, Nairobi

 

Railway Cinema, Nairobi 1910

The mabati barn cinema hall in Nairobi railways 1910s