Variety Hall Road was an important point in Coimbatore, for it was attached to the entry and exit point of the Railway Station, in addition to being a part of the business district.

The Edison Theatre was located on this busy road, and it donned many roles during its early years. The theatre was home to a lot of plays, and later on, it was used exclusively to screen movies. The Europeans and members of the defence force posted in Coimbatore used to congregate at Edison on occasions like Christmas and New Year, in order to celebrate. The ground floor used to double up as the dance floor, while the balcony was occupied by the orchestra.

Edison used to be well decorated on those occasions. The theatre did not have a sound system during the early years. A narrator used to render the story and dialogues from a small stage near the screen. Coimbatoreans saw many ‘silent movies’ that way before the films started to ‘talk.’ It was the Vincent family that gave it the name ‘Swami,’ after the first movie millionaire of India, Swamikannu Vincent, who resided nearby in his large palatial mansion.

Radio and cinema were the most popular forms on entertainment. People of Coimbatore were lucky to have seven cinema halls within an area of one kilometre. Swami Theatre was really close to not only the people of the town, but also the workers of Coimbatore’s first three spinning mills – C.S & W, Kaleeswarar, and Somasundaram.

A number of national leaders and movie icons have been to this ancient theatre. Traders of those times used to watch a movie at Swami Theatre, and have idlis, vadas, soaked in sambar along with masala roast and Badam halwa at Bombay Anand Bhavan, in Big Bazaar Street, during World War II. Now, Rathna Residency Hotel occupies the premises that was home to Swami Theatre.

The people of old Coimbatore, who belonged to the pioneering era, used to visit and enjoy the quality entertainment offered at Swami Theatre.