Shapla Talkies closes, marking the end of an era in Rangpur

One of Rangpur's last surviving cinemas, Shapla Talkies, has permanently ceased operations, marking the end of an era for film exhibition in the northern city. The cinema screened its final film on July 31, and will no longer show movies.

Established in 1978, Shapla Talkies served generations of cinema-goers of Rangpur for nearly five decades. According to those managing the venue, the hall has now closed permanently and there are no plans to resume film screenings.

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Speaking to The Daily Star, Kamal Hossain, who has overseen the cinema since 2006, said the decision was driven by the prolonged shortage of commercially viable Bangladeshi films.

"Shapla Talkies was established in 1978, and films have been screened here continuously for decades. I have been responsible for the cinema since 2006 and have been associated with it for 21 years. We kept the hall running for a long time, but in recent years we simply haven't had enough films to operate throughout the year. Eid releases alone cannot sustain a cinema. We have also been unable to screen foreign films. As a result, we decided to close the hall permanently from July 31. There are now plans to repurpose the property," he said.

Filmmaker Anonno Mamun described the closure as a significant loss for the country's exhibition sector.

"Shapla Talkies was one of the most important cinema halls in Bangladesh and ranked among the country's top five single-screen theatres. It is heartbreaking that such a historic venue could not survive because of the shortage of quality films. This is truly sad news for the Bangladeshi film industry," he told The Daily Star.

Actress Apu Biswas also expressed her sadness in a Facebook comment following the announcement. "I reopened this cinema hall with ‘Shoshurbari Zindabad 2’. It is truly heartbreaking," she wrote.

At one time, Rangpur boasted several cinema halls, including Shapla Talkies, Dorodi Hall, Oriental, Lakshmi Talkies, Noor Mahal and China Talkies. Over the years, they closed one after another, with Shapla Talkies becoming the latest—and effectively the last—to shut its doors, bringing the city's long chapter of traditional single-screen cinema to an end.