Eros Cinema, Art Deco movie theater in Churchgate, Mumbai
Eros Cinema is an Art Deco movie theater in central Mumbai featuring a distinctive red sandstone facade with a semi-circular tower at the entrance. Inside, multiple levels showcase white and black marble surfaces with ornamental details throughout the auditorium spaces.
The cinema was commissioned by businessman Shiavax Cambata and designed by architect Sorabji Bhedwar, opening in February 1938. It now stands as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and represents the architectural development of that era in the city.
The cinema's name comes from Eros, the Greek god of love. Its foyer is in white and black marble with touches of gold, and marble staircases with chromium handrails lead to the upper floor. Murals in muted colours depict Indian architecture.
Eros Cinema occupies the Cambata Building at Churchgate, near the Churchgate railway terminus, so it is reached on foot from the station. The cinema reopened in February 2024 with a 1,300-seat theatre and a separate 300-seat IMAX screen. The IMAX conversion removed the original balcony and steepened the floor, so the flanking relief sculptures now sit higher on the walls.
The auditorium walls carried cloud patterns above a black marble lower half, and two long relief sculptures ran along that level: the left showing a film set under construction, the right actors shooting a scene. A relief of an orchestra playing filled the proscenium arch, flanked by gold-striped columns. When the theatre became an IMAX, the balcony was removed and the floor made steeper, leaving the flanking sculptures sitting much higher.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,679 contributors worldwide.
