Post the Uri attacks, Pakistani cinema owners had decided to stop screening Bollywood films until tensions between the countries cool down. Though the political situations are no better but Pakistani cinema owners have lifted the self imposed ban on Bollywood films due to the loss faced.
Films like ‘Pink and Freaky Ali’ which were already screened in Pakistani before the ban, are screened again but the new Indian films might not release anytime soon. Earlier, there was news that new Bollywood films will release in Pakistan but the latest reports suggest, that Indian distributors are not willing to release their films in Pakistan at least till the things cool down.
Dawn revealed, that the owner of Cineplex at Centaurus, Nadeem Mandviwala said, “Forces, which created the situation, are still trying to create hurdles. Currently those hurdles are from Indian side and once they will be removed we will know if there are hurdles from Pakistani side or not. So far we have not faced any pressure from the Pakistani side.”
“I don’t think we will get Indian movies immediately,” he added. “It can take days, weeks and even months to start screening new movies. We have lifted the ban and now it is up to Indian distributors whether they will sell movies to Pakistan. However, a debate has begun in India about it,” he said.
“Once Indian distributors agree to sell movies, we will have to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the government. If the NOC is issued the movies will have to be cleared by Pakistan Censor Board. After that we will be in a position to say that new movies can be screened in Pakistan,” he concluded.
News about our government rejecting the NOC for Amir Khan’s upcoming film Dangal was doing rounds but the producer of the film Siddharth Roy Kapoor cleared the air.
He stated, “It is an encouraging move that they are allowing Bollywood films. And I hope over time, the two countries sort the issues that they have with each other.”
When asked if Dangal will be releasing in Pakistan, he said, “We are not going to be releasing Dangal in Pakistan. This is a call we had taken a few weeks ago, and we are sticking with that decision.”
A source in Geo revealed that the NOC for Dangal was never applied. The source also revealed that it is the Indian distributors who are reluctant to release new films in Pakistan.
Rimsha Butt
