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THEAT RICS: Cinema hall with a history
In Italian, it means a baby. But for the city of Karachi, Bambino is one of the oldest movie theatres which has survived the onslaught of videos, satellite channels and cable networks and continues to entertain people with movies, old and new.
The movie theatre has changed hands from the Zardaris to the Shamsis and is now owned by the sons of Sheikh Imtiaz.
Wazir, who has been selling tickets for decades and knows the history of the cinema hall in and out, recounts that the first movie to be presented in it’s 900-seat hall was South Pacific. It was well received. Another movie which none of the 60s generation will ever forget, was the Hollywood classic Cleopatra. Young Karachiites sat with their Elvis Presley puffs and pointed shoes and watched with awe, Elizabeth Taylor playing the Queen of Egypt and seducing Mark Antony (Richard Burton). Lawrence of Arabia, Lord Jim and Triple Cross were other Hollywood hits, screened in the same decade.
In the 70s, the movie which did record business was director Nazrul Islam’s Aina, starring Nadeem and Shabnam. Mehnaz and Alamgir’s famous duet Mujhe dil se na bhulana, echoed in the hall for 11 months. Shabnam’s Anmol and Awaz were also big hits. Chengiz Khan and Fighting Fist were popular English flicks of that time.
In the ’70s, the movie which did record business was director Nazrul Islam’s Aina, starring Nadeem and Shabnam. Mehnaz and Alamgir’s famous duet Mujhe dil se na bhulana, echoed in the hall for 11 months
In the 80s came Noor Jehan all the way from Bombay’s Bollywood. Its producer Sheikh Mukhtiar, had migrated to Pakistan and acquired rights for it’s exhibition from General Zia ul Haq’s military regime. Higher ups of the local industry protested but Bambino’s management took a stand. At last Pakistani fans of Pakeezah’s Meena Kumari, got a chance to see her larger-than-life-figure, decked up in a knee-length peshwaz and tight chooridar, dancing around Mughal gardens and moving her chiselled lips over Asha Bhosle’s, “Allah, allah kitney piyarey din aagaey.” For many Karachiites, those moments were memorable indeed. Lollywood’s Miss Hong Kong starring Babra Sharif, and Hollywood’s The Living Daylight were other hits of the 80s.
Come 90s and the biggest hit was director Shamim Ara’s, Munda Bigrra Jayey. A young Babar Ali, freshly enticed from PTV, pranced around a dancing Reema. The movie’s success was celebrated by the crowning of it’s director Shamim Ara, at Bambino theatre. Jurrassic Park, released simultaneously at Nishat, also did good business during the 90s.
Presently Mian Rashid has the contract for releasing new movies at the cinema. They have been presenting a variety of movies from director Iqbal Kashmiri’s Border (Urdu), to Perwaiz Rana’s Wehshi Jat (Punjabi).
Bambino has had its share of dark moments too. As the General Manager Manzoor Jalbani recalls, in 1992, during the interval of an English movie, a time bomb was detected underneath a vacant seat. The management got the cinema immediately vacated and contacted the bomb disposal squad. But by the time they arrived the bomb had already exploded, damaging the ceiling, walls and screen and leaving a deep crater at the site of the explosion. The management suffered a loss of rupees six lacs, but their timely action prevented human casualties. The insurance companies refused to entertain the case.
In the year 2000, with declining business and rising taxes, the owners decided to close down and build a shopping mall at the same site. The builders were contacted, payments were made, but the provincial government intervened and the cinema reopened after a lapse of 18 months. Karachi’s fun-starved citizens were spared the closure of another quality theatre. It’s reopening proved to be a good omen. The military government fixed the entertainment tax which reduced the payment of hefty taxes and also the hassle of running around the excise offices.
As the management plans to install a modern digital sound system in the near future, Bambino (now 39 years old) stands smiling alongside sisters Lyric, Scala and Star. They are once again a big, happy family on Karachi’s busy Agha Khan III Road.
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