Peshawar forgotten by revival of cinema

Pakistani media may celebrate resurgence of films but cinemas in the K-P capital struggle to survive

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s media industry may be celebrating the revival of the local film industry, but for Peshawar at least, the cinema business seems to be in the throes of a slow death.

There was once a time when the city offered film aficionados choices from a range of cinema houses, some of which dated back to the pre-Partition era. The cinemas would screen films in both Urdu and Pashto languages, and residents of both Peshawar and other areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would consume them voraciously.



Now, however, the industry is a mere shadow of its old self as various factors drove one cinema owner after the other out business. Many old cinemas have been in demolished in favour of shopping malls and plazas. From 14 different cinemas back in the entertainment heyday, the K-P capital now has just eight and even those continue to face the perpetual threat of closure in the absence of any clear government policy and growing preference for digital alternatives.

“Our business started to slow down when the movie CDs and DVDs started flooding the market,” one cinema owner in Peshawar told The Express Tribune. “Later, cable services and high-definition televisions also robbed some of the charms which cinema had in the minds of movie watchers,” he said. “Why go to the cinema when you can watch your favourite films from the comfort of home.”

The advent of smartphones with large memory capacity and streaming services also dented a business already reeling from the losses incurred by the wave of terrorism that had swept across the country, the cinema owner added.

To make matters worse, dwindling revenues mean cinema owners have found it nigh impossible to upgrade their facilities to retain an edge against ever-advancing digital technologies. “Across the world, the cinema industry has gone through major innovations. The projection has been digitised and there have been remarkable advancements in sound systems as well,” another cinema owner said.

“Here in Peshawar, however, we could not keep up with these new technologies and the result is that film viewers have progressively lost interest in coming to cinemas to watch movies,” he added.

Peshawar resident and film fan Taimur agreed with this assessment. “The print quality of films that are available for home viewing is so much better than the one offered by cinemas here,” he said. “Cinemas here neither have modern sound systems nor modern screens.”

For Taimur, the cinema experience in Peshawar is further marred by the environment in such facilities. “It is unusual to take your family to the cinema. None of them offers an environment that lets you watch movies in peace with privacy. Cinemas in Peshawar are not like the ones in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad,” he said.

He called on the government to modernise and revolutionise Peshawar’s cinema industry if the private sector is unwilling to invest. “The government should chalk out a policy for safety and security at cinemas. It should also do something about the demolition of old cinemas in favour of shopping plazas.”

Renowned film producer Arshad Khan agreed that the lack of a concrete government policy has been one major driver in the decline of Peshawar’s cinema business. “The industry has been burdened with unbearable taxes and skyrocketing electricity tariffs meaning the business of running a cinema is no longer profitable,” he said. “The result is that Peshawar cinemas are now in a state where rescuing them is impossible without government intervention.”

One suggestion Arshad proposed is that new plazas being built in place of government buildings provide space for cinemas as well. “Peshawar should not be alone in this. Cinemas must also be established in Mardan, Swat, DI Khan and Abbottabad,” he said.

Some of the cinemas forced to close down due to the factors pointed out above are Pulwasha Cinema, Novelty Cinema, Metro Cinema and Falak Sair Cinema. Capital Cinema, although still running, is on life support and no longer a preferred choice for Peshawar’s movie fans. Only PAF Cinema, Sabrina Cinema, Arshad Cinema, Tasweer Mahal, Picture House, Naz Cinema, Firdaus Cinema and Shama Cinema appear to be going strong.



Luckily for cinemas that are more than a century old, the Antiquities Act now classifies them as historic structures and makes demolishing them a legal violation. “I wrote a letter to the Cantonment Board that demolishing any building a century-or-more-old is a gross violation of the Antiquities Act,” said Archaeology Department Director Dr Abdul Samad. “Following the letter, Cantonment Board officials have been asked to stop demolition on an immediate basis.”

One cinema that could see preservation under the Antiquities Act is the aforementioned Capital Cinema, which according to archaeology department officials is at least a hundred years old. Other cinemas deemed historic include Naz Cinema, Falak Sair Cinema, Picture House and Tasweer Mahal.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2019.