Amrapali Films Ltd
The Company was promoted by Late Kashi Prasad Kataruka who was amongst the first exhibitor in Bihar. He had promoted the Company for construction of another cinema hall on the vacant portion of the plot of land where another cinema hall, Elphinstone Picture Palace, already existed since 1929 and had been owned by Kataruka family since 1944.
The construction of Mona 70mm had started in April 1978 and it was inaugurated on Jan. 18, 1980, with the iconic 70mm 6-track stereophonic sound film Star Wars. As was the norm during those days, Mona 70mm too had a massive seating capacity of 1361 – 468 seats in balcony and 893 in lower stalls. It was also the first 70mm cinema hall with Photophone projectors and 6-track stereophonic sound system.
Mona 70mm was closed down in June 2007 for a massive renovation, rejuvenation and refurbishment. The concrete slab of balcony was extended right up to where the screen existed. The lower stalls floor were levelled, wall between the stalls and its foyer was removed thereby creating a floor plate of approx... 7000 sq. ft. which was later leased on rent.
The pitch between balcony rows was increased from 900mm to 1100mm and modern contemporary seats from Krishna Quinette were installed. Auditorium carpet and underlying foam were installed by F & F. Cinemeccanica projector with 3-platters, Dolby CP650 processor, Crown amplifiers, Klipsch Stage & Surround speakers and sub-woofers were installed by Electrorama, New Delhi. The structural additions and alterations were done using retro-fitting technique. All these works were carried out under the design of the leading architectural consultants: Mathur & Kapre Associates Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
The renovated cinema hall with the seating capacity of 442 was inaugurated by Mr. Sushil K. Modi, Deputy Chief Minister, Govt. of Bihar, on Jan. 14, 2007. At that time, it was the first cinema Dolby Digital screen in Bihar.
In April 2017, Mona 70mm has become the first Dolby Atmos screen in Eastern India.