Despite no accurate date of its foundation still being available, there is proof of the fact that New Empire was founded in the early 1930s. Word goes that this theatre was founded in 1932. Close by was the Brandman's Empire Theatre (Roxy). That’s why this theatre was christened as New Empire. Movie screenings began here in the middle of the 1930s. Plays and other musical performances were also hosted here. From Rabindranath Tagore to Lord and Lady Mountbatten to Jawaharlal Nehru — the who’s who of the world came down here. The performers included the likes of Yehudi Menuhin to Zubin Mehta to Uday and Amala Shankar. From the 1960s onwards, New Empire was solely devoted to screening movies. There as a period when Warner Brothers took a lease of New Empire. Their name was carved on its wall too. This continued between 1970 and 1989.