You can't keep a good thing down for long. Likewise too Bollywood, which has hitherto been banned in Pakistan's cinema halls. But obviously, there exists a lobby within Pakistan that is simply crazy about Bollywood.
And its likely that the government is on the verge of lifting the nearly four-decade-old ban on screening mainstream Indian movies in the country's cinema halls.
The lifting of the ban has been in the air specially since the initiation of the Indo-Pak peace process early this year, but the most positive hint in this regard came from chairman of Pakistan film censor board Ziauddi Khan, who said that a summary for allowing screening of Indian films was shortly being sent to the federal cabinet for approval.
A recommendation has also been made to permit screening of Indian films in Pakistani theatres to give a boost to cinema house owners who have been facing huge losses, and to help improve the standard of Pakistani films, Khan was quoted by the Ausaf daily as saying.
Federal Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Sports, Rais Munir Ahmed, too said government is considering to allow screening of the Indian movies in Pakistan theatres. "We have taken the matter under consideration on the request of Pakistan cinema owners and sought comments from ministries of interior, foreign affairs, finance and other relevant organisations," he was quoted by another newspaper The Nation.
Pakistan banned screening of Indian films after the 1965 war and since then its film industry had a sole run but failed to flourish. It has been declining for the past two decades as most of film theatres, unable to bear the losses, began closing down at a rapid pace.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan banned screening of Indian films after the 1965 war and since then its film industry had a sole run but failed to flourish. It has been declining for the past two decades as most of film theatres, unable to bear the losses, began closing down at a rapid pace.
{{/usCountry}}Weighed down by costs, poor investment and rapidly declining talent, the bigwigs of the Pakistani film industry have been pressing the government to permit the screening of Indian movies to help the theatres to recover from losses.
While some old timers were still opposed to opening the flood gates to Indian movies fearing a cultural invasion, strong proponents of showing Hindi films, like film star-turned director Javed Sheikh, asked government to allow Pakistani film industry to develop strong thematic and technical links with its Indian counterpart for its survival.
Sheikh, who featured in several TV debates boldly advocating for opening the doors for Indian cinema, argues that almost all Pakistanis avidly watch the Indian films through the pirated video and CDs which are more or less simultaneously released in Pakistan as soon as a new Hindi movie is released in India. The Indian film actors and actresses are more popular than their Pakistani counterparts.
Admitting pressure from the industry, Ahmed said secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Culture, Jalil Abbas, would shortly visit India to sign an agreement on cultural exchanges. Khan said while recommending to permit the Indian movies, his department also worked out modalities to screen Indian movies.
The Indian films would be re-censored in Pakistan and the board would charge the fee of Rs. 25000 for every movie. He said Pakistani films at present lacked story and direction and were being run only on vulgarity and nudity.
He said the local filmmakers would have to change this trend. It is believed that screening of Indian films would provide a healthy atmosphere for competition and ample opportunity to good directors, storywriters and musicians to profit from their work.