When Karachi used to watch movies together
On weekday afternoons in Karachi, movie theaters used to be packed with rickshaw pullers, laborers, students skipping lectures and families seeking relief from the heat. The seats were worn, the headlights unreliable, but the promise was simple: for a few hours, everyone could sit in the dark and disappear into a story. This version of cinema has almost disappeared. As single-screen theaters continue to close and films shift to mall multiplexes with ticket prices reaching Rs 1,500, Pakistan’s film community is asking a question that goes beyond box office numbers: what happens to a city when affordable mass entertainment disappears?
