A new era in the world of entertainment in India began on January 12, 1961, with the inauguration of Shiela Theatre '70' at New Delhi. Shiela Pioneered in bringing international standards in building design, viewer comfort, theatre maintenence and above all - in the art and science of movie presentation. Through this span of over 40 years, Shiela has remained at the top and endeavours to continue to do so.

THE BEGINNING

Construction of a superb motion picture theatre at the site had been
visualised as early as 1937, but World War II and subsequent shortage of
building materials delayed the development for a few decades.
This proved to be a boon in disguise for it enabled Shiela to benefit from
the post-war technological advances in the west.

PLANS REVISED

In New Delhi the construction of Shiela Theatre was about to commence.
Detailed plans for the structure had been drawn up and approved, when half a world away in New York, Mr. D.C. Kaushish, Propreitor of Shiela Theatre, witnessed the successful commercial trials of 70mm. At once he decided to introduce this system of film projection in India. However, bringing 70mm to Shiela Theatre meant a revision of the entire construction plan. Shiela Theatre was to have by far the largest cinema screen in India and no architect and technician here appeared familiar with the job. However, Mr. Kaushish was fortunate in securing the services of Ben Schlanger, world authority on motion picture theatre and auditorium design (who has been the creative man responsible for the United Nations General Assembly Hall and Conference Rooms, Metropolitan Opera and New York State Theatre, Lincoln Centre and Kennedy Cultural Centre, Washington D.C. and Colonial Williamsburg Twin-Theatres).

Mr. Schlanger collaboratred with Professor Cyril Harris of Columbia University, New York, to design the accoustics of the Theatre. Mr. Fred. J. Pfieff, formerly Chief Engineer of Todd-AO Corporation and NORELCO, New York, was the Technical Consultant. On the Indian side Master Sathe and Kothari of New Delhi provided their expertise as the overall project architects. S. Ajit singh took charge of the construction of the building and B.A. mistry and International Talkie Equipment Co., took charge of equipment installation.

With ben Schlanger as the Chief Consultant, the theatre was redesigned from scratch, with the object of transforming make-believe into reality. To bring illusion closer to reality, the latest six-track sound system was chosen, which has now been upgraded to Dolby Digital sound.

TO PUT YOU IN THE PICTURE

Everything at Shiela Theatre '70' has been designed with You in mind. We
believe that once you enter Shiela, you should forget the stresses and
strains of your day-to-day life, and fully enjoy the drama and spectacle on
screen. Housed in a large compound, Shiela has been planned functionally to provide you maximum comfort. You are welcomed into large, spacious, and artistically designed and maintained lobbies, there is a separate
foyer on the first floor. Inside the auditorium, there are luxurious push-back seats, which have been so arranged that one viewer does not obstruct the view of the other. You have neither to look down nor crane your neck up, to watch the giant screen. To create an illusion of depth, a third dimension has actually been introduce into the screen by curving it slightly. The screen extends from the floor to the ceiling and there is no "stage" to act as a barrier. The interior decor has been kept simple yet attractive. The off-white-coloured walls are so designed as to eliminate cross-rerflection from the screen. In Shiela, nothing comes between you and your favourite movie.

DISTINGUISHED PATRONS

Shiela has played host to many important dignitaries. Two of India's
Presidents (Late Mr. V.V. Giri and Late Dr. Zakir Hussain) have been amongst the large number of distinguished patrons who have enjoyed seeing films of their choice at the theatre. All the Vice Presidents of India, Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Mrs. Indira Gandhi have been frequent Shiela patrons.

Apart from a large number of Indian filmstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri, Dev Ananad etc. -- international film luminaries
like Shirely MacLaine, David Lean, Mark Robson and Cantiflas, have admired Shiela and ranked it amongst the worlds best show houses.

But the most distinguished patrons of them all are the Fifty Million people
who have watched movies at the Shiela during the last 40 years.