PESHAWAR: After a long break of five and a half months, Peshawar cinema house witnessed overwhelming rush of visitors despite scorching heat and following of strict standard operating procedure as the cine-goers swarmed at the ticket boxes to get a seat in the cinema hall for the first day show.

The cine-goers were seen very excited and full of spirits to enjoy music, dance and action of their favourite stars on the sliver screens after a long break and home stay laden with stress, boredom and invisible fear.

Soon after the government’s announcement to reopen cinema houses and other public places, visitors from across the province marched towards Peshawar to watch Pashto flicks. Great rush of people was seen outside cinema houses.

On the first day, three shows went full house as the cine-goers were eager to quench their thirst and get rid of boredom and mental stress owing to lockdown by watching movies and enjoying old runs as no new Pashto film could roll out during pandemic amid fear of coronavirus.

People show up in large numbers to watch Pashto movies

The old Pashto flicks including Khair Day Ka Ghareeb Yam, Iqrar, Lambey, Moonga Loafaran Yoo, Shadal Zalmai, Badmashi Na Manam and Ma Kharabegay were shown in Arshad, Aiyena, Sabireena, Picture House, Tasvir-i-Mahal, Naaz, and Shama cinema houses.

Ticket for catching up a seat in cinema house was sold out at Rs150 and every visitor was asked to pay additional Rs10 for buying mask and go through a sanitizer walk through gate as instruction regarding six feet social distance was duly followed.

Salih Mohammad, manager of Aiyena and Sabireena Cinema houses told this scribe that no visitor was allowed to violate SOP set by the government. The good thing was that the eager visitors fully cooperated with the cinema administration and despite scorching heat great rush was witnessed and an encouraging response was received on the very first day shows, which went well, he added.

Fareed Shinwari, a resident of Landi Kotal, said that he worked in Lahore but came on Eid holidays to enjoy Pashto flick in a Peshawar cinema house. He said that he along with his friends watched old runs of Arbaz Khan and Shahid Khan.

Shahid Usman, Pashto film director, when approached, said that although Pashto film industry suffered a lot, yet his colleagues were determined to keep it alive.

“Seeing the spirit of the cine-goers today, I am hopeful that Pashto film industry will continue to produce quality stuff to entertain its viewers. Visitors enjoyed even the old Pashto runs they had watched on last year Eid. Once again they turned up in a large number to enjoy it,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2020