Bandra’s Gaiety-Galaxy cinema has been closed temporarily this week, with police and the venue’s operators disagreeing on the reason.
Police say the shutdown followed non-renewal of the theatre’s operating licence, and a case has been registered under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the operators.
Executive director Manoj Desai said burnt electrical cables were the actual cause, with replacement cabling being sourced from Lohar Chawl in South Mumbai.
The theatre has run in Bandra since 1972, making it one of Mumbai’s longest-operating single-screen cinemas.
No date for reopening has been confirmed while the dispute and repairs are resolved.
Mumbai’s municipal and police authorities routinely inspect entertainment venues for fire-safety and licensing compliance, particularly after incidents involving electrical faults at public venues.
The conflicting accounts from police and the theatre’s management — license non-renewal versus a technical electrical fault — have not yet been publicly reconciled by either side.
Gaiety Galaxy in Bandra has operated since 1972 and is one of Mumbai’s oldest surviving single-screen theatre complexes, a fixture of the city’s Bollywood-adjacent cinema culture.
Bandra police registered a case under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the theatre’s operators after finding required certificates had not been renewed.
Executive director Manoj Desai told reporters the shutdown was due to burnt electrical cables inside the theatre, and that replacement cables were being sourced from Lohar Chawl in South Mumbai.
A notice posted by Bandra police outside the theatre stated that shows were suspended for the time being due to non-renewal of the venue’s operating license.
The theatre’s closure comes at a time when several older single-screen cinemas across Mumbai have faced increasing pressure from licensing and fire-safety compliance requirements.
Gaiety Galaxy has historically hosted premieres and events for major Bollywood releases, making it a recognisable name well beyond Bandra itself.
G7 Multiplex (Gaiety-Galaxy), Bandra, Mumbai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
