PESHAWAR: The cinema houses in Peshawar witnessed high turnout of moviegoers on Eidul Fitr despite scorching heat compared to last year’s dismally low turnout.

Great rush of cine-goers was seen on the city playhouses on the first, second and third day of Eid. According to the cinema managers, five new Pashto movies and a few old runs made encouraging business as people in large number thronged city cinema houses despite sizzling heat.

Better law and order situation in the city allowed cinema halls to run six shows from morning till late in the night. The cinema houses started screening films from first day of Eidul Fitr that fell on Saturday in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar.

Badam Jan Afridi, a resident of Bara in Khyber agency, said that he and his cousins came to Peshawar for watching Pashto movies.

Better law, order situation allows cinemas to run six shows

He said that he liked the performance of Laila Khan and new actor Aryan Khan. “Music was also good and locations were very attractive. I love action movies compared to other kinds of films,” he said.

The improved law and order situation in the provincial metropolis also encouraged cine-goers to come out in large number for entertainment on big screen.

Atif Rahman, a movie- buff, told this scribe that the best security arrangements in and around Peshawar city was a good signal for people to enjoy Eid holidays without any fear. He said that he along with his friends enjoyed film shows of his choice on the silver screen. However, cine-goers complained of unclean and broken seats and power outages during the film shows.

Shahid Gul Arman, working at a local cinema house, said that a ticket for a new Pashto flick was sold out at Rs500 to Rs600 while ticket for old Pashto movie was booked at Rs300 to Rs350.

He said that almost all city playhouses witnessed a full house that year.

He said that cinema houses ran jam-packed shows from morning to night and even arranged extra seats for spectators owing to great rush.

“The action Pashto movies this year fetched a lot of business compared to romantic Pashto flicks, however, the competition among film directors and producers remained tough. But one cannot be sure of a good success of the still struggling cinema business,” said Mr Arman.

Shahid Khan, a Pashto film star, told this scribe that performers had shown their talent and impressed viewers with their new dashing stunts but quality music and dialogue delivery remained the strengthened of his movies.

He said that although Pashto films made better profits yet it didn’t mean that filmmakers earned a lot. He said that one could only assume that cinema would cover their costs.

“Law enforcement agencies played important role in maintaining security during the month of Ramzan because a minor untoward incident in the city could change the entire peace scenario,” said Mr Khan.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2017