A couple of years back, riding high on the Hyderabadi revivalistic tendencies brewed up by the Prasads and the Eat Streets, Shaan cinema decided to flex a muscle or two of its own. It upholstered away, clad it all in velvet, and rechristened itself as the more elite and updated "Glory".

It was perhaps an exercise in futility. In Mallepally, you can never run out of audiences, and you can never change them. The apna local theater here, Glory continues to have the same loads that Shaan had - of gutkha-chewing neighbourhood men in baggy trousers, and children and teens bunking from the jumma namaaz, thronging for a glimpse of the topless Sallu in No Entry or Sanju doing his Dus Number. You can renovate all you want, take 3 column ads, and call George Bush for the inauguration, but the next day, you're still at Mallepally.

The seats are better than they used to be in Shaan, but not what you would term comfort seating. The A/C works at times. There is a small caféteria, and blissfully, there are fewer paan stains now. However, the stench from the loos will warn off anyone falling into the trap of expecting a good experience. You don't have to be bothered about advance booking or tele-booking - the local goons doing the thees-ka-pachaas will teach you that it's never too late.