Curtains fall on historic Pak cinema hall

Pakistan's historic Taj Mahal cinema with a 66-year history of film exhibition in Abbottabad city is being dismantled after its owner sold the property over dwindling business, media reports said today.
Built in 1948 by Mohammad Khan Hoti, the cimema house with a seating capacity of 600 was the only surviving theatre in the Hazara division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Mohammad Saeed Khan, who was hitherto running the Taj Mahal cinema in the provincial city for the last four decades said business was at full swing till 2010 with Abbottabad being a tourist city, providing entertainment to visitors, Dawn reported.

But in recent years, the cinema business has dwindled and this forced the owner to sell the property. The new owner of the house has plans to demolish it, they said.
Khan said that decline of the cinema industry started with the falling fortunes of Pakistan film industry which failed to produce quality movies.
He said that the arrival of Internet, CDs, cable and other sources of entertainment also contributed to such a decline.

The ex-owner of the cinema hall rued that not a single show, even on the first day of a new film could attract more than 200 spectators, since the last two years.

The number of spectators had dropped to 50 visitors of late, resulting in huge losses for the house, he said.
Khan also blamed the "law and order situation" in the region for bleak business.
"Fear of blasts and other terrorist activities had forced the spectators to keep away from cinema houses," he said.
Khan who also runs Gulistan cinema in Lahore added that Indian films had ruined the local culture and film industry.