Lights go out at historic Delhi cinema after 84 years

NEW DELHI - After years of slow but steady decline the colonial-era Regal cinema, a New Delhi institution, is enjoying a late flourishing - just as it is about to close its doors.

Manager Roop Ghai says families have been flocking to the crumbling white building at the heart of the Indian capital since learning that it is shutting down, a victim of competition from the gleaming multiplex cinemas springing up around the city.

"People are coming in much larger numbers than they have in recent years, especially older people, who have many memories linked to this cinema hall," he said at the Regal, which closes on Friday.