Dearth of cinema halls hurting movie industry

The number of movie theatres in the country now stands at around 250. Once upon a time, this number was 1200. This is bad for the local movie industry as low number of cinema halls mean that producers and everyone involved with movies are earning less.
I remember during my childhood days, there were many cinema halls in Dhaka like Moon, Star, Shabistan, Taj Mahal, Naaz, Gulistan etc. But these cinema halls were turned into shopping malls as the owners were incurring losses. Many Bangla movie producers have closed down their businesses and moved to other sectors due to the declining number of cinemas.
So a question arises, is the demand for Bangla movies falling? Not really. Many people still like Bangla movies. When the content is fresh, clean and it is being made by well-known directors and production houses, the shows go houseful. This was the case with some recent movies like Aynabaji, Dhaka Attack, Monpura, Debi and more. Also, many people watch old Bangladeshi movie clips and songs on YouTube. So there is a demand.
The government can encourage the local movie industry by way of helping construct new cinema halls.
Nadim Javed
Tejgaon, Dhaka