 |  | The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is to celebrate Coventry's history with an exhibition based on the South Asian cinema scene in the city.
The show, called Kabhie Ritz, Kabhie Palladium, brings classic film clips, photos and memories together between 31 January - 13 June 2004.
Background by Dr Nirmal Puwar
Bollywood, as Indian cinema has become known, has boomed.
Despite this, little is known of the Indian cinema scene in Britain that started in the 1940s and became established in the 1970s when failing cinemas were bought and restored by Asian people.
| Ìý |  | Outside the Ritz cinema in the 1970s photographed by Mr Joginder Singh
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The two most prominent Asian cinemas in Coventry were The Ritz on Longford Road and The Palladium in Hillfields.
The Indian cinemas in Coventry have now closed but memories of this time remain vivid. This exhibition looks back at the Indian cinema scene through the memories of organisers and filmgoers.
Images, film scenes and fond recollections of this pivotal moment in post-war Britain are played on the big screen, in a cinema setting.
Going to the cinema came to be regarded as an 'event' with its own vibrant social scene, and cinemas were not simply places to see Indian films.
They provided a scene that was a rousing mix of music, technicolour, style, food, excitement and anticipation.
Whole families would dress up to go and see the films. And for young people the cinemas held a special attraction, partly because they were the places where they saw and were seen by their peers at their best.
Leading film actors attended social events at the cinemas. Important political meetings were also held there. The cinemas were integral to the way in which migrants from all over the Indian sub-continent made a pleasurable ‘home’ in a cold social climate.
Audiences are invited to come and take a cinema seat to see photographs and hear stories and film songs from this incredibly significant moment in the making of post-war Britain.
Show details
Kabhi Ritz Kabhie Palladium, Coventry’s Asian Cinema Scene 1940s – 1980s, is on at Gallery 4 Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry between 31 January - 13 June 2004.
Entrance is free and the opening hours are:
Monday - Saturday: 10am - 5.30pm
Sunday: 12pm - 5pm
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