The cinemas which came into being after the independence are now part of past memories. During 1980s about 123 cinemas were present in Karachi now the number has reduced to 35. Outskirts had more cinemas than the main city itself. The most number of cinemas were on Marston Road which now is known as Waheed Murad Road had about 10 cinemas.
The cinemas included Rivoli, Eros, Qesar, Godeon, Nasheman, Kohinoor and Jubilee which were the famous cinemas of that time in the area, which were later turned into shopping malls.
A major reason of fall of the cinema industry was the deteriorating quality of Pakistani movies at that time and screening of Indian movies. This led to closure of number of cinemas which in turn affected the film Industry of Pakistan which almost perished at that time. Masses also were not able to enjoy an inexpensive source of entertainment anymore.
Pakistani Film Industry started its journey to revival, after the ban on screening of Indian movies was removed new cinemas were built in Karachi. The new movies which have released in near past and the upcoming movies are expected to revive our cinemas. Almost 30 new cinemas have been built in Karachi in the past few years.