The Uphaar Cinema Project invites viewers into a hauntingly preserved world, frozen in time since the devastating fire of 1997. Once a bustling symbol of community and entertainment, the abandoned cinema now stands as a poignant memory capsule amidst the ever-evolving urban landscape.

The work incorporates original artifacts—charred film negatives, handwritten documents, and burnt pages from 1997, including a page from the Delhi High Court lawsuit against the cinema owners. These relics, preserved against all odds, are digitized and presented to reveal a moment suspended between the past and present.

Photographed entirely using natural light filtering through the fractured roof and shattered windows, the images emphasize the raw and unaltered state of the space. This deliberate approach immerses the viewer in the atmosphere of the abandoned structure, where history and memory converge in silence.

The exhibition explores themes of loss, resilience, and the enduring presence of history in forgotten spaces. Each photograph serves as a window into the tension between preservation and decay, inviting reflection on the fragility of memory and the stories that linger in the objects we leave behind. This collection of images transforms a site of devastation into a space for remembrance, reflection, and connection—reminding us of the delicate interplay between destruction and survival in the narratives we carry forward.

Ultimately, the Uphaar Cinema Project is an exploration of memory in its rawest form—charred, imperfect, and enduring—captured through a lens that brings the past back into focus.