Cinema Ghar in Hyderabad was established in January 1999, as a tribute to Indian Cinema — "from the silence of Dadasaheb Phalke to the dazzle of Madhuri Dixit" as its architect, M.F.Hussain, succinctly puts it. A unique non-commercial venture, it is far removed from the conventional museum "where works of art are embalmed to stay dead in the archives of history". Instead, says Hussain, Cinema Ghar will celebrate art in its essential form, like a village festival. The motive is not revival but exploration.

The project stems from Hussain’s abiding passion for cinema from the early days when he was fascinated by the magic of the moving picture in the work of Fellini and P.C. Barua. At Cinema Ghar, Hussain ambitiously wants to restore cinema to the Yakshagana tradition – to see it in its pristine glory with minimum images and words, and to discover a new meaning to, and relationship between, living art forms.

Apart from Hussain’s paintings based on the theme mounted at the stylistically designed gallery and also promoting other artists interested in working on the theme, Cinema Ghar will present festivals of specially made five-minute silent black-and-white films. Built amidst an excellent scenery of rocky terrain, the huge building of Cinema Ghar is as stylistic as the artist himself!.