Safire theatre in Chennai: Once a cinema landmark, now reduced to nothing

The Safire theatre on Mount Road in 1994. | Photo Credit: S. Thanthoni It is 1964 and walking down Mount Road, the massive Safire Theatre Complex could not be missed. With its widescreen opening show of Cleopatra showcasing in Madras, the Veecumsee’s Safire, as it was known, brought 70 mm filmscreening to the city.The Safire Theatre Complex, was one of the first multiplex cinema complexes in India. Owned by a diamond merchant family, the multiplex featured Safire, Blue Diamond and Emerald theatres. In the basement was a disco and restaurant Nine Gems and later named Navaratna.Built by Yeshwant Veecumsee, Safire cinema hall could seat around 1,000 people while the medium sized Emerald screened Hindi and Tamil films. The Blue Diamond screen introduced the concept of continuous screenings to