Srinagar’s first multiplex to open after 30 years with ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’

Kashmir Valley's first multiplex will open in the high-security zone of Sonwar with a special screening of Aamir Khan's "Laal Singh Chaddha". Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, will launch the INOX-designed multiplex on Tuesday.

Vijay Dhar, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman and the brainchild behind the project, had started construction work on the multiplex at Shivpora near Badami Bagh Cantonment, around two years ago.

Dhar's son Vikas Dhar told The New Indian Express that they are receiving requests from people to start with an Aamir Khan movie.

Photo: Collected

"Apparently, Aamir Khan's movies are everyone's favourite here. The shooting of Lal Singh Chadda had also taken place in our school (DPS Srinagar). We would love to screen the movie on the first day," he said.

Almost a dozen independent movie theaters operated in the Valley until the late 1980s, but they were forced to close due to threats from two militant groups. Although officials attempted to reopen several of the theaters in the late 1990s, militants foiled their plans in September 1999 by attacking the Regal Cinema in Lal Chowk with a deadly grenade.