In May 2006, Star theatre was leased out to Priya Entertainment by the Left Front-ruled civic body in a bid to revive the heritage address on Bidhan Sarani. The lease expired on March 31 and the Trinamul Congress-run Calcutta Municipal Corporation has given Priya Entertainment the boot, slammed the way Star was being run for these five years and decided to reclaim its reins.

Metro caught up with Arijit Dutta of Priya Entertainment to hear his side of the story.

■ CMC POINT: The CPM-led board had leased out the hall at a throwaway price and allowed a private player to use the hall at its liberty.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: I never went forward and asked anybody to allow us to run Star theatre. It was the CMC who wanted us to help them out around five-and-a-half years back. So we did. And anybody who lives in north Calcutta knows how Star went on to become a centre of attraction for everyone.

■ CMC POINT: There was a bar and a disco running inside Star theatre.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: Forget bars and discos, there has never been any drinking on the premises. We have always maintained a very clean atmosphere where families can come and have a good time.

■ CMC POINT: We will not allow anyone to tarnish Star’s heritage and historical sanctity.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: Priya Entertainment has always been committed to Bengali culture. My father (Asim Dutta) worked with the likes of Satyajit Ray and Tapan Sinha and we have produced films like Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and Haate Bajaare. Even today, we are the only multiplex chain (Bioscope) with one theatre dedicated for the performing arts. Our money is where our mouth is.

■ CMC POINT: The CPM-led board had leased Star out to a private operator and allowed it to mint money.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: We spent around Rs 1-1.25 crore on the infrastructure of the place. There was nothing, not even electrical connections. From wiring to all the machines, we installed everything. Any business takes time to stabilise. The first two years weren’t that great. The third year we got some power going. In the fourth and fifth years we started to make money. I am talking about running costs here, but if you look at what we spent on infrastructure, we would have taken another five years to cover our costs.

The government made a lot of money through Star. In the five years, they have earned Rs 2.67 crore through taxes: entertainment tax, VAT and sales tax. Plus, we paid the CMC Rs 55 lakh as lease rent during the period. Show me another civic body-run theatre or auditorium that is working and making money. Star theatre was a win-win situation for everyone concerned.

■ CMC POINT: Star theatre has become just a cinema hall.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: You cannot sustain Star with theatre. There are only 500 seats, of which 100 are usually by invitation. The ticket prices for those 400 seats would never be able to cover the kind of cost that is involved to stage a play.

Yet, in the five years we handled Star, there have been more than 600 cultural shows. We have tried to make it the hub of new Bangla cinema, of the urban variety. Just like Priya is in the south, we wanted Star to be in the north. Yes, there may have been big brand Bollywood films playing now and then, but we have always prioritised our Bengali cinema.

■ CMC POINT: We have directed the lessee to wind up its activities as Star is not being run properly.

■ DUTTA’S COUNTERPOINT: It’s really unfortunate what has happened. No one gains from this. Maybe there is a political issue somewhere. Too many dirty things are going on and the beautiful thing we have tried to create over the last five years is now gone. Just like that.