Poor picture quality, influx of cable TV, vulgarity and rampant pirating have caused a distinct dip in the popularity of Bangla movies. Although the city's rich and middle-classes had long abandoned their trips to the halls, the theatres still thrived on the poor and working classes that would flock to the stands for cheap entertainment and escapism. But now even that section of the audience is failing to show up in numbers.

As a result, the 38 cinema halls of Dhaka are facing the threat of gradual extinction. Many cinemas, including the historic Gulistan, have already had to shut down, and even traditionally successful ones like Jonaki and Modhumita are reportedly contemplating closure.

Recently, artists, directors and producers of the country's film industry demonstrated in the city to raise awareness and to draw attention of the government towards their plight. Showing solidarity with the movement, hall owners of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Tongi enforced a token strike by not screening films at their special and matinee shows on May 21.

The protest was specifically directed against pirated CDs of movies -- which allow almost immediate viewing of just-released Bangla films -- and adult films on satellite channels.

Producers allege that films are mostly recorded and copied from cinemas outside the city and then distributed in the market or transmitted by cable TV operators.

"As people can now enjoy the latest local releases in the comfort of their homes, they don't feel like going to the movies anymore," said film director Ali Azad.

The absence of stringent laws to curb piracy and copyright violation is also believed to be encouraging those who are involved in the illegal film business, but the core of the problem lies with the low standard of filmmaking.

The so-called 'social' movies, which are a mixture of romance, fighting, song and dance and invariably have a happy ending, had until recently enjoyed popularity among the audience, a majority of whom were women. But producers are becoming increasingly reluctant to continue making such films as illegal screening have made them commercial flops. Instead, they are going for the cheaper 'band-aid' films, which guarantee an excess of sexuality, perversion and crude dialogue.

These second-rate films are devoid of any proper story, technical excellence or basic movie-making syntax. The philosophy is simple -- luring the spectators with an unreserved display of flesh. A sexually explicit scene from a different film or source, which is known as a 'cut piece,' is edited into the original movie after it has passed the censor board.

"A band-aid film can be made with a budget of Tk 40-50 lakhs whereas a social movie costs at least Tk one crore. We are only doing this to survive. You have to remember that the livelihood of around ten lakh people revolves around the film industry," said a producer on condition of anonymity.

However, this trend is having a negative impact on the halls.

"About 80 percent of Bangla film's audience were women. But they are not coming anymore due to the tastelessness of the movies. We are also losing the family groups," said Nazrul Islam, exhibitor of Jonaki cinema hall.

Allegations abound that the producers of band-aids bribe the censor board officials into releasing the cut-pieces. "In some cases, censor inspectors even blackmail the makers of clean films saying that their tapes won't get censor board certificates unless they pay them a certain amount of money. I have seen many producers harassed in this way," claimed a producer also not wishing to be named.

The monopoly of the Bangladesh Film Development Centre (BFDC) over marketing of the movies is another case for grievance among the activists of the ailing industry. Cable operators too are facing their wrath for airing the latest English and Hindi blockbusters. But some feel that developing a cinema-going culture is the only way out of this situation even if it means promoting foreign movies to a certain extent.

"Our film industry has been hijacked. People who are seeing the high quality of foreign films on satellite TV can't possibly have any attraction left for homegrown movies. To address this crisis, we need to import good Hindi and English films. That would encourage people of all walks of society to return to cinema halls first and eventually it could lead to a resurgence of Bangla films of taste," opined Managing Director of Modhumita Movies Iftekharuddin Naushad.