One of the oldest cinema halls of Rawalpindi, Shabistan, a symbol of the film industry’s golden years, has been torn down. Located on Committee Chowk, Shabistan joins scores of cinema halls in Rawalpindi which have been razed to the ground in recent years to make way for commercially profitable shopping plazas. Spread over 5.2 kanals in the heart of the city, the cinema was considered to be prime real estate. To many people, the demolition of the last cinema hall symbolises the death of the local film industry. Muhammad Iqbal, who had been working in Shabistan for the past 35 years, told The Express Tribune that he felt every thump of the heavy hammers which pulverised the foundations of Shabistan Cinema - and with it those of the indigenous film industry.

Source: The Express Tribune November 22, 2020 04:41 UTC