On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, Srinagar got its first multiplex cinema.
The cinema, located in the Shivpora Indiranagar area, was inaugurated by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Photographer Umar Ganie was there for the first day, first show.
IMAGE: The staff gets ready for the inaugration.
All Photographs: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com
IMAGE: The media waits outside the multiplex.
IMAGE: Last minute checks being run.
IMAGE: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha -- seen here with Vijay Dhar (on his right) and INoX Multiplex Cinema head Siddharth Jain (between Sinha and Dhar) -- inaugurated the multiplex.
IMAGE: Manoj Sinha holds up the first ticket for the show with businessman and educationist Vijay Dhar, whose father Durga Prasad Dhar was one of then prime minister Indira Gandhi's closest advisors.
D P Dhar, who served as India's planning minister and later ambassador to the then Soviet Union, died of a heart attack, aged only 57, on June 12, 1975, the day the Allahabad high court disqualified Mrs Gandhi as a member of Parliament.
Had he lived, Mr Dhar may well have advised Mrs Gandhi against proclaiming the Emergency.
IMAGE: Vijay Dhar presents a memento to Lieutenant Governor Sinha.
IMAGE: The lobby of the multiplex, like its cousins elsewhere in India.
IMAGE: The National Anthem is played before the start of the movie.
IMAGE: Moviegoers seem to be having a good time over popcorn and snacks.
IMAGE: A view of the audience enjoying the movie.
IMAGE: Aamir Khan's Lal Singh Chaddha was the first film screened at the Srinagar cinema.
IMAGE: The Magic of Cinema.
SEE VIDEO : Kashmir's First Multiplex
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
