Shyambazar was once the city’s most popular entertainment hub as you can find many old theatres and cinema halls around the locality. From black and white to retro - the Bengali films that they screened were particularly popular among the housewives (you can ask your grandmother) who used to crowd the matinee shows. The surrounding neighbourhood of Bidhan Sarani is lined with single-screen cinema halls like Mitra cinema, Darpana, Purnashree, Rupbani, Uttara and many more. Nandikar, one of the leading theatre groups in Kolkata that works all around the world, is also based in Shyambazar.
