"My wife was entranced by the movie we saw on the 70mm screen and I was happy watching her enthralled," Hasan Sharif, a retired government official, recalled sweet memories about Modhumita Movies. He took his newlywed bride to the cinema hall on a moonlit night.

Like Hasan, many derived entertainment from Modhumita Movies, one of the oldest cinema halls in the city, established on December 1, 1967.

From the first opening show with 'Dakbabu' and first public show with 'Cleopatra', the cinema hall screened hundreds of good Bangla movies and all-time Hollywood blockbusters.

"We have been trying to survive amid continuous loss in the business. But how long can we struggle," said M Iftekharuddin Naushad, managing director of Modhumita Movies.

Naushad said the authorities have not yet taken the final decision but there is the least chance to continue. He said it would be more profitable if the 1,221-seat theatre at the commercial heart of the capital is transferred into a multi-storey building.

"Modhumita did not stick to its old setting and has changed over time to meet the demand of new generation," Naushad said, referring to the first ever Dolby Surround Sound System in Bangladesh, installed in Modhumita in 1997 and Digital Theatre System (DTS) in 1999.

"Unfortunately we cannot entertain people despite such equipment as quality films are not available," he said.

"People do not turn up to watch those sleazy films," Naushad said blaming the low-quality movies on the downward trend in business. Lack of security and traffic jam prevent people coming to the movie theatre, he said. Also, video piracy and foreign satellite channels added to woes of cinema hall owners.

The managing director said some good films were made immediately after independence but the trend did not last long. Now creativity has yielded to vulgarity in the film industry in Bangladesh. "What else can I expect when I see my former peons and ticket checkers have become film producers?" he said.

He believes constant restriction on importing movies from neighbouring countries did not prove a protection for the local film industry as the government thought.

He said it is high time the government thought of allowing them. "I think it will ensure good quality of movies as there would be strong competition then. Also, the government would have more tax," he said.

Asked, Naushad said Modhumita could not make any profit for the last six months. "Earlier, we used to make good profit by screening Bangla movies for 52 weeks a year while American movies attracted people for 30 weeks," he said.

"But now even English movies cannot help make profit as people watch the new English movies in video. Also, the cable operators show those movies in their private movie channels," he added.

On why Modhumita does not screen brand new English movies, the managing director said it became too expensive to import them. Pirated prints of English movies are widely smuggled into cinema halls. "I was surprised to see a cinema hall in Narayanganj screening "True Lies". How could they get hold of the print while Modhumita movies are the sole agent of Paramount Picture, Universal Studio and 20th Century Fox," he said.

He said he brings movies from abroad paying a large amount along with tax but smuggled copies are freely available.

A number of cinema halls discontinued their business in the last few years. Naushad pointed to Gulistan, Mallika, Beauty, Jyoti, Tajmahal, Rupmahal and Naz that closed down, along with at least 10 cinema halls out of 15 in Chittagong.