Regal Building
Description:
The first buildings to come up in Connaught Place and houses a popular cinema hall. Jackals and wild pigs still roamed the area when it was being built. Initially Regal Cinema could not attract many patrons but soon it became very popular with Delhi’s rich elite. There used to be a bar in the lobby for gentlemen and a special matinee show for ladies.
Regal has a porch which is forever plastered with colourful, sometimes lewd, film posters. The pavement has been taken over for all manner of activity. There are booksellers, ice-cream vendors, curio shops, music shops, lottery ticket booths and weighing machines – all pressed together cheek by jowl. Regal has fallen on bad times since its glorious heydays. It is a rather seedy, ill-kempt theatre.
A part from the cinema, the building is home to shops and restaurants too. One of the earliest stores in the block was the Army and Navy Store which has now closed down. and in its place stand the Khadi Gramodyog Bhawan. But one place that’s a must is the Standard Bakery which turns out excellent softies, pastries and masala kulchas (a type of spicy bread).
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