Loading ... |
Islamabad, Nov 19 Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which doesn’t have a single cinema house, will see Rs.1 billion being spent to set up four cinema halls.
The Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) is to invest the money. The four cinemas will come up in two years.
Dawn said the city had the unwanted distinction of having no cinema house.
The few cinema houses in Islamabad were closed down in the last decade.
In 1966, the first movie house came up in Melody Market. In 1974, the National Film Development Corp (Nafdec) set up two movie halls — Nafdec I and II. Kohsar Cinema was the last to be set up.
In 2001, Nafdec was liquidated.
“We will be having our buildings developed in a span of almost 20 months in I-8 Markaz where EOBI has four plots,” Dawn quoted architect Qaisar Hassan as saying.
“We want to provide good entertainment to citizens where some 1,000 people can watch movies in the four cinemas,” added Hassan.
The Pakistani film industry has been on a downhill journey since piracy took root and entertainment tax was introduced. Before the 1970s, the industry churned out more than 200 films annually. It now produces one-fifth of that number.
IANS
|