Peshawar's historic Naz Cinema built by Sikh entrepreneur demolished

The historic 90-year-old Naz Cinema, built by a Sikh entrepreneur, in Pakistan's Peshawar city has been demolished due to dwindling numbers of cinema-goers, amid a decline in the movie culture.

The theatre, originally known as Rose Cinema, was established in 1936 by the Sikh businessman who later migrated to India during Partition in 1947. Jawad Raza's grandfather acquired it in 1947 and renamed it Naz Cinema. For decades, it remained a cultural beacon in Peshawar.

It was razed to the ground last week for the construction of a commercial market. Raza, the third-generation owner of the cinema, said he had no choice but to demolish it due to the fast-declining cinema culture in Peshawar. "When there are no films, what's the point of running a cinema,” Raza said.

He said the production quality of films has declined, and with a ban on Indian films, audiences simply stopped coming. "We can't screen movies for just 10 or 12 people."

Over the years, historic cinemas like Firdous, Tasveer Mahal, Palwasha, Novelty, Metro, Ishrat, Sabrina, and Capital Cinema have all been demolished. Five out of 15 were demolished after 2015. Today, only three remain, but their deteriorating state suggests these will also be replaced by commercial buildings soon.

Once known as the city of cinemas and artistes, Peshawar is now witnessing the slow death of its cinema culture. The demolition of the Naz Cinema marks the decline of the city's cultural and cinematic heritage. With each passing year, the city's cinemas have vanished, replaced by commercial plazas.

Raza recalled the golden era of cinema, reminiscing about the 1976 Pashto film Orbal, which ran at Naz Cinema for nearly two years. “Back then, Peshawar had 15 cinemas screening Urdu, Pashto, Punjabi, and English films. But declining film quality drove audiences away,” he said.

In an attempt to revive interest, Raza upgraded Naz Cinema into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's first 3D cineplex. However, he lamented that even this effort failed due to the lack of quality films.

“A cinema needs at least 52 movies a year — one every week. But here, we barely get a few films on Eid, and even those struggle to last beyond three days,” he said.

Raza pointed to the downfall of the Pashto film industry as a blow to cinemas in Peshawar. “For two years, Pashto films have been running at a loss. There's no investment, no new actors, and the same repetitive stories,” he said.

Substandard cinematography, weak storytelling, and misrepresentation of Pashto culture have further alienated audiences, he added.

For over a decade, Peshawar's cinemas have also suffered due to militancy. A series of back-to-back bombings in February 2014 targeted two cinemas in Peshawar, killing 20 people and wounding over 50 others.

Shah Mehmud, the manager of Naz Cinema, said the left-over cinema houses in Peshawar, namely Picture House, Aaeena and Arshad Cinema, are also on the verge of collapse and would be razed to the ground soon.

The cinema industry is fighting for survival these days. Some blame it on poor production quality, some on the availability of so many entertainment options. Others blame it on terrorist activities as cinemas can be easy targets of extremist groups.

Peshawar is home to legendary Bollywood stars Yousaf Khan alias Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and many other actors of Pakistani cinema and TV.

Yousuf Khan, the supervisor of Arshad Cinema, said several factors were responsible for the decline of the cinema industry in Pakistan.

He said due to the decline in the number of cinema goers, other businesses had become more profitable. Turning the hall into a shopping mall meant assured income for the cinema owner, he said. He blamed the security situation and poor law and order situation for the decline in cinema-goers.

Alam Khan, a member of the cinema owner association, said that besides terrorism, the high cost of living was also responsible for declining viewership. For the majority, it was difficult to even arrange two square meals for the children and pay their school fees. As for the rich, he said, they could bring the cinema itself to their homes.

He also said that cinemas need good films to show. The movie industry needs the government's support in terms of no entertainment tax and educated filmmakers to turn out quality films. Security also needs to be beefed up around the cinema houses.