Azad (movie theater)

For other uses, see Azad.

Azad

আজাদ
Azad in 2010
Former names	Mukul Talkies (1929–1964)
Address	Johnson Road Dhaka Bangladesh
Coordinates	23.7112883°N 90.4096266°E / 23.7112883; 90.4096266
Owner	The Dhaka Picture Palace Limited
Type	Movie theater
Capacity	1100
Screens	1
Opened	1929 (1929)

Azad is a movie theater located in Johnson Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Azad is one of the oldest movie theaters and the fourth oldest movie theater in the capital of the country.[1]

History

In 1929, Mukul Banerjee, the then zamindar of Murapara, established a movie theater named "Mukul Talkies" in Old Dhaka. R. C. Majumdar, the then vice chancellors of Dhaka University, inaugurated the movie theater. On the opening day, Mukul Talkies screened the film The Last Kiss, which is said to be the first silent film produced in Dhaka.[2][3] Yar Mohammad Khan rented Mukul Theatre to hold the Awami League council meeting in the early in 1950s.[4] Mukul Talkies was renamed Azad Cinema in 1964 after it was bought by Sher Ali Ramji, a Bollywood film producer.[2][3] Ten years later, the ownership of the movie theater was transferred to A.U.M. Khalilur Rahman.[2][3] On 23 December 2013, a fire, caused by electric short circuit, broke out in the movie theater, destroying much of its furniture.[5] The movie theater suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic and received an outstanding bill of ৳12 lakh.[6]

Features

Azad usually shows old films.[7] It has 1100 seats.[6] Azad has three shows daily.[8]

Controversy

Azad is popular for B-grade and perverted female objectified paraphilic film posters. Besides, there are allegations of involvement of drug addicts and people involved in anti-social activities with this movie theater. Its manager claimed that the posters were asked by the film distributors to put up. But he denied the second allegation.[7]

References

1. "Azad Cinema..." The Daily Star. 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
2. Ali, Masum (7 October 2017). "আজাদ এখন ঐতিহ্যের কঙ্কাল". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
3. Ahmed, Rocky (31 May 2022). "আজাদ সিনেমা হল : জীর্ণ প্রেক্ষাগৃহে ভূতও পালায়!". Bhorer Kagoj (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
4. Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh (2012). The unfinished memoirs. New Delhi, India. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-670-08546-0. OCLC 840484565. Archived from the original on 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
5. "পুরান ঢাকার আজাদ সিনেমা হলে আগুন". Rising BD (in Bengali). 23 December 2013. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
6. Biswas, Waliul (2 November 2020). "বন্ধের পথে ঢাকার প্রাচীনতম প্রেক্ষাগৃহ আজাদ". Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
7. Jobayer, Ahsan (23 January 2021). "আজাদ সিনেমা হলের বেহাল দশা". The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
8. "বন্ধ হচ্ছে না 'আজাদ' সিনেমা হল". Somoy TV (in Bengali). 4 November 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.