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South Asian cinema
Cinema of Afghanistan
Cinema of Bangladesh
	Bengali cinema
Cinema of India
	Assamese cinema
	Bengali cinema
	Bhojpuri cinema
	Hindi cinema
	Kannada cinema
	Malayalam cinema
	Marathi cinema
	Oriya cinema
	Punjabi cinema
	Tamil cinema
	Telugu cinema
Cinema of Nepal
Cinema of Pakistan
	Karachi film industry
	Lahore film industry
	Pashto film industry
Cinema of Sri Lanka
	Tamil cinema

Cinema in Karachi or Kariwood (Urdu: کاری وڈ) had its golden days in 1960s when some of the prominent film studios were located in Karachi, making films for the viewership of a large and growing middle class as well working-class population.

With a metropolitan area hosting the world's second most populated city, the film viewership is still popular in Karachi. However, the interest has shifted more towards the Hollywood and other international productions. One of the reasons for the shifting trends is attributed to the moving of film-making industry to Lahore, locally termed as Lollywood.

[edit] History of cinema in Karachi

Location of the oldest cinemas in Karachi, in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of the city. An open air cinema called Drive-In Cinema which was established in 1960s and functioned till late 1980s.

In 1960s and 1970s Karachi was the centre of the Pakistani film industry with a host of cinemas and film studios located in this city. Watching movies at the cinemas were major pass-time and recreation activities. However, in 1980s two major changes came about:

First, the film-industry moved to Lahore. Also there has been a notable growth of Pashto films industry in Peshawar.
Second, the arrival of Videocassette recorder so that people could watch movies in the comfort of their homes.

These changes resulted in the closure of many movie theaters, and majority of them were converted into shopping malls or apartment blocks.

[edit] Revitalization

Amidst the growing concerns over the decline of the industry and viewership, and the need for revitalization, a number of initiatives have been taken at the cultural landscape of Karachi. Most effective of them all is the trend of the annual international Kara Film Festival since 2001.

[edit] Movie theaters in Karachi

There are numerous movie theaters in Karachi. Most of the cinema houses today present a variety of English, Pashto, Punjabi, and Urdu language films. Many of the cinemas built earlier than 1947 were called "Talkies" which was eventually dropped in favour of the word "Cinema". In 1917, there were around 119 cinemas in Karachi that has been reduced to just 34 in 2007^[1]. Moreover, 1977 is considered as a peak year of cinema industry in Karachi when 110 cinemas were running with full occupancy ^[2].

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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[0] History of Cinema Houses in Karachi

[1] Some facts about Karachi Cinemas

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