Bollywood returns to Kashmir, Srinagar acquires multiplex for first time in 33 years

Thirty-two years and nine months after separatist extremists imposed a “total ban” on all forms of entertainment, and similar measures on guns and grenades, the Kashmir Valley is taking cinema back. Kashmir’s first multiplex, launched by the prominent political family in partnership with his Inox, is being opened by his Deputy Governor Manoj Sinha on his Tuesday, September 20th.

Featuring three 520-seat auditoriums, the multiplex, each with the added value of a Dolby Atmos sound system and state-of-the-art celluloid screen, is located in Srinagar’s Shivpora district, where the famous old Broadway stood for decades. Appeared. One of the 14 cinemas closed under the guerrilla order on 31 December 1989, he is the family business of veteran politician and former interior minister Durga Prasad Dar and Lalati Rathram Alma. It was Broadway, which was the venture of

After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979, organized opposition to anything deemed and labeled as “un-Islamic” by Islamists, including movies, beauty salons, music cassette kiosks, and wine shops. campaign has actually started. Jamaat-e-Islami-backed military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq executed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan. The first slogan of the “Iranian-style revolution” in Kashmir was the Islamist organization Jamiat He Turaba (IJT) founder Sheikh Tajamul He originated from Islam.

Later, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, chief minister and president of the National Congress of Jammu and Kashmir (NC), described the JeI student body IJT as a “serious threat” to the peace and harmony of Kashmir, Banned by the Center. NC executives made no concessions to IJT or his JeI. In April 1979, when Bhutto was hanged, NC’s Rashkar plundered and set fire to a number of his JeI-controlled villages in southern Kashmir. Tens of thousands of apple trees in orchards were cut down by mobs.

After Sheikh Abdullah’s death in September 1982, things began to change. By the time Mustafa Akkad’s period film The Lion in the Desert, the anti-colonial Libyan guerrilla biopic of his hero Omar Mukhtar, hit Srinagar, both JeI and IJT had gained considerable following. Regal Cinema. This was when Sheikh, who was responsible for strengthening J&K’s accession to India, was publicly demonized and labeled as a villain. It was time to organize a campaign against liquor stores. When Asiya Andrabi’s her Dukhtaraan-e-Millat mobilized women to dismantle “all evils like cinema and fashion.” That was when the JeI-ruled Muslim United Front (MUF) became the parent body of today’s Friyat Conference.

On August 18, 1989, a local newspaper announced that Allahu Tigers chief “Air Marshal” Nur Khan announced a total ban on cinemas, wine shops, music cassette kiosks and other “evil” Did. However, on December 13, 1989, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) gave his five members to the government of Vice President Singh in exchange for Rubaiya Said, the daughter of then-Union Minister of the Interior Mufti Mohammad Said. could not be forced to do the same until they forced the release of key officials of the Victory celebrations by the separatists proved to be a game-changer as they hoisted the slogan “Azadi” to turn the population of the valley against India. Cinemas, wine shops and hairdressers have not opened since.

In the 1990s, security forces set up camps at Shah Cinema, Firdaus, Shiraz and other theaters. Some theaters have since been converted into business complexes and hospitals.

Nine years later, and two years after returning to power, Farouk Abdullah made several attempts to revive cinema in Kashmir. On August 7, 1998, he invited renowned film director and Srinagar resident Viduvinod his Chopra to screen his new film ‘Karibe’ on Broadway. The heroine Neha Vajpayee was in the guest galaxy. After that, Farooq Abdullah was able to reopen his two more theaters in Srinagar, Regal and Neelam. The insurgents were unable to block Broadway, a few yards from the main entrance of the Army’s XV Corps in Badami Bagh cantonment, but encountered security forces at Neelam. One civilian who emerged into the crowd after seeing a film at Regal was killed and several others were left wounded in a grenade attack.All three theaters were closed again But this time it’s been even longer.

24 years later, LG Sinha opens Kashmir’s first multiplex on Broadway grounds. Broadway owner Vijaydar started working on the project after the Sinha government introduced the first film policy in Jammu his Kashmir in April 2021. The policy promises great incentives for anyone looking to revive cinema, reopen defunct cinemas, and set up production and post-production facilities. A training center for artists, directors and technicians.

In Aamir Khan’s now-released ‘Lal Singh Chadda’, Kashmiri child artist Ahmad ibn Umar plays young Lal, with Aamir Khan and Kareen Kapoor as the main characters, and Inox’s inauguration is being screened at The film has been shot extensively in Ladakh and Srinagar.

“We look forward to the opening ceremony. It will bring us back to ,” said Mohammad Saleem Wani, a former senior government official. , ‘Ram Lakhan’, ‘Sindoor’, ‘Dharmatma’ and even ‘Ram Teri Ganga Meli’ at the hotel. old Broadway.

“There are two motives behind this initiative. One is to provide entertainment facilities for children and the other is to strengthen the ties between Kashmir and the Indian film industry. The relationship with the industry has been too good in the past, so it will help to revive the former relationship,” Vikas Dhar, a family member of the owner, said last month.

In the 1990s, security forces set up camps at Shah Cinema in Srinagar, Firdaus, Shiraz and other theaters. Later, some theaters were converted into business his complexes and hospitals. In addition to his nine theaters in Srinagar, there were half a dozen cinemas in Anantnag, Balamulla, Sopole, Bandipola and Handwala in Kashmir until 1990.

Kashmir was the center of outdoor filming for Bollywood and other Indian films from 1940 to 1989. MG Ramachandran, J Jayalalitha, Dileep Kumar, Nargis, Shamikapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia were his one of the top Indian films. Celebrities who have appeared in a long list of Indian films shot in Kashmir. and more than 20 Indian films have been shot in Kashmir.

Also read: Two cinemas open in Kashmir after 40 years in historic move