Amid escalating tension between New Delhi and Islamabad over Mumbai terror attacks, Bollywood will live up to its reputation of bridging the barriers as Aamir Khan's Ghajini will hit theaters in Pakistan on Friday.
"Ghajini has been cleared by the censors and we are anticipating it to be a big hit in Pakistan as it is Aamir's first release in theaters in the country," well-known distributor and exhibitor Nadeem Mandviwalla said.
After initial fears that the strained relations between the two countries would also affect the cultural ties, the Pakistani Government has approved the release of the film, which is setting records at the box office in India after its release on December 25 last year.
Ghajini, which will be the first Indian film released in Pakistan after the 26/11 incident, will be shown in four theaters in Karachi and all of them are reporting very good
advance ticket sales, an employee of Nishat Cinema, Kamran, said.
"Although, the advertising build up for the film has been low key due to the conditions but still people are keen on watching it on the big screen," he said.
People were anticipating that Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana di Jori and Aamir's Ghajini would be released simultaneously in both the countries but the Mumbai incident had spoiled all such plans, Mandviwalla said.
He said exhibitors were hopeful that the government would also clear the widely anticipated Chandni Chowk to China for release later this month.
The cinema theater business has picked up dramatically in Pakistan since the government lifted a 42-year-old ban on screening of Indian films in cinema halls in late 2007 with several films going on to rake in millions for the stakeholders.
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