Owner shuts Kakoli Cinema Hall to build multi-floor building

Kakoli Cinema Hall, one of Sherpur’s most famous movie theatres, has closed like many others across Bangladesh as business continues to dwindle.

The owner will build a seven-storey commercial building at the location, which has been a central landmark in Sherpur’s Munshibazar for nearly 50 years.

The theatre was launched in 1969 with the screening of Bangla movie “Parasmani”, said Golam Kibria Liton, the owner of the cinema hall.

The last movie screened in the theatre was Pora Mon-2 in June this year, he said.

“So many actors, including Nayak Raj Razzak and Bobita, had come to the theatre to perform in several cultural programmes. Nure Alam Siddiqui also came to speak at a Chhatra League meeting at this hall in 1970,” Liton reminisced.

The reason for the closure was a lack of profit, he said. “We cannot keep it going from the business we get now,” he said.

The owner plans to open a theatre on the fifth floor of the seven-storey building.

Four floors of the building will be taken up by a supermarket. A guesthouse will be built on the sixth and seventh floors of this building.

“Once upon a time there were nine movie theatres in Sherpur town. All of them would show the latest releases and compete with the Dhaka cinema halls,’ Liton said.

But now the people did not come to the movie halls because of the low quality of films, Liton said.

The ease of access to satellite television channels at home had also contributed to the decision to shut the theatre.

Likhan, a 1,400-seat cinema hall in the district’s Nohata area, and Meghna, another cinema hall in the district’s Battola Gopalbari area, have recently closed due to poor business.

Padma, another cinema hall on the fourth floor of Kakoli market, did not reopen after it was burned in a fire.

With the closure of Kakoli only two movie theatres, Rupkatha and Satyabati, remain in Sherpur. And they are also facing difficulties capturing an audience.