Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday inaugurated two multipurpose cinema halls in south Kashmir’s Pulwama and Shopian districts, saying people especially the younger generation have waited for a long time for this moment.
Calling it a “historic day”, Sinha’s office tweeted photos of the LG attending a screening of the 2013 Bollywood movie ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. Sinha sat with Kashmir divisional commissioner Pandurang K Pole and additional director general of police Vijay Kumar as security personnel stood guard inside the hall.
“A historic day for J&K UT! Inaugurated multipurpose cinema halls at Pulwama and Shopian,” Sinha’s office tweeted. “It offers facilities ranging from movie screening, infotainment and skilling of youth.”
(Do we know the names of the cinema halls?)
The development comes ahead of opening of Kashmir’s first INOX multiplex in Srinagar’s Sonwar area next week. The multiplex will have three movie theatres with a total capacity of 520 seats.
In Kashmir Valley, nearly a dozen standalone cinema halls were functioning till the late 1980s, but they were forced to shut in the early 1990s amid spread of terrorism.
Though authorities made attempts to reopen some of the theatres in the late 1990s, the same were thwarted after terrorists carried out a deadly grenade attack on Regal Cinema in the heart of Lal Chowk in September 1999, killing one person on the day the theatre was reopened. Two other theatres — Neelam and Broadway — had also opened in high security areas of Srinagar but were closed again. Many cinema halls have been converted into shopping complexes, nursing homes while some have been occupied by the paramilitary forces.
{{/usCountry}}Though authorities made attempts to reopen some of the theatres in the late 1990s, the same were thwarted after terrorists carried out a deadly grenade attack on Regal Cinema in the heart of Lal Chowk in September 1999, killing one person on the day the theatre was reopened. Two other theatres — Neelam and Broadway — had also opened in high security areas of Srinagar but were closed again. Many cinema halls have been converted into shopping complexes, nursing homes while some have been occupied by the paramilitary forces.
{{/usCountry}}“We will build such multipurpose cinema halls in every district of Jammu and Kashmir soon,” Sinha told reporters in Pulwama. “Today, I dedicate such cinema halls to the youth of Pulwama and Shopian.”
Establishment of these cinema halls has been undertaken by the J&K government’s mission youth department in collaboration with district administrations. Cinema halls in Anantnag, Srinagar, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Doda, Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar and Reasi will be inaugurated soon, the J&K administration said.
“Cinema is a powerful creative medium which reflects culture, values and aspirations of the people. It opens the door to the world of knowledge, new discoveries, and enables people to get a better understanding of each other’s cultures,” Sinha said.
“J&K has a long association with the world of cinema. The new film policy and facilities created has once again made J&K a favourite shooting destination and brought back the golden era of film-making in the UT,” he added.
While the cinema halls are aimed at catering different purposes, besides movie screening, the development comes amid efforts by the Jammu & Kashmir Film Development Council (JKFDC) to promote the Union territory as a destination for shooting and production of movies and shows.
“They have an overall seating capacity of up to 100 each. They have multimedia technology which will be used for skill enhancement like BPO training, attending lectures from technical persons and completing courses run by mission youth,” Kashmir divisional commissioner Pandurang K Pole told HT.
These facilities will be run by the government, he said. “These are multipurpose halls for educational, scientific, social awareness and information dissemination besides the cinema use.”