Mumbai’s iconic Eros Theatre is 'not' being torn down, says report after Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, Vir Das, others react

Twitter was on Saturday abuzz with reports that the iconic Eros Theatre in Mumbai is being torn down, triggering a sea of emotions among netizens who shared their fond memories of the place.

Pictures of the iconic theatre in Churchgate wrapped in a safety net have been going viral over social media.

However, it has now been revealed that the building is not being demolished. It is only being renovated, and therefore the building has been covered.

“As per my knowledge, the building is not being pulled down. It’s undergoing repairs and restoration since 2018-19,” Aparna Bhatte, deputy municipal architect of BMC, told mid-day.

"Are those tweeting photos and spreading rumours even taking any effort to confirm what’s happening? One tweet follows another, and people just blindly follow these without any confirmation," a BMC official told the publication.

Meanwhile, on Saturday filmmakers Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri and Apurva Asrani, and comedian-actor Vir Das were among those who took to Twitter to share a picture of the theatre completely covered up.

“Heartbreaking to see #ErosTheatre being torn down. This South Bombay Art Deco landmark, built in 1938, was where I bunked college to go to. It's where I went on my first date & where my first film #Satya was released in '98. Sad that Mumbai can't preserve its heritage buildings,” Asrani wrote.

Reacting to it, Vivek Agnihotri also shared his memories of single-screen theatres. He wrote, “Each time a single screen theatre is torn down, a piece of my childhood dies. 4 of my films released here. Watched hundreds of films, specially Matinee shows of world films. But then I also understand practicality and viability.. #Nostalgia.”

"Watched Rang De Basanti there. Had a job at CNBC, walked out of the theatre, decided to give being a performer a full shot, started auditioning," Vir Das added.

Built in 1938, Eros was considered one of Bombay’s luxury cinemas with a capacity to seat around 1,200 people. The building was built in the Art Deco architectural style, which was known as the Bombay Deco, as opposed to Gothic and Victorian style which was popular under British rule.

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