Compared to other capital cities of South East Asia, Yangon has fewer cinema halls. And most of them are quite old, dating back to as far as the colonial period. There are about six or seven cinema halls in downtown Yangon which show Hollywood, Bollywood (Indian movies) and local movies. They usually play four shows a day.
In Myanmar, the cinema halls are single theater types, usually having two levels of seating. On first level, there are usually three or four classes with the front seats being the cheapest. Level two is upper class or first class, and the most expensive. Because of limited number of cinema halls in Yangon, there usually a lucrative black market of cinema tickets, sold at two to three times the official selling price, depending on the popularity of the movies.
Most of the theaters in Yangon are equipped with old and out dated projectors and sound systems. There are now a few theaters equipped with more modern projectors and sound systems. However, the quality is still no where near those from other modern theaters.
Contributed by Bamarlay. Original article posted in Myanmar Man’s Diary.
