One day, Umardin Karimbux, who built the Odeon Cinema Hall in Nakuru, was barred from accessing the only cinema hall in town for being an Asian. Back then, the cinema hall was only open to whites.
Angered by the incident, the young man, son of pioneer Indian Nakuru businessman Ibrahim Karimbux decided to put up a cinema hall that would serve all races. That is how Madil Karimbux’s house was out up and opened to operations in 1929. Today, the building is popularly known as Odeon Cinema, Nakuru.
The original hall was refurbished by Umardin’s son, Mohammed Karimbux, in 1957. In the same year, Dahyabhal K. Patel, who had gotten the franchise to run Odeon Cinema in East Africa took over the building and set up Nakuru’s Odeon Cinema.
Two years later, Dahyabhal sold the franchise but retained the Nakuru hall. He renamed it Odeon Theater.
The theatre changed hands several times over the years. Unfortunately, it operated only up to the mid-2000s and closed down leaving it a shell of its previous self.
But the light blue iconic building still stands strong. The UK logo for Umardin Karimbux and the original name, Madil Karimbux, can still be seen on the walls of the building can still be seen.
In the recent past, the building was sold to a church in Nakuru.