Hazratganj
Officially called Queensway, perhaps this period was the heyday of Hazratganj, when it became a centre of fashion, much merry-making, and a true commercial hub. The Prince of Wales Theatre (later Prince Cinema) was the first cinema hall of Hazratganj, which traced its origin from the Prince of Wales’ visit in 1876. In 1934, the Plaza (then Regal, then Filmistan, and present-day Sahu), came up in the parking space in front of Prince cinema. Capitol opened in 1937, all three halls serving the purpose of cinema as well as theatre performances. 1939 saw the inauguration of the Mayfair building, with the Mayfair cinema, a bar and a ballroom. The Ambassador Restaurant and Dance Hall came up subsequently In the ‘30s; Royal Café, then situated in the Halwasiya Court was famous for its live band. Valerio’s Tea Room and dance floor functioned from the present premises of the Gandhi Ashram!! An English departmental store, Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co. existed where the present LIC building now stands. Other prominent British shops included AN James & Co. (pharmacy), Murray & Co. (general merchants), SH Clarke & Co. (photographers) and Anderson’s (tailors). Among the Parsee outlets, Sohrabjee (wine merchants), Minoo & Dinshaw (watches, cutlery) and Taraporewala (sewing machines) were the most well known.

Drinking, dancing, seeing risqué live shows, enjoying (authentic) Chinese dinners, buying the latest trousseaus imported from London – colonial Huzrutgunge had it all. It was truly the place to be at that point of time. Perhaps Hazratganj will never see such Bohemian, carefree days again.

Independence and Afterwards

World War II and India’s subsequent Independence had a sobering effect on Hazratganj. From drinking, dancing and dining, people gravitated to coffee shops, confectioneries and sedate dinners. Stricter rules of censorship ensured that risqué shows like The Hotcha Girls faded into oblivion. Prohibition ensured strict control of liquor sales, use of electricity for commercial purposes was restricted, and construction of non-essential buildings (a Nehruvian concept) had a telling effect on Hazratganj’s carefree days. Who says that freedom doesn’t come at a price? For Lucknowites, freedom came, perhaps at the cost of another kind of freedom – the freedom to be carefree and enjoy life.

Novelty cinema opened in Lalbagh in 1947, followed by Basant in 1948. Restaurants like Kwality’s (Mayfair building), Ranjana, Annapurna and New India Coffee House (Prince building), Kay’s Kozy Korner (Jehanagirabad Mansion) and Chinese restaurants like Jone Hing and Simson continued to draw crowds of the indigenous kind. The most unique of them all was the India Coffee House, started in 1938, in the premises of the Jehangirabad Mansion, which became a center for the gathering of city intellectuals after independence. Post-partition, the influx of refugees from Pakistan created a drastic change in the market dynamics of Hazratganj. The customers’ profiles also changed. Kiosks, shanties and encroachments came up, changing the look of the market forever. An agglomeration of such kiosks before the regular shops in the Beg building (opposite the DRM’s office), created the now defunct, yet famous Lovers’ Lane, where the space between shops was so narrow that jostling and body-brushing became inevitable. Over time, Lovers’ Lane acquired an USP of its own, and people went ‘ganjing’ or loitering in the market, for the sole reason of crossing Lovers’ Lane, not once, but several times over.

Taken from the article "HAZRATGANJ II: A CENTER OF FASHION AND MERRY MAKING" by P C Sarkar