Only 45-50 single-screen cinemas remain in Mumbai Metropolitan region

Only about 45 to 50 single-screen cinema halls still function in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, according to a June 2026 list from the Cinema Owners and Exhibitors Association of India. The rest, roughly 125, have shut. One of the latest casualties is Alexandra Cinema in Nagpada, which opened in 1921 and will now make way for a residential complex after years of disuse.

Owners blame unfavourable government policies: high property tax and electricity rates, costly licence renewals, and tax holidays granted only to multiplexes. Past association president Nitin Datar says multiplexes earned Rs 15-20 crore during five-year tax exemptions while single screens were denied similar relief. He adds that big producers and distributors, under pressure from multiplex chains, stopped supplying films to many single-screen halls.

A rare revival is Eros Cinema in Churchgate, redeveloped in January 2024 with Imax and dining options, but similar backing is not available for theatres outside prime locations. Associations have asked for subsidies and loans, but no relief has come. With redevelopment often more lucrative, more closures are expected unless policies change.