Cinemas in Naogaon on verge of extinction

NAOGAON, Apr 15: Cinemas in Naogaon district are on the verge of extinction due to manifold reasons including shortage of viewers.

Sources said before 2010, there were 22 cinemas in all eleven upazilas of the district. In the last 11 years, these except three, were closed for lack of adequate viewers, inability to cope with the modern technology and apathy of authorities concerned.

Some movie theatres remained closed for long after being accused of vulgarity. However, they reopened later on conditions.

Many of the theatres are now converted into community centres, clinics and warehouses.

The three theaters which are still functioning are Taj Cinema Hall in Naogaonsadar, Five Star in Manda and Rangdhanu in Patnitalaupazila of the district. But, the present Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worst, forcing closure of the living trio too.

The number of cinema-goers has fallen drastically in the district.

Middle-aged Ataur Rahman and Ahad Ali of SadarUpazila said, "Watching films in the giant screens of theater is now a golden memory. We really miss those days when we had to wait in queue for long to get the much desired cinema tickets."

"We rarely see any quality films releasing in the halls these days, so we do not feel like going to theater only to waste our time," they added.

Youth Ashim Ghosh of Raninagarupazila said, "Films are now vastly available on different digital platforms like YouTube, film websites and a hosts of mobile apps, where I can watch movies of my choice as many as I want at a nominal fee or nearly free of cost"

"Moreover, the cinemas in the district are not well-equipped with modern facilities which deprive the viewers from real adventure of movie watching," he added.

Hundreds of employees of the theatres have become jobless and many of them are still finding a proper job for livelihoods.

Tanvir Ahmad, Assistant Manager of Chalantika Cinema Hall of Mandaupazila, said, "The hall used to remain houseful until 2014, running four shows every day."

"The theater has now fallen abandoned, leaving me jobless since 2015," he added. Owner of 'Bulbul Talkies' under Mohadevpur upazila Iqbal Biswas said he forced to close the hall in 2014 facing a huge loss.

"I am using the cinema as warehouse now a days," Mr Biswas said.

President of Communist Party of Bangladesh, Naogaon District Chapter, AdvocateMohsin Reza said appropriate recreation can play a pivotal role in mental growth of people.

Aiming to keep up this practice, the government should give the cinema owners the chance to run a low tax or tax free business, he added. District Information Officer Abu Saleh Md. Masudul Islam said, "Many substandard films are still being released in the country these days, keeping away viewers from the theaters."

He said, "The theatre owners have failed to create proper environment for screening films in order to draw viewers' attention."

"The cinemas here require mass renovation works including installation of digital screen, improved sound system, comfortable seat facility and air conditioner if possible," Islam added.

UNB adds from Kushtia, Cinemas in Kushtia were already struggling due to the dominance of television, internet, low quality scripts and backdated infrastructure.

However, Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown and associated public health protocols have acted as the final nail in the coffin for the film theatres of Kushtia

Among the 12 cinemas of Kushtia, only Banani Cinema Hall was operative before the pandemic while the rest of the dream palaces were already filled with archaic equipment or abandoned all together.

But sadly, all kinds of activities in the only active cinema of Kushtia came to a halt since the first Covid-19 lockdown imposed last year. Now all the workers involved in this industry have become unemployed.

Roxy was the first cinema in the city. Established at the heart of the city in the 70's, this movie theatre has been closed since 2003. Currently, it's being used as the dumping ground of archaic equipment and household commodities. Keya Cinema Hall was also built at a very busy place of the city. But currently there is no sign of it. The cinema was bulldozed and a corporate building named Porimol Tower has been built in its place.

Bani Cinema Hall, which had been around for almost a decade, is now being used as a community centre. Azad, a local businessman who used to run the movie theatre, stated that audiences turned away from cinemas due to the dominance of sky culture and declining quality in movies.He was forced to take the decision of converting the film theatre to a community center due to continued loss, he added.

The story of all other movie theatres in the district is more or less similar. They have been either bulldozed or renovated to serve a different purpose.

Bokul Hossain, the owner of the Banani Cinema Hall, which was forced to suspend its operations following Covid-19 lockdown, said that it would be possible to reopen the cinemas if the government provide loan and special incentive packages to the owners of the movie theatres.

Khalek Bari, an employee of Banani Cinema Hall, said goodwill of the government is enough to bring back the good old days of film theatres in Bangladesh. He demanded tax cuts and low rents to revive this dying industry. While talking to the news agency, student of Kushtia Government College Arafat said there is no environment to safely watch a movie in the theatres with the family.

Moreover, the scripts are either backdated or of low quality. The production quality is also not up to the mark.

If these problems are tackled, then perhaps the golden era of cinema can be brought back, he added.

Amjad Hossain, a veteran in the local movie industry and owner of two (now defunct) cinemas, blamed misuse of technology, addition of obscene cut pieces and local and international conspiracies as the main factors behind the downfall of cinemas in Bangladesh.

Amjad said with great sorrow that he has already bulldozed one of his movie theatres and is planning to renovate the other one in order to provide office space to a few banks.

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