Madurai’s Iconic Ambika Theatre to be Demolished for Commercial Complex

Madurai: A few days ago, the iconic Udayam Theatre in Chennai was demolished, with many people sharing their memories of it. Similarly, it has now been announced that Madurai’s Ambika Theatre, which has been operating for over 35 years, will also be demolished.

In recent years, the multiplex culture has increased in Madurai, and theatres with facilities comparable to those in Chennai have emerged. Theatres like Gopuram Cinemas, Vetri Cinemas Mattuthavani, Vetri Cinemas Villapuram, Radiance Cinemas, and INOX have been established with excellent quality.

As a result, single-screen or two-screen theatres have not received much patronage from fans. Even when the recent Ajith Kumar film “Vidamuyarchi” was screened at Ambika Theatre, it did not draw a large crowd on the first day. This has been the situation at Ambika Theatre for the past few years.

Furthermore, several large theatres like Priya Complex and Jazz Cinemas are located near Ambika Theatre. Given this, the owners have decided to demolish Ambika Theatre, which is situated in a prime area of Madurai, and replace it with a commercial complex.

Speaking about this, the owner of Ambika Theatre said, “The last release at Ambika Theatre will be the film releasing this Friday. We encourage all fans to share their memories of the theatre in its final week. We have planned to build a Grade A commercial complex here, which will take 18 to 24 months to complete. We want to bring something needed for Madurai. The theatre has almost completed 35 years since it was built. We didn’t think of this as demolishing but as upgrading.”

In the past 20 years, many Hollywood films dubbed in Tamil have been released at Ambika Theatre. After the news of the theatre’s demolition was announced, many young people in Madurai have been sharing their memories on social media. Notably, many Madurai fans watched the “Fast & Furious” films mostly at this theatre.