KARACHI, June 22: Nishat cinema on the M. A. Jinnah Road had a house-full show screening an action-filled thriller early on Saturday morning. The audience, however, were of a different kind.

The cinema volunteered to screen the Hollywood blockbuster, ”Rush Hour II”, provided by Mandviwalla Entertainments, for over 800 handicapped children from the SOS Village, the Ida Rieu School and College for the Deaf and Blind, Darul Sukoon, the Association for Retarded Children, Ma - Ayesha Institute and Scinosa.

The programme was organized jointly by noted artist and social worker Jimmy Engineer and the Sada Welfare Foundation. Snacks and cold drinks were also provided to the children during the interval by the cinema management and the foundation.

The special children thoroughly enjoyed the acrobatic fights of Jackie Chin, clapping, laughing and whistling at the comedy-filled scenes.

Jimmy Engineer, speaking on the occasion, expressed his pleasure at the children’s response making the show a huge success.

“It is difficult for parents of special children take them to cinemas during normal film shows, so they miss this kind of recreation that others enjoy as a matter of routine,” he said.

He said that Pakistan was still far from giving special children the privileges available to such children in the developed countries. He added that programmes aimed to highlight the issues faced by this section of the population that needed more assistance and care.

The artist hoped that with more such programmes a better understanding between these special people and the society could be developed. He also urged philanthropists to come forward and do whatever they could do to assist special people.

He said that Nishat and Star cinemas had volunteered to screen the films provided by the Mandviwalla Entertainments free of charge. And philanthropists could help by providing snacks and soft drinks for children during the shows.

Shirin Mandviwalla of Nishat Cinema, Huzurul Hassan Nawab and Rahmat K. Fazli of the Mandviwalla Entertainments, artist Farzana Naz and Fawzia Siddiqui of the foundation also spoke briefly.

The next show is expected to be held at Star Cinema in a couple of weeks.