One hundred and twenty five years ago, a young man named Ganeshdas Goenka arrived in Assam all the way from Rajasthan by train, steamer and pony cart in search fortune. He chose to settle down in Shillong, the new administrative headquarters of Assam where no Marwari businessman had set foot till then. Soon Ganeshdas started exporting potatos and ginger from Shillong to Calcutta. Business thrived, Ganeshdas got married and in the process earned the distinction of being the first Marwari family in Shillong. He was blessed with two sons — Balchand and Jeevanram — who in course of time joined the family business.
Jeevanram had many an innovative idea. He wanted to diversify their family business and ventured something new in Assam — he decided to start a cinema hall in Shillong after landing a contract of electric wiring of the governor’s house. His idea metamorphosed into the Kelvin Cinema — the first full-fledged cinema hall in Assam.
In 1895, Ganeshdas had purchased a plot of land measuring 2.2 bighas at Fancy Bazar, Guwahati for Rs 500 only. The plot had been lying vacant for nearly four decades. The successful run of the cinema hall in Shillong convinced Jeevanram into starting a similar venture in Guwahati. He and his new partner, Mr Unger, built a cinema hall on the vacant plot. And thus in 1935 came into existence Kelvin Cinema of Guwahati — the second cinema hall in the fledgling town — with an audience capacity of 302 persons who were to sit on chairs, benches and planks and enjoy the show.
Both halls, in Shillong and Guwahati, derived their names “Kelvin” from the projectors branded “Kelvin”. It was a kerosene and petrol-run projector made in Germany which was imported by Unger. Unfortunately, unlike in Shillong, the Goenkas failed to run the Guwahati theatre very successfully and within two years it was leased to a Bihari gentlemen named Biajnath Chowdhury.
The latter ran the business successfully for nearly two decades. Later, in 1956, the possession of the hall again passed into the hands of the Goenkas through litigation.
By that time the next generation of the Goenkas had come into the picture. Shankar Goenka and Mahavir Goenka now took up the Kelvin business in Guwahati and this started a fresh chapter in the history of the hall. Since the 1940s, huge money was being poured into the film industry. It is an interesting feature of economic history that the though the post-World War recession affected almost all industries the entertainment industry was not affected. Rather in some cases, it flourished. Kelvin derived that benefit. The American and Allied soldiers stationed in the town lavishly spent in watching movies. Business spiralled.
In 1956 a new Philips projector was installed replacing the old Kelvin but the hall retained its name. Because of their business links, the Goenkas gradually established a good rapport with the Assamese film industry. Many Assamese films in the Fifties and Sixties were released at Kelvin Cinema. These films include Bhupen Hazarika’s Era Bator Sur and Shakuntala, Ganesh, Mukuta and many more.
Equally important was the rapport the Goenkas established with the cream of Assam’s political, social and cultural life. In their family album are present Bishnuram Medhi, F.A. Ahmed, Moinul Haque Chowdhury, Bhupen Hazarika, Vidya Rao, Girish Choudhury, Gyanada Kakati and others at the cinema halls owned by the Goenkas. The first documentary on Laksminanth Bezbaruah too was released in this hall by Sri Bishnu Ram Medhi.
Shankar Goenka, the sole proprietor of the house since 1982, recalls with pride some of the “firsts” that Kelvin Group of halls (which included Kelvin, Anjali and Bijou Talkies in Shillong and Kelvin Cinema of Guwahati) have achieved. They introduced the first cinemascope, the first “television”, first 70mm screen in Assam. Matinee and noon shows first started at this very theatre. Shankar Goenka recollects, “Mughal-e-Azam was such a super-duper hit that we had to arrange an extra show to cope up with the rush. What started as a stop-gap measure became a permanent feature. Other halls promptly followed.”
Kelvin also created some all-Assam records. This theatre has the unique distinction of screening the “single hall golden jubilee movie” among the cinema halls in Assam. Jai Santoshi Maa had a record 53 weeks uninterrupted run at this hall — the record remains unbroken in Assam till today. It also the first theatre in town to screen an English movie. When screening good English movies were raregreat movies like Helen of Troy, Ben Hur, Ten Commandments, The Robe and many more ran to packed houses here for weeks. . Dramatist and litterateur late Lakhyadhar Chowdhury said in an interview a few days before his death that he was introduced to the best of English movies at Kelvin Cinema.
There are many interesting anecdotes about the hall. When Jai Santoshi Maa was screened, the operators named Khoka and Bhimlal Singh performed pujas everyday in front of the huge cutouts of Goddess Santoshi before starting the machine. The movie broke all records. Everyday after the shows gatekeepers collected more than twenty rupees in coins of all denominations from the hall by the gatekeepers.
The coins were thrown at the screen by the audience — such was the fervour generated by the movie. The hall was also nicknamed “silver hall” in the film distribution circle as most of the movies released here from 1950s to 1970s celebrated silver jubilees — Aan, Kismat, Anarakali, Mughal-e-Azam — the list seems endless. One day when Nagin was being screened, two live snakes appeared in front of the screen. The news spread like wildfire through the town and the movie too had a silver jubilee.
Kelvin is indeed a part of Assam’s cinematic heritage. In recognition of his great contribution, Jeevanram Goenka was honoured with the title of Rai Bahadur by the British government in 1934 — he brought cinema to Assam.
The present generation of Goenkas have some ambitious projects. Siddhartha Goenka revealed that they are planning to convert the hall into a multiplex. “God willing, the project will start this year. Our forefathers were the pioneers of cinema business in Assam. We should also do something innovative in keeping with the changing times. So we are planning to bring the first multiplex cultural complex to Guwahati,” revealed Siddhartha. His father Shankar Goenka added, “But remember, the new multiplex, along with the hall and cultural complex, will be named KELVIN”.
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