In the late 40s, the area around Rabindra Sarovar was swampy and deserted. Old-timers say it was then a happy hunting ground for jackals. The Army had a camp there. Subsequently, this area became popular with a lot of non-Bengali residents of Kolkata. It was here that the foundation of Menoka was laid in 1948 by Pulinkrishna Roy. He had gone to watch a film but was very disappointed when he didn't get a good seat. Upset, he decided to establish a cinema for his own viewing pleasure. He owned three tea estates, the biggest of which was in Assam. One tea estate in Kurseong was called Gauri Shankar garden. Pulinkrishna sold it off and the new owners called it Castleton. The other estate in upper Assam was called Gopal Krishna garden. Yearly Brahmaputra floods would result in major losses in the tea garden. Pulinkrishna sold that off too. The big garden in lower Assam, which is still owned by the Roy family, is called Menoka Garden. Pulinkrisha had bought a plot of land in the late 30s at Kumartuli Park where he built a mansion for the family. On Sarat Chatterjee Avenue, a big plot of land was bought. That is where now stands Menoka. Films started being screened from 1950 onwards. Initially, Bengali films were screened there. Since that area had a predominant non-Bengali population, bigger success came by screening Hindi movies. This South Kolkata cinema later became one of the most prominent destinations for screening Hindi blockbusters. During the China war, the night shows were cancelled. Bobby, Sholay, Guide and Nache Mayuri had silver jubilees here. Dev Anand had come down here for Guide (1965) while Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu came for Bairaag (1976). Raj Kapoor had come for the screening of Mera Naam Joker (1970). Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi came for Amar Akbar Antony (1977). Aakhree Rasta (1986) and Amar Akbar Antony were such huge his there that cops had to be called to ensure there were no problems during ticket sales. Hum Apke Hain Kaun had run for a year in this cinema in 1994. Aamir Khan had come for the release of Laagan there in 2001. Pulinkrishna's grandson, Pranab Kumar Roy, now looks after Menoka. Hum Aapke Hai Koun was recorded in four tracks. The machine required to run it was only available at Menoka and Hind. When Gupt released in 1997, Menoka used Dolby digital for screening the prints. Subsequently, UFO digital projection was introduced here. When Akshay Kumar and Rajanikant released 2.0 in 2018, 3D Dolby digital was introduced. Much earlier, a different technology was used to screen Shiva Ka Insaaf in 3D here as well as Elite in 1985. Paper glasses were used for screening the print of this film in 3D format. Menoka still has those machines required for screening those prints. However, they are currently of no use. During the pandemic, the hall had to be closed. After some back and forth of closure and reopening, it now remains open.