An alternative experience. In the city where luxury is considered integral to any going out experience, Cinema 73 provides an alternative option. There is no air-conditioning and there’s no caramel popcorn. The air is heavy with moisture and it smells of extra salty popcorn.
Cinema 73 is a community cinema, situated in Block 73 of Sea-view apartments. It was conceived by Asad Kamran, an architect and teacher who moved back to Karachi after doing his graduation from abroad. He’s been screening movies in his garage for some months now and been promoting it through social media. There are no entry charges and popcorn is on the house. The show starts mostly at 7:30pm on Sundays and you can check it here. He mostly screens indie cinema but there have been some mainstream movies too. Just like most of the community cinemas, it relies on home cinema equipment.
I find Asad setting up his projector during my first visit. The screening starts right on time and we don’t get much chance to speak to him. The screen is inside the garage which is painted black. The first row of seats are placed right in front of the garage. There is some space left for vehicles to move while few more rows follow. There are not many people. We sit in the front row and soon become oblivious to activity behind us. Some more people come. Few of them leave. Some cars honk their way through at some speed. The resident popcorn wala sets up his cart and suddenly we see kids surrounding him. Few of them settle around us and start watching the movie. They are the domestic help working in Seaview apartment and are the most loyal viewers of Cinema 73.
We strike conversation once the movie is over. Asad has been keen to make sure that the screening happens every week in week out. Even if he’s traveling. And he seems to have built enough support system to make Cinema 73 a regular feature as we figure it out later in our visits to Cinema 73. He has made sure that Cinema 73 does not stick to a certain genre. There has been all sorts of movie that he has screened; comedy, classics, indie, animations and documentaries. His audience has been an eclectic mix too and I sense that it makes him happy. From domestic help to seasoned artists, this alternative experience has been appealing enough for most.
bsh
The Karachi Walla 
Thank you so much for giving this more exposure.