Reeling in the years

Apple of the eye: Sat right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Coliseum Lotus 5 Star cinema is the embodiment of tradition catching up with the times.

WHEN the curtains first parted in Coliseum Theatre in 1920 on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, Hollywood wouldn’t have fathomed that 14,000km away, on the other side of the world, the Malaysian public would get to watch a movie for the first time on the silver screen. Nearly 100 years later, even after having survived the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the cinema stands tall as the beacon of the traditional movie-going experience in Malaysia, being the first theatre in the country.

Hands have naturally changed over the years, and today, Lotus 5 Star Cinemas (who took the lease from owners, the Chua family) screens Tamil and Hindi movies, and English and Malay blockbusters, too, at Coliseum Lotus 5 Star, which was officially launched in March with then Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim gracing the special occasion.