Jammu and Kashmir: Baramulla & Handwara get 100-seater cinema halls after 33 years

After 33 years, North Kashmir saw the return of cinema as J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday raised the curtain on two multipurpose cinema halls in Baramulla and Handwara.

Two 100-seater multipurpose complexes have been inaugurated in the North Kashmir cities. In Baramulla, the cinema hall has been established in the erstwhile Sherwani Memorial Hall near the Baramulla-Srinagar national highway. The earlier building was named after Maqbool Sherwani, a Kashmiri leader who played a prominent role in the First India-Pakistan War in 1947 and is considered a martyr by the Indian Army.

The new cinema hall is a few metres away from the Regina Hall, which used to be extremely popular among Baramulla residents before it was burned down at the height of insurgency by a militant group called Allah Tigers.

Taking to Twitter, LG Manoj Singha said, “A momentous day for Baramulla & Handwara! Inaugurated Multipurpose Cinema Halls in the beautiful towns. The movie theatres are reflection of growing aspiration of J&K. The facilities at both the locations will also house a cafe, VR, conference & seminar facilities for youth.”

Sinha was accompanied by District Development Council chairperson Safina Baig and the president of the Municipal Council, Baramulla, Umar Kakroo. “Film lovers can now come here and enjoy movies,” Kakroo told the media.

This latest move was part of an ongoing drive by the Manoj Sinha-led administration to ‘set up a theatre in every district’ so that people in Jammu and Kashmir can have the ‘big-screen experience’. The administration inaugurated cinema halls in Shopian and Pulwama in 2022, and an Inox multiplex has been established in Srinagar and is owned by a Kashmiri Pandit family.

The cinema hall in Baramulla will be run by Jadooz Cinema and VR, which is in charge of a chain of cinema halls across India.

Baramulla residents happy over return of cinema

The move has been supported by the local residents of Baramulla, who were happy about being able to watch films in their own locality.

“It is fun to watch movie in a theatre. This cinema will also generate employment in the area. There used to be cinemas in our ancestors’ time, now the younger generation here will enjoy it. Many used to go to Jammu if they had to watch a movie, but now it has opened here, it is a good step,” a Baramulla local told IndiaTimes.

“We welcome this step, we want Jammu & Kashmir to be the number one UT. We never saw any theatre in Baramulla, but now it has been inaugurated. This shows that Baramulla district is developing. We want to thank PM Modi as after abrogation of article 370, a lot of development has been witnessed in J&K,” Arshid Hussain, Member, District Development Council, said.