Zardari take steps to revive Pakistan's ailing film industry

President Asif Ali Zardari formed a committee to recommend measures for reviving Pakistan's ailing film industry whose output had dwindled drastically over the past few years.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday formed a committee to recommend measures for reviving Pakistan's ailing film industry whose output had dwindled drastically over the past few years.

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Zardari announced the formation of the two-member committee comprising Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, and Ijaz-ul-Hassan, head of the national task force on culture and heritage, during a meeting with a delegation of film artistes and producers in the eastern city of Lahore.

Over the past few years, the production of films in Pakistan has fallen drastically and hundreds of movie halls across the country have been converted in commercial plazas and shopping arcades.

The output of the Pashtu film industry too has been affected by the diktats of the Taliban, which have declared movies and other forms of popular entertainment as "un-Islamic".

During its meeting with Zardari, the delegation of artistes and producers apprised him about the problems faced by the industry which had pushed it to the verge of collapse.

The delegation highlighted the need of a modern film processing laboratory in Pakistan as filmmakers were paying huge amounts of foreign exchange for using similar facilities in India.