Tag: Madras Day 2026

Madras, a city that has always expanded its language to welcome words into its fold

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Madras, a city that has always expanded its language to welcome words into its fold

If you go down the rabbit hole of how words travel from one language to another, you just have to listen to this dialect of Tamil that is Madras bashai. It is built around loanwords as Chennai is formed not just of Tamil speakers; Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Kannada, Sanskrit, English, and Dutch have all found their…

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The bygone movie theatres of Chennai: a compilation

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The bygone movie theatres of Chennai: a compilation

(from left) The Safire Theatre, Udhayam Theatre, Pilot Theatre in Chennai | Photo Credit: The Hindu As Chennai city celebrates the 387th anniversary of its founding this year (as Madras Day), The Hindu looks back at the city’s iconic cinema halls that reveal a rich tapestry of cultural history and changing urban landscapes. Long before…

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Chennai’s Anand Theatre was the ‘OG’ for the city’s old film-buffs

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Chennai’s Anand Theatre was the ‘OG’ for the city’s old film-buffs

In the year of 1964, the Madras State saw two 70mm theatres in fairly close succession, but the one to stake its claim as “the first 70mm theatre of South India” was Anand theatre. It was built on Mount Road by G. Umapathy who ran Uma Printers. On August 22, 1964, this modern theatre was…

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Romance, longing, life, and cinema on Chennai’s beach

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Romance, longing, life, and cinema on Chennai’s beach

 Filmmakers have always used the beach to represent love and life.. | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B Filmmakers have always used certain symbols, motifs, and signifiers to represent ideas, concepts, and places. Over the many years, popular city landmarks, including the hotel Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai and the Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, have been…

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While Madras went to bed early, Chennai stays up

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While Madras went to bed early, Chennai stays up

Decades ago, Madras was a city that believed about 9 p.m. was bedtime. After sunset, shutters came down, streets emptied, and roads fell into almost complete silence, with barely a vehicle in sight. Chennai’s two prominent railway stations, Central and Egmore, were among the few places that remained active at night largely because of the steady…

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