The ban on Pakistani artists in India post Uri attack has led to a ban on Indian content in Pakistan as most of the biggest cinema houses have decided to stop screening Bollywood films.
Though this move has paved the way for more Pakistani content (as some of the best films from recent years will hit cinemas from October 7), it will have an adverse effect on cinema business and the local film industry, a view that is shared by veteran actor Humayun Saeed.
"Pakistani cinemas need Indian films at present," Saeed told BBC Urdu in a recent interview. "Pakistan's film industry is not ready to run cinemas on its own as cinemas need at least one film a week and the local industry produces only a few films each year."
He also said that Bollywood films paved the way for local cinemas as a result of which films are being made in the country. "Our local film industry needs some support at the moment," he asserted. "Showing only local content and removing Bollywood films on Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha works better but these films should not be banned all year long."
One cannot deny that the ban will adversely affect cinema houses as there are not enough good films made in Pakistan to attract cinegoers for a long time. As the month of Muharram begins, the number of people visiting cinemas has lowered so boycotting Bollywood films will not have a major impact on the business at this point. That said, if this ban stays in place for long, the effects will be far-reaching.
As for now, cinema houses plan to screen Pakistani films that released on Eid-ul-Azha (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay, Actor in Law, Janaan) along with some of the older films (Manto, Moor, Shah, Dukhtar, etc.) for the next couple of weeks.
This story was originally published in The News
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