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For almost over a year now, cinemas in Karachi are witnessing the glamour galore that are film premieres: from a grand red carpet to a celebrity wall, moviegoers get some facetime with the glitz of the film world. The fanfare usually sets up in one of our modern multiplexes; the classic single-screen cinemas like Capri and Bambino just screen the films once they release.

Asadul Haq's Dekh Magar Pyar Se is here to change that: the film will be premiered in Karachi on August 15 at Capri, finally breaking the jinx after a decade.

The director of Capri cinema, Farrukh Rauf told Dawn.com that it has ten years since the cinema saw a premiere: "The last time we premiered a film was in 2005 when Sonya Jehan's debut film Taj Mehal was released and given that it was an Indian film, four to five Indian actors also came to see the film. It's a coincidence that Humaima Malik starrer Dekh Magar Pyar Se marks her brother, Sikander Rizvi's debut."

He further revealed that Salakhain (2004) and Ye Dil Aap Ka Hua (2002) had also been premiered at Capri and the star cast attended the event: "In those times, red carpets were there but they weren't as grand as they're now."

It's time to give back to cinemas that saw the golden age of films: Asadul Haq

Talking about this unique approach to premiering his film, Asadul Haq shared why he decided to bring the classic cinema back into limelight: "My childhood was spent in Capri and when we are talking about the old days and places like Lahore, then why shouldn’t the premiere also be held at Capri? The rest of the cinemas are great and they see premieres every time, so why not go back to the old days of the cinema because we all have childhood memories associated with the cinema."

With multiplexes replacing cinema houses in Pakistan, the question rises whether people would come to them and Asad is very optimistic about it: “A few years ago, the same audience had quit coming to cinemas altogether but we brought them back, didn’t we? If we can do that, we can even bring them back to Capri. These cinemas have seen the golden age of our cinemas, we had those old staircases, balcony seats and that’s what we want to celebrate!”

Celebrating the legacy of Capri, Asad felt that many have forgotten their roots hence they refrain from going to good old theatre houses:

“When our team went to check out Capri, we realised that it was indeed a unique cinema. The thing is that we have forgotten our roots and we have gotten used to things accessible to us. This is my way of giving back to the old cinema.”

The rom-com, DPMS is set in Lahore and has been dubbed "a complete family entertainer, which will showcase the city's history and culture".

The script of the film has been written by journalist/Karachi You're Killing Me author Saba Imtiaz and will be a debut film for the writer, director as well as the actor, Sikander. The music score for the film has been done by none other than the very soulful Abbas Ali Khan.

Built in 1968, Capri was also amongst those cinemas that faced the brunt of protesters who set fire to theatre houses an an outrage to blasphemous film released on YouTube. Unlike Nishat and Prince, Capri was back in business in December.