O’ Karachi Part III

Motoring down the country highways of Michigan around Ann Arbor with the top of my car down, I can see the reds and golds of the leaves on the trees and feel the crisp autumn air in my hair. As the trees whiz by, I hear Steve Perry of Journey belting out “who’s crying now” on the radio. The long lonely drives help me to muse about the past and take me back in time.

I start wondering as to what happened to the cinemas of yore. I remember the film industry in the sixties; it was a thriving business. The big stars of that time were the Santosh Kumar/Sabiha pair followed by the Mohammed Ali/Zeba duo. Waheed Murad was the darling of the Pakistani women and Nadeem was the new kid on the block. Shabnam was the most popular actress with Shamim Ara, Rozina, Deeba, Rani and Nisho in the running. Even though the Pakistani film industry was concentrated in Lahore, we had producers like Shaikh Latif who lived in Karachi. Waheed Murad, Shamim Ara and Shabnam used to live in P.E.C.H.S in Karachi.

As a child I used to be a favorite of Mrs. Latif and Shabnam and Robin Ghosh’s son Ronnie was our playmate as we were neighbors. Shamim Ara used to live near Shahrah-e- Qaideen and Waheed Murad on Tariq Road.

One of the most popular theatres was Khayyam near Nursery. The kings of cinema in Karachi were the Memon brothers, Shafi Mohammed, Ghulam Mohammed and Shamsuddin Memon. Between them the brothers owned Jubilee, Rio, Reno, Relax, Lighthouse and Chandni cinemas. I remember every time a new movie was released, the brothers would invite friends and family for an opening show and serve lunch. The food prepared by their chef known as Haji was excellent. Another old time cinema was Naz on Bunder Road owned by the Surya family and not to forget Nishat owned by the Mandviwalas. Both Hakim and Yousuf Mandviwala have passed away and Hakim Mandviwala’s son Salim is running Nishat, with Yousuf Mandviwala’s sons Mahmood a prominent lawyer and Murtaza running Mandviwala Motors.

The popular venues for English movies were Palace, owned by Beg Mohammed, the owner of the Coca Cola bottling company and Capitol between Elphinstone Street and Victoria Road. Rex Cinema on Victoria Road was another good one. The newer ones were Bambino and Scala owned by Hakim Ali Zardari and Lyric on Garden Road. As children, we saw many a free movie at Bambino and Scala. New kids on the block were Capri owned by my friend Asif’s father Mr. Razzak and Prince, both on Bunder Road. Star cinema on Garden Road was opened by Mr. Ramzi at a later period in time. I believe that his son Zulfiqar Ramzi sold the cinema recently due to unfavorable economics of running the business. Sharfuddin Memon, Shamsuddin Memon’s son tore down Lighthouse cinema and replaced it with a shopping mall that let him retire. He is currently doing voluntary work as chief of the CPLC.

The Drive-in cinema that was opened in the middle of nowhere beyond Karachi airport was a novelty. Later on Jam Sadiq Ali allotted land close by to Gul Mohammed Marri, who opened the Marri Drive-in in competition. Both these drive-ins have since then been shut down and apartment blocks have come up in their place. This is near the area known as Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Rex, Rio, Khayyam, Capitol and Lighthouse have all been replaced by shopping malls, thus depriving Karachiites of much needed entertainment. Palace was replaced by a marriage garden and I believe that Star is also headed in the direction of becoming a shopping mall.

Unfortunately, with high taxation and spiraling prices of real estate in Karachi, the business of running movie theatres in Karachi is doomed. The censors and various regulatory agencies don’t help either. There has been a shift in clientele as well. All these factors have contributed to the death of a popular form of entertainment that Karachiites used to enjoy.