There is a simple enough reason behind Liberty Cinema's name. It's that the construction for the theatre in Marine Lines started in 1947, the year India gained her Independence, or liberty. And for 65 years after that, the space was dedicated solely to the screening of movies, says Errol Lobo, its administrator. But then something happened in 2012 that turned things around. "The Australian High Commission in Mumbai was hosting a celebration of their country's culture, part of which entailed a viewing of Fearless Nadia, a documentary on a yesteryear Bollywood actor of Australian origin. It was a silent film. But what the high commission did is that it flew down a full 13-piece orchestra to play live music that would accompany the scenes in the film," Lobo says. Then, a few months later in December, the Alliance Francaise also got a solo pianist to play accompanying music to Cagliostro, another silent film screened there. So, that's the year that marked this historic Art Deco cinema hall doubling up as a venue for live gigs.

The lobby inside Liberty Cinema