Around The World

Saudis see movies after 30 years

Movies have not been shown to the public in Saudi Arabia for the past thirty years where there had been a rigid application of the rule made by the authorities that they are a bad influence on society. Now it looks as if it is being relaxed a bit and for the first time in years audiences have a chance to "eat pop corn...howl and clap...a normal cinema scene elsewhere," but revolutionary in Saudi Arabia where films have not been publicly shown for decades.

So it was not unusual to see Jeddah residents forming long queues from the King Abdullah Aziz Cultural Centre to see after three decades the first feature film shown in this ultra conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Before the decision was made to permit public movies there were reports of hush hush negotiations between senior political officials and the strict religious police of the Red Sea port of Jeddah and the nearby city of Taif to allow the Rotana entertainment group, owned by powerful Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, to show its new comedy 'Manahi' for nine days. "The hall was filled up till the very last seat during the two shows scheduled each day, forcing us to add a third show after midnight," said one of the organisers.

Decades ago film lovers in certain Saudi Arabian private clubs and societies were allowed to see movies in their halls and clubs in Saudi Arabia that were enjoyed throughout the Arab world. But in the 1970s, clerics of the ultra-conservative Wahhabist version of Islam cracked down and banned cinemas as having a corrupting influence on society.

The taboo has been broken somewhat in recent years, with videos, satellite television and movies shown surreptitiously at night in popular coffee shops. But to see a movie in a real theatre, Saudis still have to travel to neighbouring countries.

Before the public screening was permitted, the local religious police from the feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, inspected the hall ahead of the screenings to ensure that women and men would be separated. With women sitting apart in the balcony, and men and boys on the ground floor below them, the hall is reported to have echoed with raucous laughter.

"This is a hall with 1,200 seats. It was not built for movies and the projector is not made for 35mm films," organiser Salem said. On hand for the opening, 'Manahi' star Fayez Malki said he was pleased at the turnout. "This encourages me to play in more Saudi films and I plan to make a new one with the leading star Rotana," he said.

Roua Mohammed, an interior designer, said "she visits Cairo three times a year to check out the latest releases in the theatres." Despite the success in Jeddah, it was not yet clear whether Rotana would be able to show 'Manahi' in Riyadh, where the religious police are much tougher and Government officials more conservative.

Silence is golden

There is a plan to reduce the noise pollution in the city of Kolkota if the State Transport Minister Subhas Chakroborty has his way. The maverick minister, as the press describes him, said that as part of the Left Front Government's attempts to reduce noise pollution, he would 'advise' State pool car depots to dismantle the hooters from ministers' and senior officials' cars.

But, permit the police cars when they act as pilot cars to retain the hooting. Such a privilege granted to vehicles carrying Ministers and Senior officials smacks of privilege and is not exactly the right thing to do in a democratic age. It is the reduction of the noise pollution that should be the aim not the saving of the status of some people.

In the days of the British Empire when both India and the then Ceylon came under the traffic regulations passed by the British administrators, the traffic laws came at a time when the word pollution was rarely used for nuisances that bother us today.

There may have been noise pollutions then as now, but the steps that were taken to minimise them were simple.

Most often a lonely stand displaying the words Silent Zone, placed near a hospital or in a crowded street, did the trick. And there were quite a few Silent Zones in Colombo and may be even in the streets of the then Calcutta.

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