India, Aug. 31 -- Long before streaming shrank cinema to a palm and multiplexes turned an outing into logistics, Delhi's single screens were the city's truest theatres of life. They were noisy, imperfect, unforgettable-queues curled around corners, the air smelled of popcorn and samosas, and strangers became co-conspirators in the dark, cheering on with whistles heroes and hissing at villains. To watch a film once was never enough; these halls were less about projection than participation, about aspiration flickering in 35mm.

Adding to the long list of lost landmarks of Delhi, two more single-screen theatres-Samrat Cinema in Shakurpur and the Naraina Cinema Hall-are set to disappear, cleared for demolition and redevelopment into commerci...