The locks on Madhumati Cinema Hall in Bhairab and Shapla Talkies in Rangpur may have fallen for different reasons, but they tell the same unsettling story. One was crushed by losses and debt; the other was caught in a dispute over its property’s future.
Together, their disappearance points to something larger: Bangladesh is steadily losing the affordable neighbourhood cinema hall, and with it, easy access to the big screen for lower-income, lower-middle-class and middle-class audiences.
For generations, single-screen cinemas stood beside marketplaces, bus terminals and district-town streets, offering mass entertainment without the cost of travelling to a major city or entering a shopping complex. That network has now shrunk to a fraction of its former size.
From 1,435 halls to a fraction of that
Bangladesh had around 1,435 cinema halls in the early 1990s. By 2020, actively operating halls had fallen to around 70, from about 250 just a few years earlier, according to the Bangladesh Film Exhibitors’ Association; 25 districts had no active cinema hall.
A later industry assessment put the number at around 100 operational halls and 175 screens, again with 25 districts lacking a functioning cinema. By June 2025, distributors counted 141 operational halls, but only around 60 operated year-round. Of the other 81, about 39 opened mainly for Eid releases and 42 operated case by case. More than 30 year-round venues primarily screened old films or reruns, while around 70 per cent of halls were described as being in dire condition.
The decline is visible city by city. Chattogram went from 35 halls to six by 2011. Mymensingh’s five ; Ajanta, Chhayabani, Alaka, Purabi and the Sena Auditorium dwindled to Chhayabani. Rangpur’s 12 halls fell to Shapla Talkies and Akash Talkies before Shapla closed. Bhairab’s four; Chobighor, Palash, Madhumati and Darshan, became one after Chobighor became a shopping centre, Palash was demolished for residential and educational development, and Madhumati closed.
The losses continued into the 2020s. Dhaka’s Ovishar was demolished in 2020 after financial losses, with plans for a commercial building and a smaller 150-seat cinema. Geet and Sangeet closed again in 2025 after previously shutting in December 2024.
Chitramahal on English Road was demolished, while Mymensingh’s Purabi was being demolished for a multi-storey building. Jashore’s 42-year-old Monihar Cinema Hall was preparing to close in 2025 for an expanded market and residential hotel, while the adjacent Monihar Cineplex continued.
Now, in 2026, Madhumati and Shapla have joined that growing list.
The audience is still there — but can it afford the new cinema?
A 2011 study found that 72 per cent of cinema viewers came from lower-income groups, 24 per cent from the middle class and 4 per cent from the upper class. Though too old to represent today’s national audience, the figures underline cinema’s historical mass-market character.
That audience has not simply vanished. The success of Poran, Hawa, Surongo, Priyotoma, Toofan, Taandob and Borbaad shows Bangladeshis still fill theatres when films create excitement. The question is increasingly where and at what price.
Single-screen tickets have historically cost around Tk80–100, while Madhumita’s were reported at Tk100–300. Star Cineplex’s regular tickets begin at Tk400 on weekdays and Tk450 on Fridays and Saturdays, with premium categories costing more.
Four Tk100 tickets cost Tk400; four Tk400 tickets cost Tk1,600, rising to Tk1,800 on a weekend — four times more before transport, food or drinks. HIES 2022 put average monthly household income at Tk32,422 and expenditure at Tk31,500. Four Tk100 tickets therefore represent about 1.2 per cent of average monthly household income, compared with nearly 5 per cent for four Tk400 tickets.
For a lower-income family, that difference can turn cinema from an ordinary outing into an occasional luxury.
A multiplex cannot replace every cinema hall
Multiplexes have improved projection, sound, seating and facilities, and new multiplexes are planned in Narayanganj, Bogura and Shariatpur. But more screens do not automatically mean more access.
A multiplex generally operates inside a commercial complex at a higher price, while a single-screen hall could sit in a district town or neighbourhood, reachable by walking or inexpensive local transport. When it disappears, audiences may lose not simply a screen but an affordable way of reaching one.
Monihar captures this transition: the historic single screen was heading towards demolition while its newer multiplex neighbour survived.
Yet even multiplexes are no guaranteed solution. Bogura’s 345-seat Madhuban Cineplex reportedly attracts only five to seven viewers for ordinary screenings, sometimes running one show a day. Its monthly operating costs were reported at Tk3–4 lakh, with losses exceeding Tk1 lakh a month. Yet around 150 people attended its 2026 FIFA World Cup final screening.
The problem, then, is not simply old cinemas. It is an audience, content and exhibition problem.
The vicious circle
Poor halls discourage audiences; fewer audiences reduce revenue; lower revenue prevents renovation; inadequate facilities hurt films; producers become reluctant to distribute widely; fewer releases mean fewer screenings. Electricity bills, salaries, maintenance, piracy, streaming and the shortage of regular quality releases deepen the cycle.
In 2025, distributors said many halls survived almost entirely on the two Eid periods, while films released outside Eid rarely secured more than 25–30 screens, excluding cineplexes.
For owners, the calculation becomes brutally simple: a cinema requires continuous investment and unpredictable releases, while commercial buildings offer steadier returns. Hence cinema land increasingly becomes markets, warehouses and multi-storey buildings.
Who is the future cinema for?
The government has a Tk10 billion refinancing scheme for cinema-hall construction, renovation and modernisation, but operators have struggled to access it. A platform of 19 film organisations has now made hall preservation a priority, pushing for the modernisation scheme alongside centralised servers and e-ticketing.
The answer is not necessarily preserving every ageing building, but preserving the function those halls served: affordable, local access to theatrical cinema. That could mean smaller modern halls in district and upazila towns, lower-cost tickets, easier renovation loans, tax incentives, stronger distribution and a dependable supply of commercially viable Bangladeshi films.
Otherwise, Bangladesh may modernise its cinema industry while shrinking its cinema audience.
Madhumati and Shapla are therefore not simply two old buildings disappearing. They are another warning that the country’s cinema map is becoming smaller, more urban and more expensive.
For decades, the single-screen hall was where Bangladesh’s mass audience met its movies. If those affordable screens disappear without an equally accessible replacement, the industry risks saving cinema for those who can afford it while losing the very mass audience that made Bangladeshi cinema a mass cultural experience.
If the people who built Bangladesh’s cinema culture can no longer afford to enter the cinema, who exactly is the industry building its future for?
