Take a tour of single-screen cinemas designed by WM Namjoshi

He was the unsung genius behind some of India’s most iconic single-screen cinemas, built between the 1930s and 1970s. Yet few know of him. Photographer Hemant Chaturvedi spent years chasing down the story of the man. Take a tour of some of WM Namjoshi’s theatres and spot his distinctive motifs – glass sculptures, stone and wooden staircases, five-pointed backlit stars – in spaces he designed across Mumbai, Delhi, Solapur, Jaipur and more. ...read more

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Interior view of the revamped Uma Mandir. This theatre opened in 1964, as part of Solapur’s Bhagwat theatre complex, the first multiplex concept in Asia, made up of four single-screen cinemas on a single acre of land, complete with shops and restaurants. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Waman Moreshwar Namjoshi was born in Ratnagiri, in 1907, to a school teacher and a homemaker. He and his brother ran away from home in their early teens, and took up a range of jobs in Mumbai. His brother would eventually move to Indore. He remained in Mumbai and specialized in cinema-hall design. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Golcha, opened in 1954 in Delhi’s Daryaganj, is a landmark single-screen cinema. Note the extraordinary woodwork and glass-mirror sculptures, and Art Deco motifs on the walls. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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The opulent Raj Mandir in Jaipur opened in 1976. It has been running successfully for 47 years, with the draw of the theatre often being greater than the draw of the movie being screened. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Among other distinct motifs he carried through his career, Namjoshi had a particular affection for five-pointed backlit stars. He loved the stars and used them almost like a subtle signature in many of his cinemas, including here on the facade of Raj Mandir. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Phul Cinema opened in Patiala in 1947. By 2017, like so many old cinemas in India, it had fallen to ruin. It has since been painstakingly restored. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Mumbai’s Liberty, opened in 1949, has strikingly gorgeous interiors, as does its smaller preview theatre, Academia. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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The staircase, the lobbies, the woodwork, the relief work on the ceilings, all lovingly lit by concealed bulbs, along with the plush red carpeting, create a vision of soft opulence at Liberty, in Mumbai. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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An unrenovated section of Uma Mandir holds all its original textures and colours, including beautiful teakwood-and-glass chandeliers, vintage yellow mosaic floors, teakwood bannisters, and pillars of solid granite and marble. (Hemant Chaturvedi)

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Kala Mandir, opened in 1942 and also part of Solapur’s Bhagwat theatre complex, has some of the earliest and most subtle Art Deco motifs. The frozen fountains on the walls are simpler and sparer, yet reminiscent of those at Phul, Liberty and Golcha. (Hemant Chaturvedi)