As a child, Shaikh Mohammed Aslam would often accompany his father, a projectionist at Liberty Cinema, to select film screenings at the Charni Road venue. For him, it wasn't the prospect of watching a movie that was exciting, but the chance to observe his father inside the booth. "It fascinated me to see him work the controls of the projector, manage the electronics of the lamp and the sound system, and then watch it all come alive on the big screen," he says. The room with the small window that had a bright beam of light shining through it was where Aslam yearned to be.

Shaikh Mohammed Aslam, projectionist at Liberty Cinema