With ten cinema halls — Radha, Shree, Uttara, Bishwarupa, Purnashree, Rupbani, Minar, Mitra, Talkie Show House and Darpana — in a row along Bidhan Sarani, Shyambazar was called cinema neighbourhood. The Bengali films that they screened were particularly popular with the housewives, who used to crowd the afternoon shows. Talkie Show House in Phariapikur was an outlet mostly for English films. With the advent of television both theatre and cinema has been badly hit. However recently a reconstructured townhouse called Calcutta Bungalow in Shyambazar is gaining audience from international and national tourists.