It’s curtains for oldest cinema hall of Ferozepur

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, September 1

One of the oldest cinemas of the town, Dhani Ram Theatre, popularly known as “Raja Talkies”, which was constructed in 1930, has been shut and will be eventually put on sale.

Its iconic building remained a landmark for this town for ages. Also, the other three cinemas here, including Joshi Palace, Shimla Talkies and Amar Talkies, have been lying closed as all of them had been incurring losses and struggling to survive in today’s changing scenario where old screens have paved way for multiplexes. One of them has been demolished while others stand isolated, wearing a deserted look.

Old-timers remember that when the Hussainiwala was open for trade and transit, Raja Talkies used to attract a lot of Pakistani visitors fond of Indian movies. However, the closure of this trade route in the aftermath of 1971 Indo-Pak conflict came as a severe blow to this cinema. Later, the introduction of VCDs, cable TV and subsequently DTH satellite service providers proved to be the death knell for the cinema hall.

“Before the onset of hostilities in 1971, when this border was open, Pakistani traders used to come to Ferozepur to buy and sell various items. Besides business, there was one more thing which used to attract them- ‘Indian Movies’,” said Hari Om, an octogenarian.

Traders flocked this cinema hall to watch their favourite Indian film stars, such as Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Dalip Kumar and Dev Anand, on the silver screen, he said, adding that Pakistanis were also great fans of Meena Kumari, Mumtaz, Madhubala and Surriya, who hailed from Pakistan.

“Some people from across the border used to come just to watch movies and most of them were often found cheering with the Indian audience,” recalls Bhim Sain, local. He said there used to be an English movie for the morning show every Sunday, wherein mostly Army officers used to come, and special shows were screened for women during daytime on Thursdays.

Following the “curtain call” for most of these old cinema halls, which were shut down over the years, recreational facilities had been eluding this city.

“When a relative or friend visit us, there is nothing to offer except the retreat ceremony at Joint Check Post of the Indo-Pak border, where sturdy BSF jawans exchange hostile gestures with Pakistan Rangers,” said Deepak Sharma. He said the closure of cinema halls had also rendered hundreds jobless, among them cycle stand contractors, canteen contractors, gatekeepers and others, who had to opt for other professions after spending their lives in cinema halls, he added.

Subhash Kalia, who represents the family which owned Raja Talkies, said the cinema hall was running into losses due to diminishing audience for single screens, besides heavy taxes imposed by the government. In bigger towns, lot of multinational companies and big players were establishing multiplexes and taking over the existing ones. However, no one was interested in a border town like this. Hence, they had closed the cinema sometime back and have decided to sell it now, Kalia added.

Was an attraction for Pak visitors

• Old-timers remember that when the Hussainiwala was open for trade and transit, Raja Talkies used to attract a lot of Pakistani visitors fond of Indian movies.
• There used to be an English movie for the morning show every Sunday, wherein mostly Army officers used to come, and special shows were screened for women during the day time on Thursday.