It was dark in the cavernous hall. The dust and odor in the air made us cough. The roof looked like it could collapse any time. The seats all around us were upholstered in black leather that was now mostly torn up. Two fat cats were sauntering around through rows and rows of seats. The only light was coming from the open door behind us and the dimly lit stage. Mr. Raja Zulfiqar, the manager, told us that this part of the hall is called the “Stall”. Outside the doors to the Stall, the walls were covered in posters of scantily clad women posing seductively. We then climbed up a flight of stairs to the “Gallery”. This part of the hall is supposedly more luxurious than the Stall. It was for those who could afford to pay Rs.80 instead of the Rs.60 it costs for a Stall seat. The Gallery looked down at the stage. It was high enough to make us dizzy when we look down and dark enough to make us uncomfortable.
This was what the inside of Shabistan Cinema, close to Committee chowk, Rawalpindi, looks like. Every other cinema we visited practically looked the same.
Rawalpindi is said to be one of the oldest cities in Pakistan. Its many bazaars and centuries old architecture bears witness to the rich history hidden within. Various dimensions of this city’s cultural heritage have long been forgotten as collateral damage in the process of modernization. One of these forgotten facets is the city’s very vast and once flourishing cinema culture. According to the Express Tribune, Rawalpindi has around fifteen old cinemas, excluding Cinepax, The Arena and Cinegold. Many of which have gone out of business in the past few years. Most of these are at least 60 years old. We decided to visit five the cinemas that were still operational. These included, Shabistan near Committee Chowk, Rose Cinema in Raja Bazar, Ciros in Saddar, Moti Mahal and Railto on Murree road.
Most of these cinemas were time-worn and weathered on the outside. Inside, they were dimly lit, with seats covered in torn leather, and high ceilings that looked like they could fall-in any minute. Posters of women in various stages of undress adorned the walls outside. However, despite the present dismal conditions, one couldn’t help but wonder at the grandeur they possessed in their prime, which according to the managers was about 20 to 25 years ago. Within the dark, grime-covered walls at Railto, you could see the intricate and colorful woodwork and a huge “RCR” written above the stage. All that splendor has now been reduced to the outrageously pink ticketing offices at Rose cinema in Raja Bazar. All four walls of which were covered top to bottom in the same vulgar posters to attract potential customers, which really makes one wonder at the kind of audiences they aim to attract.
Going into these cinemas, our idea was to compare these old cinemas to newer ones. However, the comparison had never been Old versus New. For these cinemas, the competition was now Film versus Theatre. Since they couldn’t afford rights to the latest releases, they much older showed films no one came to watch. But they soon realized that Stage Drama theatre was an avenue to be explored. Where the ticket prices for films are Rs.60 and Rs.80, those for theatre range from Rs.300 to Rs.1000. This is now more or less the only source of income for these cinemas. Railto has actually been completely converted into a theatre. They just rent it out to theatre productions that want to perform there.
So, why theatre? Mian Jamal, manager of the Railto theatre is of the opinion that it is because theatre is live entertainment and audiences feel more connected to the actors.
The managers seem to have resigned themselves to the fate of these theatres. Most owners are planning to or at least thinking about moving on to greener pastures; gutting these historically rich yet depressing cinemas and converting them into marriage halls. The average audience of each theatre is barely past 100 people per day. All of these are men. Syed Azhar Iqbal, the ticketing officer at Moti Mahal, says, “It’s because the movies being made and the movies we can afford are not for families to watch”. Although, another reason could be that through the posters of seductively dressed women, the only audiences they do attract are sexually frustrated men. One way of looking at this is how these cinemas cater to a niche audience of these sexually frustrated males of the lower-middle to lowest socio-economic classes, who cannot afford to pay for the tickets at bigger cinemas, but would actually save money to come and watch the stage dramas.
Another interesting insight we took away was how the vast distinction between old and new cinemas testifies to the extreme class differences in the populations of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. At the bottom of the chain are cinemas like Rose, Moti Mahal and Shabistan that cater to the lowest socio-economic classes with Rs.60 -80 to spare to watch old Punjabi flicks. In the middle are places like Ciros.
Ciros caters to the lower middle to upper middle socio-economic classes with ticket prices ranging from Rs.200-250. It has an educated manager, Mr. Saqib Malik, who is well-dressed and fluent in English. Malik was the most welcoming of all the people we talked to. He was eager to show us around and tell us everything about the 60 year old Ciros cinema. He told us that even though the cinema is operating in loss, the owner, Mr. Manzar Shiekh, refuses to change it because it’s his father’s legacy. He’s been pouring money into it for years to maintain it and gotten the best equipment imported to keep it running.
Then come cinemas at the very top of the chain. These begin at Cinepax, in Jinnah Park with tickets costing around Rs.500, then to The Arena, in Bahria Town with tickets selling at Rs.700. At the very top is the grand and opulent Cinegold, also in Bahria Town, with tickets selling at Rs.1000. But for a cool Rs.8000, you could sit on leather recliners in a smaller, more private screening room. Cinemas like these cater to the upper middle to highest socio -economic classes in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. They are a luxury, audiences at Moti Mahal and others like it can only dream of.
One of the main causes of these cinemas falling apart is a lack of capital invested in preservation and maintenance. Whenever owners like Ciros’ Mr. Manzar Shiekh, were willing to invest in order to preserve a legacy, the circumstances were much better. The fifteen cinemas all over Rawalpindi, no matter how bleak their conditions may be, are a testament to the city’s little known, yet rich cinema culture; a culture that will soon be completely lost and forgotten, and turnedinto just another bunch of marriage halls.