RAWALPINDI: Another cinema, one of the oldest in the cantonment area of Rawalpindi, has been pulled down for the construction of a shopping mall at its site.

Capital Cinema stood on two kanals at the corner of Bank Road and the Cantonment Police Station Road. The building was constructed in 1919 by Roshan Lal and was part of a chain of cinema houses spread across northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, including Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar.

After partition in 1947, the cinema houses in Rawalpindi were handed over to Syed Tahir Hussain in lieu of his property which he left in India.

Capital Cinema screened some of the biggest blockbuster English, Urdu, Punjabi and Pashto films till 2016 when it was closed due to a slump in business. The owner then sold the building and its buyer decided to pull down the structure and raise a shopping mall at the site.

Owner says NOC taken for construction of eight-storey building at site of Capital Cinema

The building was the best example of old artistry and it attracted crowds of movie lovers due to its location. Now as the building is dismantled, there exists only its signboard on the Cantonment Police Station Road. The building’s wooden floor and the abandoned ticket counter still depict the stories of its golden days.

Meanwhile, other old cinemahouses are also being demolished to give way to lucrative business activities. Novelty Cinemaat Kashmiri Bazaar and Gulistan Cinemaon Committee Chowk have already been turned into commercial plazas while Rose,Moti Mahal, Odean and Plaza cinemas have partially been closed. In Saddar, Ciros Cinemais still open but only stage shows are held there.

Jamal Khan, the manager of the new ownerof Capital Cinema, told Dawn that after arrival of internet people lost attraction in cinema houses.

“We had no other option but to convert the place into a shopping mall.” He said the structure had been pulled down and soon the construction of a shopping mall will be started.

“We already have gotten a no-objection certificate from the RCB to convert it into a shopping mall,” he added.

“The business of cinema houses has reduced as people do not visit even Kohistan Plaza cinepax which has also been closed for many months.” He said an eight-storey building would be constructed at the site of Capital Cinema.

Contrary to his claim, however, movie lovers are still visiting modern cinema houses located at Jinnah Park and Bahria Town as the city’s old cinemahouses have lost attraction due to their poor condition and lack of facilities.

The residents say they have stopped visiting the downtown cinema houses due to their poor environment and lack of facilities. They keep visitors waiting for long, force them to sit in stuffy halls with bug-infested seats and poor sound system, said a resident. He acknowledged that many people had stopped visiting cinemahouses as they prefer watching movies at home.

Mohammad Asim, a resident of the cantonment area, said old cinemahouses had failed to ensure proper arrangements and friendly environment due to which people preferred going to modern cinemahouses or watching movies at homes.

“The selection of movies, including Indian and English and better environment pullcrowds,” he said.

Ashar Khan, a resident of Westridge, said people wanted to go to out to watch movies but the environment in the old cinemas was not good.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2024