Cinema Sniper
Jonaki Fails to Light Up My Day
Cinema halls were a prime source of entertainment for the Bangladeshi audience two decades ago. I have embarked on a journey to visit all the cinema halls in Dhaka, partly to experience the reason behind its decline first hand. This is “Cinema Sniper”, where I dissect cinema halls and their environment.
It took me quite some time for me to recover from the shock that I had received from visiting Ananda Cinema Hall in Farmgate, thus the delay in the third review. Due to the overwhelming amount of e-mails I had received which suggested that I visit Jonaki Cinema, I had to comply and finally pay it a visit.
Now, I have to admit that Jonaki is quite the landmark in Paltan. It looks majestic, too; at least from the outside. I had heard stories about kids from schools around Paltan bunking class to see the films there. The film they were screening was “One”, starring Prosenjit, Yash Dasgupta and Nusrat Jahan.
I was quite impressed with the exterior, until I walked in of course. The tickets were pretty cheap at 70 taka each. It was clear that the hall was just a shadow of its former glory, as the inside of the premises reeked of neglect and disregard for hygiene as a whole. There was a huge stool beside the canteen (not that stool, the one you sit on) with paraphernalia of stuff that would trigger your OCD if you were that kind of a person.
The canteen sold nothing more than what you would get in your average general store, but that's okay considering it is there just to serve basic refreshments to the viewers. As I entered the hall to watch “One”, I was struck with utter dismay. The state of the hall itself was abysmal. The seats looked like they could be props to a horror film. Thankfully, the hall was empty so I got to pick the one which creaked the least. “One” itself was a decent comedy movie, but it was as basic as it gets. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the renowned Jonaki Cinema Hall.
The writer is an aspiring musician who cries himself to sleep after reviewing bad films. Send in your suggestions regarding what he should cover at shahnewazbybrand@gmail.com