Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng and Shahid Kapoor’s Kismet Konnection have set cash registers ringing in Pakistan with distributor-exhibitors lobbying for direct imports from Bollywood.
The Pakistani rights for Singh… were sold for US$ 200,000, which works out to a little over Rs 1.5 crore in local currency.
Given the crowds the comedy is drawing in Lahore and Rawalpindi, it’s expected to rake between Rs seven to eight crore, the highest since theatres here began screening Indian films shot in foreign locales. Even Kismet… bought at half the price of Kinng…, will leave its distributor richer many times over.
Singh’s popularity emboldened an exhibitor to increase the ticket money from Rs 250 to Rs 300. Its first show at Lahore’s high-end DHA theatre was at the unearthly 1 am on the Friday it released globally.
“An Indian film’s first global screening in Pakistan is unprecedented. Even at that late hour, it opened to a packed house and continues to be the cine-goers first choice,” said Jamshed Jaffer of the Pakistan Film Producers’ Association.
In contrast, the locally produced Ramchand Pakistani featuring Nandita Das, a poignant, stark tale of a Pakistani Dalit-Hindu straying across the borders, has fetched critical acclaim but no money.
{{/usCountry}}In contrast, the locally produced Ramchand Pakistani featuring Nandita Das, a poignant, stark tale of a Pakistani Dalit-Hindu straying across the borders, has fetched critical acclaim but no money.
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