India's Srinagar city to start showing movies after over two decades

Members of media and Jammu and Kashmir government officials wait to enter a multi-screen cinema hall run by India's leading multiplex chain Inox before its inauguration in Srinagar September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Danish Ismail

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - A top Indian government official inaugurated a multi-screen cinema hall in Srinagar, the largest city in the restive Kashmir region, on Tuesday and it will begin showing movies next month, more than two decades after cinemas were closed there.

"The government is committed to change perceptions about Jammu and Kashmir and we know people want entertainment and they want to watch movies," said Manoj Sinha, the region's top official, while inaugurating the first multiplex in the city.