Indian films can’t be released on Eid

ISLAMABAD: IT IS NOT A BLANKET BAN AND INDIAN FILMS CAN BE SCREENED TILL TWO DAYS BEFORE EID AND TWO WEEKS AFTER THE HOLIDAY, ACCORDING TO THE CENSOR BOARD.

The Pakistan government has declared a ban on Indian films on the occasions of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha.

Both are big occasions when films, particularly from Bollywood, make the most money upon their release.

Pakistan’s central board of film censors released a statement on Thursday saying the move comes “in order to revive, and promote the local film industry in Pakistan.”

Although it is not a blanket ban and Indian films can screen before and after Eid, the government has slotted a period for local cinemas during which Indian films cannot be shown.

The films can be screened till two days before Eid and two weeks after the holiday.

There are already a number of local films which will be competing at the box office this Eid-ulFitr: Azaadi, Wajood and 7 Din Mohabbat In.

Hamza Ali Abbasi-starrer Parwaaz Hai Junoon which was also slated to release alongside these films has now been pushed back to avoid the clash.

The temporary ban also applies to foreign language films.

An official at Pakistan’s ministry of information and broadcasting said the step had been taken on the requests by the Pakistani film exhibitors, distributors and production houses.

An official from the Pakistan Film Exhibitors’ Association confirmed they had received the notification.

“The notification says that the temporary ban is being imposed in order to promote local movies on the festivals, a time when usual than larger audience is attracted towards cinemas,” he said.

Eid-ul-Adha holidays which will fall around late August or September.

Pakistani film producers and artists have been complaining for the last two years that their new films face stiff completion from the Indian and Hollywood movies and due to the limited number of screens in the country they are not able to do good business.