Haider may not get Pak release, but Bang Bang on for Eid show

Pakistan’s censor board officials said on Friday they had not yet previewed the film Haider amid reports that the Bollywood adaptation of Hamlet may be banned in Pakistan because of controversial sections related to Kashmir.

Pakistan’s censor board officials said on Friday they had not yet previewed the film Haider amid reports that the Bollywood adaptation of Hamlet may be banned in Pakistan because of controversial sections related to Kashmir.

Haider

Zareef Abbasi, spokesperson of the Central Board of Film Censors in Pakistan, told the media the question of banning the film “does not arise” as distributors had still not presented the film to them.

“The question of banning any film or allowing its screening arises after it is presented to the board,” he said.

Pakistani distributors are adopting a wait-and-watch as they want to see how the film plays in Indian cinemas before they decide to import it as they do not want to risk the movie being banned.

While director Vishal Bhardwaj’s take on the Shakespearean tragedy set against the backdrop of sectarian strife in Kashmir may not hit Pakistani screens immediately, the country’s primary movie importer has already billed action film Bang Bang for release on Eid.

Mehmood Mandviwala of Mandviwala Entertainment, a major exhibitor, says Pakistan is now emerging as the fourth largest market for Indian movies abroad. Pakistani viewers prefer action movies and one of the biggest grossers in the country was Dhoom 3.