World Cup fills seats, but films don’t at Bogura's Madhuban Cineplex

With regular film screenings drawing few viewers, Bogura’s largest and most modern cinema hall, Madhuban Cineplex, has turned to screening FIFA World Cup matches.

By 9:00pm today, around 150 people had bought tickets to watch the final on the big screen.

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In contrast, only seven viewers attended the cineplex’s afternoon film screening, according to the hall authorities.

Madhuban Cineplex Managing Director SM Yunus told The Daily Star, “We saw strong audience turnout during the World Cup. But with the tournament ending today, we fear our previous losses will return.”

“The 345-seat cinema hall now runs only one show a day, yet it attracts just five to seven viewers,” he said.

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Yunus said, “We cannot import foreign movies due to various complications. On the other hand, there are currently no good Bangladeshi movies that can attract the audience.”

This situation started after the third week of the movie “Rockstar” last Eid.

Yunus said it costs Tk three-four lakh a month to operate the cineplex. It employs 10 to 14 staff members, whose salaries must be paid regularly.

"Due to this decline in audience, an estimated loss of over one Tk 1 lakh is occurring every month,' he added.

He said due to the losses, the cineplex had to be kept closed for five months last year. Even by using it as a community centre during that time, the losses could not be avoided.

The journey of Madhuban Cinema Hall started in 1974 at Chelopara in Bogura town with the movie “Daku Mansur”. Later in 2004, the cinema hall was closed down.

The hall was renovated and modernised from 2017 to 2022. Around nearly Tk four crore was spent during this time, but the hall authorities said it has not been possible to recover that money yet.