Hollywood flick hits Imphal silver screen after a decade's lull
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, June 24 2011: After about a decade of complete lull, the first Hollywood movie has been screened in a cinema hall in Imphal today.

The people of the Imphal city relished it to the hilt and lapped up the offering that was "sold out" at the box office.

Usha Hall at the heart of Imphal screened The Fast and the Furious 5 in three shows today.

In 2000, cinema theatres in the Manipur were prohibited from screening Bollywood movies with a strong diktat from militant groups.

The decree was somewhat of a symbolic protest against the Indianization of Manipuri society by mainstream culture which was against the claim of the revolutionaries who have been waging war against the Indian state for freedom and independence since India's Independence.

The ban against Bollywood movies had a ripple effect on Hollywood movies as theatres across the state were unable to afford expensive Hollywood fares.

Most of what used to be shown was stale and outdated movies hitting the theatres months after their world wide release.

The final blow to what little was available of Hollywood was the invasion of cable TV, cheap DVDs, DVD players and such other paraphernalia that sounded a dead knell to the business of entertainment in Manipur.

Gradually, theatres in the state gave way to a remodeled shopping complexes and schools and institutions.

Of the eight movie theaters in Imphal, only Shankar, Pratap, Friends and Usha Halls have managed to survive in the interregnum while equal number of movie theaters have bitten the dust.

The entertainment vacuum was quickly exploited by entrepreneurial local craftsmen who began churning out low cost Manipuri digital films.

The few theatres that have survived the repercussion of the militants' diktat became a thriving ground for Manipuri films that produced stars and starlets from amongst the local community.

Comment