Palace Talkies
1932

Designed as a talking picture palace, constructed at the cost of over a lakh and a half, and inaugurated by the mayor of Bombay on 2nd July 1932, Palace Talkies unabashedly announced that the talkies were here to stay in Bombay. Just the year before, India’s first talkie Alam Ara, had been released by Imperial Movi-tone studios in Bombay. Now with the opening of Palace, both Indian and international ‘All Talking, Singing & Dancing’ pictures could be screened at the state of the art talkie house, located near Byculla Railway Station.

1. Bilimoria & Bharucha

Palace Talkies was owned by the dynamic duo, Messrs. M. B. Bilimoria & B. D. Bharucha. The duo first met at the Parsi well at Churchgate; Bilimoria was an upcoming film distributor, Bharucha a chemist with Kemp & Co., fed-up with his job.

They decided to partner and form the All India Theatres Syndicate Limited, a company that would, in the span of a decade, manage many of the talkie houses across Bombay.

Bharucha lived at Palace Talkies itself, on the first floor of a wing of the spacious premises. Through a small bridge (now missing from the property), Bharucha could walk across to the auditorium equipped with the latest Western Electric Sound System. Musical comedies, with their gorgeous dance ensembles and tinkling musical numbers, drew packed audiences in Palace’s early years, with reruns of the hits showing during the Diwali and Easter holidays.

2. A Regal Affair

Catering to the Easter audiences with plum and almond cakes was Regal Bakery, located on the ground floor of the Palace premises. Opened in the same year as the talkie house, Regal soon made the news for its fresh bakery products and keen prices. On your next visit to Palace Talkies, relive the ‘all-talking’ 1930s by taking a break at Regal for chai and iced cake.