This has been an eventful week. From the North of India to the South, news related to the film industries have dominated the discussions on television news channels as well as the social media. That is because there is some positive news and there is also news that fails to make sense.
The best news of the week is the return of cinema screens in Srinagar. The IMAX chain has revived the cinema business in Kashmir after a gap of 30 years following the start of militancy and terrorism in the late 1980s. The Kashmir valley had as many as nine cinema halls. That was the single-screen era.
Jammu and Kashmir was a part of the East Punjab territory as it was known in the film trade (West Punjab having gone to Pakistan). The valley was fittingly described as heaven on earth where a lot many films were shot. In fact, it was a favourite location to shoot romantic songs as well as the place where romances started. Also, the contribution of Jammu and Kashmir to the talent pool of the film industry was commendable.
Three decades ago, when there was peace, like the rest of the country, Kashmiris too enjoyed the movie-watching experience. My job at that time was to transcribe the cinema collections that came through telegrams and, later on fax, for a trade paper I worked for. There was nothing abnormal, the Kashmiri loved or rejected a film just like any other circuit. But things changed. There were no collection figures from Kashmir to compile.
When the insurgency began, the idea seemed to create panic and cinemas being public places were targeted. A bomb blast at one of the cinemas put paid to the exhibition trade. Efforts to revive the cinemas in the 1990s were not successful.
Built by Vijay Dhar, the cinema will add to the IMAX chain and will bring the movie-viewing experience back for the people of Srinagar and the nearby areas when it opens to the public on September 30 with ‘Vikram Vedha’ and Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ (PS)-1.
–By Vinod Mirani