Pakistan misses Bollywood, lifts ban on Indian films!

Citizens of Pakistan are missing Bollywood movies; no more ban on Hindi films.

Published: Monday,Dec 19, 2016 12:39 PM GMT-07:00

Omkar D Sawant

Pakistan had imposed a ban on Bollywood movies after tension between the Indo-Pak relation started mounting. A lot of hostility was seen between the two countries during that period. However, it seems Pak citizens are missing the fun of Bollywood movies and the theatres there witnessed a new low of people coming to the theatres. As a result, Pak has finally lifted the ban of the on Indian films.

Filmmaker Syed Noor was quoted saying on the whole 'ban-show," At the time when they self- imposed it, cinema owners knew the government's stance; they knew the spirit of antagonism [ towards India] that was in the air. The month of Moharram was starting, and there were no interesting films lined up. So, one fine morning, they decided to show their ' national spirit' by announcing the ban. The entire world knows Indian films were being imported as a ' foreign' item. Who are they misleading?" (sic)

Zoraiz Lashari of All Pakistan Film Exhibitors' Association says the ban was just "a reaction to what India did. They banned our artistes, which wasn't agreeable.

We wanted to show our resentment." (sic)

"Looking back, I think the matter just got blown out of proportion, on both sides. Frankly, art should not have boundaries. Even if you want to control it, you can't," (sic) he added.

Pakistan can't outlast Bollywood? Is it the case? Zoraiz answers, " It's not exactly about Bollywood; it's the question of survival of our cinema industry in the face of a situation where Pakistan isn't churning out sufficient number of films sufficient to run theatres round the year. We're making about 15-20 ? films, and not all are expected to be blockbusters. The ratio of box office success is generally the same, if you talk about Bollywood movies also. But their movie turnout is great. That ensures people keep coming to the cinemas. The highest grossing film in Pakistan incidentally is the locally produced 9 awani Phir Nahin Ani (2015)." (sic)

Producer-director Shehzaad Rafiq admits that people are missing the fun of Bollywood movies. He says," We don't want our cinema to die of suffocation. Since the ban on Indian films, we've seen the public response they are missing Bollywood. It won't be an exaggeration to say that they haven't returned to theatres ever since. Two recent releases, Dobara Phir Se and Lahore Se Aagay, bombed at the box office although they'd been heavily promoted and backed by a top TV network." (sic)

Credits: Mid-Day