This is a list of theatres, cinemas and other company offices at one time owned or operated by Madan Theatres or J F Madan’s other firms.
It is a work in progress. The entertainment company (Elphinstone Bioscope/Madan Theatres) is at one point understood to have owned or operated 127 theatres and cinemas while the retail empire (J F Madan) had many sites dotted across northern India.
Please contact us if you have any additions or corrections.
ALLAHABAD
Coral Picture house
Palace Theatre
Pearl Picture Palace
AMRITSAR
Imperial Cinema
BANGALORE
Empire Theatre
BANKIPORE
Elphinstone Bioscope
BASSEIN
Bandoola Cinema
BENARES
Visheswar Theatre
BOMBAY (MUMBAI)
Crown Cinema
Excelsior Theatre
Location
History: Built as the Gaiety in 1887, later redeveloped by Excelsior Theatres Co. Ltd in 1909 and renamed and redeveloped again in 1975.
Status: Redeveloped several times.
Empire Theatre
Empress Theatre
Edward Theatre
Royal Opera House (leased)
J F Madan (wholesale depot for Parke Davis & Co)
Location: York Building, 70 Hornby Road, Fort Bombay
CALCUTTA (KOLKATA)
Head Office (for Madan Theatres Ltd and J F Madan Co)
Location: 5 Dharmatala Street (now Lenin Sarani)
Status: Closed. Building still stands.
Cornwallis Theatre (later Sree Cinema)
Location: 138 Cornwallis Street
Status: Closed, now a Citi Mart (2021).
History: The first permanent cinema in Northern Calcutta. The first Bengali feature film was released here in 1919. Bought by P. Ganguly of Kali Films in 1936. From this point it was known as Sree.
The Sree Market has operated here since the closure of the theatre.
Imperial Theatre
Location: Barabaazar
Status:
History: Later Moonlight Cinema
The Electric Theatre (see also Albion and Regal Theatre)
Location: 4 S.N. Banerjee Street, Calcutta (formerly 4, Corporation Street)
Status: A KFC outlet as of 2023. It retains the “Regal Bar”.
History: Renamed Albion in 1920s and Regal in 1931. It was named Albion at the time it was leased from Pradumna Kumar Mullick Zamindar to Madan Theatres Ltd on 15th Jul 1927.
Crown Cinema Hall (later Uttara Cinema)
Location: 138 Bidhan Sarani, Shyambazar, Kolkata, 700004 (formerly 138/1 Cornwallis Street)
Status: Demolished.
History: Started working life around 1925 and known for being the venue for the premiere of Jamai Shashthi the first short Bengali “talkie” (sound) film, in April 1931.
Many Madan Theatres films were released here. The only film produced by Provincial Film Producers was also released here as was a Madan adaptation of Tagore’s Bisarjan, and one of the few surviving feature length silent era films. It was renamed Uttara in 1935 and in 1936, it was bought by P. Ganguly of Kali Films.
The building was bought by John Mantosh/Humayun Properties Ltd in 2004, by which point it was being used as a market, like nearby Sree.
Corinthian Theatre
Location: 5 Dharmatala Street (now Lenin Sarani)
Status: Closed, demolished
History: A hugely important site in Parsi theatre and the location for some of the earliest sound recordings made in India (1902). Purchased by J F Madan in the 1890s. Renamed Opera Cinema in 1971.
Elphinstone Picture Palace (later Minerva Cinema and latterly Chaplin Cinema)
Location: 5/1 Chowringhee Place, Kolkata
Status: Demolished in 2013
History: India’s first purpose-built cinema hall, built in 1907. In 1929, it became the first Asian cinema to be equipped with permanent sound facilities. It was subsequently sold off and renamed “Minerva” and then “Chaplin Cinema” before being demolished in 2013.
Madan Theatre and Palace of Varieties (later Elite Cinema)
Location: 136 S.N. Banerjee Road, Kolkata
Status: Demolished in 2024
History: This building took on several guises during its 100+ year lifespan. It was best known by its final name of “Elite”. By this time it was a well established and much loved single screen cinema, redeveloped in the iconic art-deco style.
Originally, this site is understood to have been built for ballroom dancing. The Bengali Film Archive tells us of “truckloads of ice” being taken to this site to form the floor for the dances. The archive also mentions
Gaganendranath Tagore painted this building in his “Madan Theatre by Night” work, now held at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi. We are working on the assumption that this is the same building, due its strong likeness, but there is a chance that Tagore had another one (or a non-specific site) in mind.
It is also the focus of one of the clearest photographs of a Madan-era theatre building. The original of this image is held by the Durham County Archive in the UK. The image seen online is public domain due to age and was scanned by Ashley Coates in 2022 at the request of Dishoom in London. The photographer is unknown.
This image predates extensive 1930s/40s remodelling in the art deco style that the Elite Cinema was well known for. First constructed some time before 1915, the building was later taken over by 20th Century (roughly 1955) and remained open until 2008 when it was closed due to low attendance.
The massive film poster on the front of the building is advertising a picture starring the Hollywood actors Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Above them, a huge sign tells passers by that Madan Theatre is “the home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures” (MGM). The company may well have had an exclusive arrangement with MGM in that part of the country.
