Sikkim Imperial Talkies first ever movie theatre inaugurated in South Sikkim

The first movie theatre of its kind was inaugurated in Namchi. The grand opening ceremony was attended by Speaker SLA KN Rai as the chief guest and the inauguration was done from his hands, along with the invited guests were also present which included chairman, councilors, DC South, SP South and heads of various departments. The newly inaugurated movie theatre in Namchi is known as Imperial Talkies- Reel, Cafe and Lounge under the banner ‘A 21st Century GBT Entertainment Media’ and the features of the theatre include Dolby Digital ex surround sound. The capacity of the movie theatre is 200 seats and the minimum occupancy to screen a movie is 20 persons. The daily show timing is11:30 am, 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm.

During the inaugural programme  Tenzing Dadul one of the three members of GBT in his welcome address shared their story and the experience they had during the making of this movie theatre in Namchi. Later the members of GBT informed the gathering that they came up with this project as Namchi needed a theatre as a source of entertainment while on the other hand a space appropriately suitable for a movie theatre was lying vacant in the Namchi Municipal Council complex, all instances together triggered this project which materialised into reality today. The trio also mentioned that this project in a way also aims to set an example for the educated unemployed youths and in a way sends across the message to them that not getting a job does not mean being unemployed, one can find the prospect for self employment and work on it while setting an example for many others like them.

This venture ‘Imperial Talkies’ is the brainchild of 21st Century GBT Entertainment Media from Namchi, GBT stands for Ghurmey, Bikash and Tenzing the trio behind the project. Initially the trio had started a project in Namchi named GBT Recycles.

On the occasion of the inaugural function of Imperial Talkies the GBT Group felicitated the Chief Minister Pawan Chamling which was received by the chief guest KN Rai on behalf of the Chief Minister who was invited as the chief guest  but could not attend the function due to some unavoidable schedule. The others felicitated persons were DC South Raj Yadav, SP South Tenzing Loden Lepcha, MEO of Namchi Municipal Council Rajiv Rai, Chairman Namchi Municipal Council Uday Chandra Rai and the owner of Kalimpong Dream Theatre Naboo Senjong. These individuals were felicitated for being the main driving force behind the success of this project. The chief guest KN Rai in his address congratulated the trio of 21st Century GBT Entertainment Media for the success of their project and further cited the reasons as to why the chief minister could not attend the inaugural function.

He mentioned that Namchi has been doing exemplary work wherein he cited various unique projects like Officers Club which is the first of its kind in the state and now Imperial Talkies by educated unemployed youths. Further, he urged the youths to follow such exemplary footsteps and work on it and said that building a capacity is equally important to having a degree.

The programme also saw special presentation by dancing icon Mingma D Lepcha who gave a solo performance followed by another performance by Becon Dance Crew of Namchi. A documentary show on progressive report of SDF government was also screened as a tribute on 25th anniversary of the party.

The first show of the newly inaugurated movie theatre started at 2:30pm with the release of a commercial movie ‘Commando 2’ for the audience.

By Yougan Tamang for TNT- The Northeast Today, inputs from Namo Dixit