Cinema returns to Srinagar after 30 years: ‘Who will spend 1500?’

Cinema is making a comeback in Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, after 30 years, but residents are still confused about its usefulness.

Abdul Qayyum, a resident of Srinagar in the nineties, has been a fan of Indian films. He remembers the time when he used to go to the cinema with his friends to watch Karandan films.

Abdul Qayyum told Independent Urdu that ‘We used to sit on broken chairs and watch cinema. Now multiplexes will have Dunlop chairs. Who will spend fifteen hundred? The conditions here are such that I will not be able to say whether the new cinema will work or not.’

In the early 1990s, Indian-administered Kashmir witnessed an armed insurgency against Indian rule in the region.

As violence in the region escalated, cinema halls in Kashmir were closed after militants threatened to attack them.

In September 2022, the first multiplex cinema is opening in Srinagar city after three decades.

There were 15 cinema halls in the Kashmir Valley before the 1990s. By the early 1990s, the number of active cinemas had dropped to around eight.

Now that the first multiplex is about to open in Srinagar, the population, especially the youth, is expressing mixed feelings about it.

An old cinema in Srinagar which has been closed since the nineties and is now a ruin (Image: Screengrab: Najam Saqib)

Speaking to Independent Urdu, Mehek Yusuf, a student of Srinagar Girls College, said, “Initially, a lot of people will go there to watch the cinema.” I think it is not wrong because Kashmiris go out and watch movies, so if a cinema opens here, it might be good.’

Ruchika Sharma hails from Jammu where cinemas already exist. But now he is staying in Srinagar to study. He told Independent Urdu that ‘recently we have seen that cinema is opening here again after three decades. I think it could become a tourist attraction.’

Wajahat is also a student of a private college in Srinagar. He says, ‘When the multiplex opens here. Young people will go there. If they see the film, it is obvious that they will adopt it, which will have a more negative impact on our culture.’

In this state of confusion, Abdul Qayyum still remembers the time when there were eight cinema houses in Srinagar.

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He told Independent Urdu that ‘We used to sit at the shop. The last show at the cinema was from nine to 12. We used to go to the cinema with friends. There used to be eight cinema houses here. There was Neelam, there was Regal, there was Broadway Home Cinema and there was Shah Cinema.’

He said in a sighing voice, ‘It used to be great fun. Then there were such situations that the cinema was closed.’

The first cinema to open in Srinagar after 30 years will also be a 520-seat multiplex and has three halls.

Multiplex is located in Shivpura area of ​​Srinagar which is near Badam Bagh Army Cantonment.

Vikas Dhar, the owner of the multiplex, told Independent Urdu that the idea of ​​building a multiplex came to us three to four years ago. We saw that the youth here have no source of entertainment.

‘As a family we thought of what to do here that would entertain all members of the family, including the youngsters. After brainstorming, we decided that the film is something that is rarely seen in Kashmir. But not at all. It’s something we should grow.’

“It’s something that has so far been appreciated by the government and the local people,” says Vikas. This will provide some relief to the youth of Kashmir in the coming days.

‘The whole family will come early in the morning. Will watch a couple of movies. Will go back in the evening after having some food etc.’

Abdul Qayyum believes that a lot has changed in thirty years. Now the residents of Srinagar are not as happy as they used to be. So it’s hard to come back to the past.

Exterior view of Srinagar’s first multiplex cinema building (Photo/Screengrab: Najam Saqib)

He said that ‘the past time never comes back. This is the biggest thing. The time when we were little. It was youth. They used to go out. There were no problems or difficulties. They used to come home late at night.’

‘If we talk about Platinum Cinema 30 years ago, there used to be peddlers. A ticket of one and a half rupees was available. Where did we get that one and a half rupees? They used to collect ticket money from their father or four-fours.

Deputy Mayor of Srinagar Pervaiz Ahmed Qazi told Independent Urdu that ‘All business centers close here after six or seven o’clock or eight o’clock.

It is impossible to run a cinema in such a situation. People don’t even go out of their houses for the last 30 years, but here people return home at six or seven o’clock.’

Speaking to Independent Urdu, Haya Javed, a resident of Srinagar, said, ‘The situation after the nineties has changed people’s outlook and they are not much inclined towards entertainment.’