Company Documents

The content is in the order below.

  • Vintage advertising
  • Legal (court cases)
  • Company-issued documents

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Public Hall (later Empire Theatre) newspaper advert. Image Courtesy: Dr Vilasnee Tampoe-Hautin
Newspaper advert for Ben Hur at the Elphinstone Picture Palace (1928)
Poster from J F Madan’s exhibiting space, the Elphinstone Bioscope (1919) (Scan by Jayanta Nath)

Madan Theatres in the Charlie Chaplin Archives

There are two Madan Theatres items (watermarked) in the Chaplin archives.

Plays & Players Appearing or Expected Shortly in the Madan Theatres, Ld. Circuit : Items of Interests for You : Second Week of Charle Chaplin in “The Circus” – 1930

Note the famous “Elphinstone Soda Fountain”, marketed as the only one in Calcutta. It is believed to have been the first in India at the time of installation. Their cross-India exhibiting circuit in May 1930 is also shown, helpfully with the “in association” theatres marked out separately to “branches”, which are a mix of freeholds and leaseholds.

Charlie Chaplin in “The Gold Rush”/Madan Theatre – 1947

A playbill for the screening of The Gold Rush. Showings of other films across the Calcutta circuit in March 1947.

Madan Theatres Bombay Circuit magazine (1929).
An extract from a magazine, held in the private collection of Hemant Chaturvedi. Note the lease on the Royal Opera House in Bombay and a production from the Parsi Elphinstone Dramatic Club, where J F Madan had started, in Bombay, many years previously. The renowned actress, Patience Cooper, was also performing.

Also shows that a number of iconic venues (Excelsior, Empire, Empress, Edward, Ripon and the Royal Opera House) were all within the exhibiting circuit in 1929.

MT Ltd. Bombay Circuit Programme – W/C 27th August 1932
Click left and right toggles to view all six images. First image shows front and rear of programme. The rest are in order. Scanned in 2025.

Programme showing upcoming events at the four sites operated by the firm in Bombay in 1932: Excelsior, Empire, Empress and the Royal Opera House.

  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection
  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection
  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection
  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection
  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection
  • Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection

COMPANY-ISSUED DOCUMENTS

Image: 1920 share certificate for Madan Theatres Ltd. Issued on 27th March 1920 to Ala Manekji Balapuria. Ala later married Naval Jamshedji Madan, son of J F Madan. The image is taken from the original held in the private collection of Ashley Coates, great-grandson of Ala and Naval. It was scanned in 2007. Note: imprint of 1919 company stamp. Image: Courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection.
J F Madan Co letter headed paper “wine and general merchant”. Image courtesy: Gool Madan Ardeshir – private collection
Madan Theatres letter headed paper “controlling a circuit of 100 cinemas”. Image courtesy: Gool Madan Ardeshir – private collection.
Madan Theatres – Registrar of Companies. Image Courtesy: Gool Madan Ardeshir. All Rights Reserved
List of original directors for Madan Theatres Ltd from 1919 Memorandum of Understanding. Image Courtesy: Gool Madan Ardeshir. All Rights Reserved.
Accompanying note to 1920 Madan Theatres Ltd. share certificate, shown above. 2007 scan of original. Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection.
Reverse side of 1920 share certificate, shown above. 2007 scan of original. Image courtesy: Ashley Coates – private collection.
Exhibiting circuit, around late 1920s, early 1930s. Provenance unknown.
J F Madan’s 1919 certificate. Scan origin unknown.

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