Walk through the narrow, bustling lanes of Peshawar’s old city and you can still feel traces of a cinematic era that once connected the region to some of South Asia’s biggest film legends. The city’s movie theatres may have quietened down over the years, but its legacy hasn’t faded — not even close.
A city that raised giants
Tucked inside Qissa Khwani Bazaar, two historic homes still draw visitors in the same way classic films pull in new generations: with curiosity, nostalgia and a strange sense of familiarity.
One belongs to Dilip Kumar, born Mohammed Yusuf Khan — one of the greatest actors the subcontinent ever produced. His modest four-marla ancestral home has now been declared a protected heritage site by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
A short walk away stands the Kapoor Haveli, the ancestral home of the legendary Kapoor family. Raj Kapoor, Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor — names that feel stitched into the fabric of Bollywood’s early identity — all trace their origins back to this very neighbourhood.
These buildings aren’t just structures. They’re reminders of a time when Peshawar quietly shaped the faces and stories that would later define Indian cinema.
Young visitors, old memories
What’s surprising — and kind of heartwarming — is how young people in the city continue to seek out these places.
Thirteen-year-old Malaika Khan, visiting Dilip Kumar’s house with her younger brother, said she’d grown up hearing stories about the actor. Standing in front of the old brick walls, she described the moment simply:
“It felt like touching history.”
For a generation raised on Netflix and TikTok, the pull of these forgotten lanes says a lot.
A legacy bigger than its crumbling walls
Peshawar has long been a city of storytellers — actors, writers, stage performers — its artistic roots stretching far back, long before modern borders split the region.
But the physical reminders of that creative past are fading.
Several old cinemas have been demolished to make way for commercial buildings. Others stand abandoned, their worn-out hoardings still hanging above shuttered entrances. Each loss chips away a little more of the city’s cultural memory.
Why this heritage still matters
Keeping these homes and historic sites alive isn’t about nostalgia for old movies. It’s about acknowledging the role Peshawar played in shaping an artistic tradition that crossed cultures and countries. It’s about giving young people a sense of identity and reminding them that creativity isn’t imported — it’s rooted deep in their own soil.
And yes, preserving these spaces could even breathe new life into local tourism, film history projects, and cultural revival efforts.
The road ahead
Peshawar’s cinematic story is still alive — but just barely.
Whether it grows or fades now depends on how passionately the city, its government and its people choose to protect what’s left.
For now, though, the legacy endures. Not because the walls are intact, but because the stories still are.
