A makeshift cinema hall under a 140-year-old bridge in Delhi is allowing poor rickshaw pullers and migrant labourers to escape daily hardship and sweltering heat into a world of Bollywood song, dance and romance. With the rusty iron floor of the double-decker Loha Pul (Iron Bridge) as its ceiling and some old rags acquired cheap from a nearby crematorium serving as curtains and floor mats, the cinema shows four films a day. Organisers pooled their savings to rent an old TV set and video compact disc player, and charge Rs 10 admission– a hundredth of the price of entry at Delhi’s fanciest movie theatres.
In this edition of Quint Lens, we curate a Reuters Wider Image photo feature by photographer Cathal McNoughton, which captures the easy-to-miss social entrepreneurial venture under the Loha Pul near the bank of the Yamuna in New Delhi.
Films are much better. Many men get hooked on gambling, drugs and alcohol and they pass their time by drinking or smoking.Mohammad Noor Islam, Junk Dealer
[But] some of us, who do not indulge in these vices, come here and watch films. We are addicted to films.Islam, 40, speaking to Reuters
He was ten years old when he came to Delhi from West Bengal.
The weighty shadow of the iron bridge, with piles of cheap cloth make for a pleasant reprieve from soaring temperatures that Delhi witnesses during the summers.
The place is wide and open, there is a cold and pleasant breeze here because it is so close to the river Yamuna– it feels like an air conditioner is on.Ishfaq, One of the cinema’s co-founders
He offers meals for Rs 5-10.
On an average day, about a 100 people use the cinema hall to watch films, rest and catch up on some sleep.
You can watch a documentary made on this ingenious community endeavour by the Department of External Publicity & Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs:
(All photo and caption text are taken from Reuters’ inputs.)
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