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Kashmir set to get its first multiplex today
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha will inaugurate Kashmir’s first multiplex in Srinagar on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha will inaugurate Kashmir’s first multiplex in Srinagar on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.
Developed in collaboration with leading theatre chain INOX, the multiplex at Shivpora, near Badami Bagh Cantonment, consists of three movie theatres with a total capacity of 520 seats.
The opening will be marked with a special screening of Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha. Regular shows, however, will begin from September 30.
“For us, this is a big dream which has come true. Tomorrow, LG Manoj Sinha will inaugurate the multiplex and regular shows will start from September 30,” Vikas Dhar, owner of the multiplex, said.
“Tomorrow, we will screen Lal Singh Chaddha for our guests,” he added.
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.
“Sitting in the cinema will be a new experience for movie buffs. We have installed state of art equipment. And it will all be a different experience than what it used to be 30 years ago in cinema halls of Kashmir,” Dhar said.
“When we decided to open a multiplex in Kashmir, profit was never in our mind. We wanted to give our people entertainment and hope people will join in good numbers to watch movies once the regular shows begin,” Dhar said.
A team of CRPF personnel along with sniffer dogs carried out an inspection of the multiplex on Monday. “Our special emphasis is on the security of the multiplex. Besides the security provided by the government, we have also deployed private security personnel for the safety of people,” Dhar said.