Further images show that the site underwent several major renovations as well as re-naming. It was known as Prabhat by 1938 and Elite by 1948. Conversion to an art-deco style was initially undertaken by the British architect M.A. Riddley Abbott, and completed John Berchmans Fernandes. You can see images of the theatre at the time of its 2nd August 1948 re-opening here.
In 1955, the cinema was taken over by 20th Century Fox.
On 1st June 2018, the cinema finally closed for good. This was reported by The Times of India and Business Standard, amongst others. This film by ABP Ananda, also covering the closure, gives a good insight into the historical aspects of the cinema at the time of closure.
Despite widespread concerns from film enthusiasts, historians and local residents, in February 2024, the building was finally demolished.
Picture House
Central Theatre
Ripon Theatre
Howrah Cinema
Empress Theatre
Kidderpore Cinema Palace
Alfred Theatre
J F Madan (wine and general merchant)
Location(s): 35, Park Street – 52 Garden Reach Road, Kidderpore – 3, Store Road, Ballygunge – 5 Dharmatala Street (now Lenin Sarani).
CAWNPUR
Elphinstone Picture Palace
Empress Theatre
COLOMBO (SRI LANKA)
Elphinstone Picture Palace / Elphinstone Theatre
Location: Maradana, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 01000
Status: Still operational as of 2025
History: Built in 1925-1926, with Mayor of Colombo, Hubert Ernest Newnham CMG laying the foundation stone in this year. This is an original Madan Theatres build, which has survived and retains its original name. Constructed in a neo-classical style at the height of the company’s expansion, this building was built as a cinema and showed silent and talkie films over the years.
In advance of the building’s centenary, ThePrint compiled this article, which mentioned a few films shown at Elphinstone in 1931: On January 11, 1931, Charlie Chaplin’s silent movie, “A Night Out” (1915), was shown at the Elphinstone Theatre in Colombo. The same year, local audiences were treated to “One Wonderful Night” (1922) by Stuart Paton, and James Flood’s “The Man without a Conscience” (1925), it says.
On 9th October, 1988, the theatre was re-opened by as the Lionel Edirisinghe Centre for Performing Arts of the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation. following renovation in a ceremony attended by the Sri Lankan President J R Jayewardene and then Prime Minister R Premadasa. As of 2025, it is known as “Elphinstone Theatre” and operated by the Tower Hall Theatre Foundation. You can book to see shows here.
Empire Theatre (formerly Public Hall)
Location: 51, Braybooke Place, Colombo
Status: Demolished by Ceylon Theatres
History: The first talkie cinema in Sri Lanka. Built in 1899, and leased by Warwick Major, in 1924 the property was bought by Madan Theatres Ltd. On 13th July 1929, it was converted to sound renamed the Empire Theatre. Ceylon Theatres acquired the property in 1939. Thank you to Aruna Gunarathna for providing research for this entry.
Clifford Pavilion
Palace Hall
CAWNPUR
Elphinstone Picture Palace
Empress Theatre
DARJEELING
Elphinstone Picture Palace
J F Madan (wine and general merchant)
Location(s): Piroj Villa, Post Office Road. Chowrasta, The Stores, Central Hotel.
DELHI
Elphinstone Picture Palace
HYDERABAD (Sind)
Royal Opera House
JUDDULPORE
Empire Theatre
KANDY
Empire Theatre
KARACHI
Palace Theatre
Star Cinema
KIRKEE
Excelsior Theatre
Royal Cinema
LAHORE
Elphinstone Theatre
Empire Palladium
Excelsior Theatre
LUCKNOW
Elphinstone Picture Palace
J F Madan (wine and general merchant)
Location: The Exchange
MANDALAY
Elphinstone Picture Palace
MAYMYE
Elphinstone Bioscope
MYSORE
Royal Opera House
NAGPUR
Elphinstone Bioscope
NAINTAL
Elphinstone Bioscope (Assembly Rooms)
POONA
West End Cinema
Empire Cinema
Apollo Cinema
Globe Cinema
RANGOON
Excelsior Theatre (later Waziya Cinema)
Location: 327/329 Bogyoke Road
Status: Undergoing restoration
History: An imposing building in central Yangon, this is Yangon’s oldest cinema and the last survivor of “cinema row”. Completed in 1920 in beaux-arts style, the architect is unknown and it is not clear if the original build was by the firm or another company. It was nationalised and renamed the Waziya in 1964. It was briefly used as a theatre before returning to use as a cinema.
New Elphinstone Picture Palace
Royal Theatre
Dagon Cinema
The Plaza
Star Cinema
RAWALPINDI
Elphinstone Picture Palace
SIMLA
Elphinstone Palace Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre
SURAT
Empress Cinema
Madan Theatres Research Group 
EMPIRE THEATRE COLOMBO NO 1 ,BAYBROOK PLACE COLOMBO . NAME PUBLIC HALL’ IT;S BUILT IN 1899.IN 1912 LEASE BY WARWICK MAJOR AND 1924 THIS PREMISES BUY MADAN. 13TH OF JULY 1929 MADAN CONVERT THE FILM THEATRE AND RENAME EMPIRE.THIS IS THE FIRST TALKIE THEATRE IN SRI LANKA. 1939 THIS THEATRE OWNED BY CEYLON THEATRES
Thank you
Just a note to say thank you again, I have added these details to the website.