It is official: the iconic Sangeet Theatre has now been repurposed into Medicare Hospital, and for many Hyderabadis, the diagnosis is heartbreak.
Once a landmark where cinematic culture and youthful romance bloomed, Sangeet is now a clinical, air-conditioned box promising health care in a neighborhood that already has plenty of it.
Why another hospital?
Social media has not taken kindly to the news. One post by @IamLee3609 summed up the collective frustration:
“Why a hospital again? The location requires a multiplex with entertainment, leisure, and an activity center. There are around half a dozen hospitals in a 1 km radius.”
The post snowballed into a digital obituary for Sangeet. From nostalgic food memories to first-date flashbacks, users across generations poured their hearts out:
“Iconic Sangeet Theatre 😢 vanished charm” – @sandeepsrao21
“My first movie was King Kong in the 1980s. After that, N number of memories.” – @ramakrishna_prasad
“Watching Jurassic Park here is a lifetime memory. A movie, a Thums Up, and a Dil Kush in the interval. Dil really gets Kush 😊” – @obsesso_cinema
The cultured theatre
More than just a screen and four walls, Sangeet Theatre had soul — and a syllabus. Though best known for screening English-language films, it carved a niche by curating a diverse and discerning catalogue: Indian parallel cinema, award-winning regional films, art-house classics, and retrospectives of masters like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Shyam Benegal.
It also regularly showcased world cinema with subtitles, introducing audiences to the likes of Kurosawa, Bergman, Truffaut, and Kieslowski long before OTTs made them fashionable. Film societies often collaborated with Sangeet to run special weekend screenings, making it a mini film school for the city’s thinking audience. For many, it was their first exposure to cinema as art, not just entertainment.
A theatre of first crushes
Unlike other theatres that focused on crowd-pulling blockbusters, Sangeet attracted a different demographic: the college-goer, the office newbie, the young-at-heart. It was the only theatre in the twin cities where educated youth gathered.
It was common to see young men arrive on not-too-fancy bikes or Chetaks – cars were a luxury then – with girlfriends confidently wrapping their arms around them as they walked into the show. That alone was radical in a city that, not long ago, side-eyed public displays of affection. It was a theatre of first crushes, first kisses, and first heartbreaks – with popcorn on the side.
From applause to silence
As one user remembered:
“After watching a re-release of Grease in the late 90s, the audience clapped like they do at Wimbledon or Lords!”
That kind of spontaneous, collective response will never echo through Medicare’s corridors.
City officials defend the move, citing the need for more specialized health care. But even this feels like a misdiagnosis to locals. There are already six hospitals within a kilometer. What the area lacked was a cultural lung, not another emergency room.
The missed opportunity
Could something have been salvaged? A hybrid facility with a restored facade? A Sangeet Museum? A film cafe with retro posters and sandwiches that people still remember?
Not. What we got instead is what one user dryly called:
“That’s progress there.”
To which another replied, “Progress for whom?”
Final credits
Sangeet was not just a theatre – it was a mirror of the city’s evolving tastes and identities. It played host to romance, rebellion, curiosity, and community. With its passing, Secunderabad has not just lost an iconic cinema but has lost a little piece of itself.
