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Metro INOX Cinemas

cinema in Mumbai, India

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ6824505 ↗
Source-derived summary

Metro INOX Cinemas (formerly Metro Big Cinema (2008–2016), Metro Adlabs (2006–2008) and Metro Cinema (1938–2006)) is an Art Deco Heritage grade IIA multiplex Movie theater in Mumbai, India built in 1938. It was built and originally run by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The main architect of the cinema was Thomas W. Lamb of New York City, and D. W. Ditchburn (Senior partner of the architectural firm Ditchburn Mistry and Bhedwar) of Mumbai was the associate architect.

It was one of the main sites targeted in the 2008 Mumbai attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba.

History

Metro is located in the Dhobitalao area of Mumbai. The Art Deco cinema opened on 5 June 1938, and initially exhibited movies made by MGM. The interior, floors, walls, ceilings as well as the furniture, was in shades of red and pink. Patrons were serviced by liveried ushers in the marble foyer and staircases, which led up to murals by students of the Sir J. J. School of Art, under Charles Gerard. In 1955 Metro was the venue for the first Filmfare Awards night.

Transformation into multiplex

Despite such achievements, Metro could not stand up to the multiplex invasion, it was becoming difficult to fill up the 1,491 seats. The promoters decided to transform the old cinema into a multiplex, while also restoring its original art-deco interiors.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Metro INOX Cinemas” as cinema in Mumbai, India. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008, 2016, 2006, 1938—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1938-06-05. The account is most persuasive where Metro, INOX and Cinemas can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as cinema in Mumbai, India. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6824505. Authority coordinates are 18.943, 72.829. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2016, 2006 and 1938.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Metro INOX Cinemas”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Metro INOX Cinemas primary sources, Metro INOX Cinemas archive and Metro research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Metro INOX Cinemas”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Metro INOX Cinemas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.