This was measured less by box office returns and more by the fact that a substantial crowd showed up despite the very real horror shows played out at Picture House and Shama cinemas in Firdous Bazaar on February 2 and 11 respectively.

According to some cinema goers, ZKS was all sold out for its first show. ZKS is the second movie of 2014 and stars Lollywood icon Meera. It was initially due for release on February 7, smack in the middle of the two targeted attacks on cinemas in which over 20 people lost their lives.

ZKS is being screened at Arshad Cinema, a sister cinema of Sabrina theatre. The twin cinemas, situated in Khyber Bazaar, were once again adorned with massive hoardings. Posters plastered the walls and busy squares of the city, beckoning invitingly to movie goers to partake in the almost ritualistic pleasure of watching a movie on the big screen.

The movie is also on at cinemas in Quetta and Karachi; the producers are satisfied ZKS will do well in all three cities.

However, in Peshawar, cinema doors did not open before certain arrangements were put in place, namely security. This was a condition put in place by the provincial government after the February attacks.

A family business

“Making a movie is never easy, such a situation just makes it harder,” shared Shahid Khan who co-stars with Meera in ZKS and co-owns Arshad and Sabrina cinemas with his brother Arshad Khan. ZKS has been both produced and directed by Arshad.

“The security situation has completely destroyed our productions and people are not willing to produce movies.”

Shahid has worked in more than 150 Pashto, Urdu and Punjabi movies and is popularly known as the ‘Jangju hero’ due to the extreme violence featured in his flicks. Roughly translated, Jangju means ‘warrior’ in English.

According to Shahid, ZKS is the only movie to have been released in the last two months. “Most of the cinemas are either still closed or run live shows. If nothing else, they run old movies to keep the house going.”

The soundtrack for ZKS includes songs by Nazia Iqbal and Rahim Shah. Shahid maintains special emphasis was also placed on post-production.

User reviews

ZKS is the second Pashto movie starring Meera. Her earlier work was for Orbal, another movie by Arshad. The rest of the cast includes Jahangir Khan, Sidra Noor, Khushboo, Dilbar Munir.

“The film is not very different, just the usual Pashto movie but its late release created more hype and anticipation than it would have merited otherwise,” argued Junaid Khan after watching the flick. “People enjoy watching Jahangir Khan and Shahid Khan and look forward to their movies.”

The quality of the movie was not the only thing to detract from the experience; Junaid admitted most viewers were worried about whether going to the cinema is safe now. “Installing CCTVs will not prevent another attack.”

Ahmad Ali who also watched ZKS was a more generous reviewer. “They should be appreciated for producing this movie. Such work must continue if we want to grow our entertainment industry.”
There was no denying it – fear and relief were palpable after the crowd exited the cinema but ultimately the love for Pashto movies was enough to draw the entertainment starved audience.

Most cinema owners in the city have installed CCTV cameras and hired personal guards. They are hopeful such measures will increase the cinema goers’ confidence.

The fact that ZKS made it to the box office might make it easier for other producers to release their work. According to the industry grapevine, Nadir Khan’s Ilzam is set to be released soon as is Ashiq, a romantic flick from film producer Naveed Khan. Azadi, a telefilm by Qaiser Sanas, will be coming soon at cinemas in the city.

Express Tribune

PESHAWAR: Two explosions inside a cinema here on Sunday night left four people killed and 31 injured.

According to police officials, two hand grenades were lobbed inside the hall of Picture House, one of the oldest cinemas in Peshawar situated on the Cinema Road near Qissa Khwani Bazaar, during the screening of a Pashto film.

“Initial investigation suggests that the grenades were hurled by a person from the rear seats in the theatre,” SSP Najeebur Rehman said.

He said police had already warned cinema owners against threats and asked them to improve their security arrangements. He said police were investigating the security lapse and how the man had managed to take the grenades into the hall.

Bomb disposal squad personnel found two pins of the grenades. Rescue workers of Edhi and Al Khidmat Foundation were seen shifting the dead and the injured to the Lady Reading Hospital.

“About 100 people were in the hall at the time of the explosions,” SP Faisal Mukhtar said, adding that the China-made grenades were small in size and easy to conceal even in the turban. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Shaukat Yousafzai told journalists that five people had been killed and 31 others injured. The condition of four of the injured was critical.

Witnesses said the blasts were quite powerful. They said they had seen a large number of people crying for help. The panic-stricken people were seen rushing out of the hall with pools of blood and shoes and sandals lying all around.

It was the day’s third show of Pashto film “Zidi Pakhtun” (stubborn Pakhtun). The show was about to end when the grenades exploded.

Several blasts have taken place in the congested market area in the past.

In September last year, a car bomb blast killed about 43 people. In May 2009, a bomb ripped through a cinema, Tasveer Mahal, leaving nine people dead.

Provincial Information Minister Shah Farman said a third force might be involved in the grenade blasts to sabotage peace talks between the government and the Taliban. “Whenever there are prospects of peace talks either drone attacks take place or such acts of terrorism are engineered by the elements averse to negotiations,” he said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the blast till late night. According to some TV channels, Taliban had stated that they had nothing to do with the grenade attack.

DAWN