25 September,2022 11:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Heena Khandelwal
Educationist Vijay Dhar is behind the opening of Srinagar’s first multiplex, INOX. He is photographed a day ahead of the inauguration of the multiplex comprising three auditoriums with a capacity of 520 seats. Dhar used to run Broadway Theatre, a 750-seater single screen theatre in Sonawar. Most cinemas in Kashmir have remained closed for the last 30 odd years. Pics/Getty Images
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On January 1, 1990, all cinema halls were shut down," recalls Vijay Dhar over a phone call from Srinagar. Dhar used to run Broadway Theatre in Sonawar, a 750-seater single screen, which was inaugurated in 1965.
The curtains fell after a militant outfit ordered closure of theatres and liquor shops in Kashmir; according to reports, grenades were also hurled at some. "There was a bomb blast in Broadway," he remembers, "[thankfully] there was no casualty." Dhar left the Valley during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, but returned two years later at his mother's insistence.
In 2003, he opened a school; but his heart ached for a cinema hall. "When I was young," he says wistfully, "every Friday meant a film. A ticket cost R1.50, and we even protested to get a student concession of 50 paise. We got a thrashing, but also the concession." In the decades after, on several occasions, Dhar has had to fly down to Delhi to watch a film.
Also Read: Kashmir's first multiplex inaugurated, Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha' screened
Not anymore. After 33 years, ticket counters are now open. In collaboration with Indian movie theatre chain INOX, Dhar just opened a three-screen multiplex in Srinagar. "The first show is on September 30," he says; "We will screen Vikram Vedha, starring Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan."
Kashmir has been a popular landscape for shooting movies, and cinema halls in Srinagar go further back than their counterparts in Mumbai. Manmohan Singh Gauri's great grandfather, the late Bhai Anant Singh Gauri, started the 777-seater Kashmir Talkies in 1932, two years before Bombay Talkies. It was later renamed Palladium. "There were five shows a day - 10.30 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm and 9.30 pm - of Hindi and English films.
The 7 pm slot was reserved for Hollywood. Sundays had an additional morning show for the Army. Since many of the personnel belonged to Tamil Nadu, it would be a Tamil film," says 66-year-old Gauri over a phone call from Amritsar. He joined his father Surinder Singh in the family business in 1975.
Under Gauri's direction, "Every big hero's film would come to Palladium, be it Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Jitendra or Dharmendra, and people would queue up outside. We would register 90 per cent occupancy, and were certified by the state government for being the highest entertainment tax payer."
Author, poet and ex-civil servant Khalid Bashir Ahmad testifies to this in his blog, Kashmir's Celluloid Years, which made it to a chapter in his book, Kashmir: Looking Back in Time (Atlantic 2021). "Dilip Kumar's films would run to packed houses," reads the blog, "Even re-runs would be house-full. Devdas, Mughal-e-Azam, Naya Daur, Deedar, Aan, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya and Aadmi ran year after year. In 1970, when Gopi was released at Palladium Cinema for an all-India premier, Lal Chowk wore a festive look with buntings and colour posters of the film fluttering everywhere, and a huge gathering of Kumar fans jostling with each other to reach the ticket window. Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, who was his co-star in the movie, also came to the Palladium to watch the film."
Asked why the craze for Bollywood, Gauri replies, "In those days, many films were shot in Kashmir; people were curious to see them on the big screen." Filmmaker and festival director (Kashmir World Film Festival) Mushtaaque Ali Ahmad Khan adds, "Several spots in Kashmir were named after films or actors. There is a Sadhna Pass [previously called Nastachun pass] after late actress Sadhana; Betaab Valley named after Sunny Deol's 1983 debut film; a hotel in Gulmarg has Bobby hut where the hit Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho was shot for 1973 release."
Those unfamiliar with the language would also watch Hollywood films, he adds. "Everybody was a James Bond fan." The high demand for tickets led to black marketing. "The term âblacker' was as good as a last name. The popular chancers were Billa Blacker and Shabir Blacker⦠I myself bought tickets in black many times," he says. Cinemas were also popular in royal circles. "Besides Balcony, Stall and Dress Circle, there were boxes [like at the Opera] for the Maharaja [Hari Singh, the last Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir]. Later, these were used by families," says Khan.
Palladium, like Broadway, had a place in history and geography. "It was at Lal Chowk, the centre of all activities in Kashmir," says Gauri. "It was in front of Palladium that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the crowd in 1948 [promising plebiscite to decide the former state's future]. It was burnt to the ground by terrorists in 1993. What was left was used by the BSF." Gauri left his home in Kashmir and moved to Amritsar in 1990, but wants to return and restore Palladium. "We have reached out to the government and if we get permission, we would love to bring back the hall's old world charm."
Over the last decade, several attempts were made to give theatres another shot. In 1999, three halls were reopened in Srinagar. "...but [they] quickly shut down in the face of grenade attacks resulting in the death of at least one person and injuries to many," reads Ahmad's blog.
Now there's a generation that has never seen a film on the big screen. Will they indulge themselves? Or stay glued to television and mobile devices? Gauri thinks the experience will drive them crazy; Dhar and Khan think they need the recreational outlet. "I have been organising a film festival for four years," says Khan. "Over five days, 25 to 30 art films, documentaries and blockbusters such as Bajrangi Bhaijaan are screened. Masses of people do step out to watch them, including women in burqas. While Kashmiris have made a name in cinema [Anupam Kher, Vidhu Vinod Chopra], having theatres open again will further boost filmmaking in the region."
Even as the opening of INOX makes waves across the nation, a senior media teacher and film buff from Srinagar, who requested anonymity, says it is a ânon-issue' for locals. "Those involved in making Kashmir-centric films, sans propaganda, will continue to do so. What we are seeing is largely a business proposition for people from outside the region. Whether or not it gets accepted, only box office numbers will tell," he says, adding that Kashmir never played a mainstream role in cinema; it merely acted as a backdrop. "In the 1960s-'70s, Kashmir enhanced the beauty of sets and storytelling; and later, it was used to tell stories that bore no resemblance to things on ground. Somebody sitting in Aram Nagar or Andheri wrote a story about Kashmir without ever setting foot here or knowing regions beyond Dal Lake, Pahalgam and Gulmarg. They don't write narratives that represent Kashmir; they tell one that is palatable to people spending money."
