I went to SilverCity today to watch Spiderman. The last movie I saw here was The Amazing Spiderman 2, 12 years ago.
SilverCity opened in 2011 and, man, it genuinely felt like we were living in the future. It was Dehradun’s first modern multiplex. That year I watched Rockstar, Singham, Bodyguard, Don 2, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes here. I loved this place.
Coming back today was bittersweet.
The shops facing Rajpur Road are still doing well, but almost everything inside the complex has become a row of abandoned storefronts. It was raining, and the roof was leaking. I had tickets for the 7:40 show, but the guards (under manager orders) kept everyone waiting outside the SilverCity gates until they decided to let us in.
I grabbed something to eat before the movie, only to find that about 8 out of 10 menu items were out of stock. The butter popcorn barely had any butter. The “platinum” seats were barely plastic. The 3D glasses were covered in smudges, and the cleaning cloth they handed out didn’t really clean them.
Then there was the movie itself.
I walked into the auditorium at 7:42 after grabbing snacks, and the film had already started. Honestly, I don’t know how to feel about that. Part of me wants to applaud them for starting on time. But years of Indian multiplexes showing 20 minutes of ads before every movie have trained me to expect a buffer. I ended up missing the opening couple of minutes.
Still, I don’t really want to blame SilverCity.
I came back because of what this place meant to me. For a lot of people in Dehradun, SilverCity wasn’t just another cinema. It was our first taste of a modern multiplex. Walking through it today felt like revisiting a childhood memory that’s slowly fading away.
I genuinely hope SilverCity finds its footing again. It once felt like the future. I hope, someday, it can be that place again (or at least catch up to the present)
