Ranga Theatre 70MM (Jeedimetla)

At first glance, the approach road to Ranga might resemble a dingy marketplace. But a sufficient parking space for cars, bikes and other wheelers blurs some of your initial impressions. Surviving close competition from its neighbor Bhujanga, this theater offers the latest Telugu flicks in an amenable atmosphere.

The interiors are spacious and furnished with good, comfortable seats. The loos emanate a heavy, sometimes suffocating odor of naphtalene. Otherwise, Ranga, with its replete snack stalls (from sandwiches to soft drinks to the Hyderabadi favorite - samosas) and a reasonable chunk of Telugu cinema, does succeed in keeping the audiences' attention fixed to the screen.

The unpleasant exteriors of the theater fade away from your mind once the reel starts rolling and you are transported into the fictional world of cinema to watch your favorite stars come to life. A word of caution - if the house is full and someone's already sitting in your chair, don't complain. He might be the local don.