Prarthana Theatre: where stars sparkled on screen and in the sky
Visitors to Prarthana Theatre in Chennai's early 1990s enjoyed a unique experience of gazing at stars in both the night sky and on the giant screen. The open-air drive-in theatre, located on a 15-acre site, offered tickets at ₹30 per person and ₹5 per vehicle. The massive 100 ft by 60 ft. concrete screen could accommodate up to 175 cars, drawing large groups of families and friends for movie outings.
Vijayalakshmi Muralidharan, daughter of veteran director A.P. Nagarajan, fondly remembered watching the same movies multiple times for the open-air experience. Neelankarai resident Srilakshmi Mohan Rao recalled carrying chairs or spreading a carpet on the ground to watch movies from inside the car. The theatre screened both Tamil and Hindi films, with food available from the on-site restaurant.
Despite the lack of safety concerns due to the sparsely populated ECR, Prarthana remained an iconic destination for generations of Chennai movie-goers until it ceased operations in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
