Siliguri: People of Kashmir queue up to watch Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Pathan’, which has become the first film in the Valley to have a houseful show in 33 years. Cinema halls reopened in Kashmir last year after remaining closed for three decades due to threats and attacks by terrorists. Vikas Dhar, the owner of the only multiplex theater in Kashmir, said all the shows of the espionage thriller were houseful on the first day of its release on Wednesday.
“I didn’t know that Shah Rukh Khan has such a huge fan following in Kashmir. All the shows on the first day were fully booked, while five out of seven shows on Republic Day were also sold out,” Dhar told PTI. He said the first two shows had a lower-than-expected audience due to restrictions on the movement of people due to the Republic Day parade around multiplexes in the city’s Badamibagh area. Dhar opened its multiplex theater in September last year. The theater has three screens with a total capacity of 520 seats.
He said, “It is after 33 years that people are queuing up to watch films in Kashmir. It was a dream when we came out with this project and it has come true.” Calling for a boycott over the song “Besharam Rang”, “Pathan” has performed brilliantly at the box office, earning Rs 219.6 crore worldwide in just two days. The film released on January 25 amid tight security across the country.
Dhar said- Like the rest of the country, the controversy has not affected the film’s run. “Everyone is coming here for fun,” he said. About a dozen stand-alone cinema halls were functioning in the valley till the late 1980s, but they had to shut down their business after militant organizations threatened the owners.
Although there were attempts to reopen some theaters in the late 1990s, such attempts were thwarted in September 1999 by militants launching a deadly grenade attack on the Regal Cinema in the heart of Lal Chowk.
Two other theaters – Sapphire and Broadway – had opened their doors but had to close business due to poor response. Cinema buff Mohammad Iqbal said that the last time he saw the Housefull board outside the theater was in 1989 when Sunny Deol’s ‘Tridev’ released.
“It’s been 33 years since I saw a housefull board outside a theatre. The last time I saw such a board was for Sunny Deol’s ‘Tridev’ at Khayyam Cinema in 1989,” he said.
‘Pathan’ released on Wednesday in over 5,000 screens across the country. Due to high demand, the film’s total worldwide screen count was later increased to 8,500. A project of Yash Raj Films, ‘Pathan’ is directed by Siddharth Anand. It also stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone. The film marks Shah Rukh’s first big screen release as the lead after more than four years.