Pakistan minister eyes Bollywood ban for Eid
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is eyeing a possible ban on Indian films in cinemas for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr, purportedly to encourage the flagging local industry, its culture minister said Tuesday.
"We want to benefit our industry and facilitate Pakistani producers by temporarily banning Indian movies at Eid al-Fitr," Aftab Shah Jilani told AFP.
Any decision would be taken after further discussions within government, Jilani stressed.
He said Pakistani film-makers had complained that cinemas prefer to show glitzy Bollywood productions made across the border in arch-rival India, flooding the market at the expense of the depressed local industry.
Pakistan's film industry has sunk into deep decline in the last two decades, with fewer and fewer films made, and those produced frequently criticised for weak plots and poor production.
Islamisation and recession have been blamed. Critics have called for an industry overhaul with government patronage and an injection of fresh talent.
But any ban on Indian films could take on political dimensions so soon after talks between the nuclear rivals in Islamabad ended in acrimonious stalemate.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the division of the subcontinent in 1947.
They are moving, albeit very slowly, towards reviving a peace dialogue suspended after the 2008 Mumbai attacks that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
But Pakistani film directors who met Jilani in Lahore on Tuesday, said they would welcome any temporary ban.
"The minister assured us that no Indian movie will be shown on Eid in September," leading film producer Sangeeta told AFP.
But Nadeem Mandviwala, from Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association, said he would appeal against any such decision, fearing heavy losses at the box office. -AFP
