Pakistan minister eyes Bollywood ban for Eid

[Dance]

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



DAWN.COM | Culture | Pakistan minister eyes Bollywood ban for Eid

 

[Dance]

I dont get why they're just banning it just for Eid? If they want to ban bollywood, then ban it permanently

 

[BATMAN]

I also don't understand why previlage indian industry over Pakistan's?
If we want to open up than why not give equal opportunity to the all world?
Why hollywood movies are banned?
If i remember in 80's half of Lahore cinemas use to show English movies and half use to show Pakistani movies.
This govt. should apply for indian passports, if they fell more patriotic about india than indians it self.
On a second thought when i see RAW's grip over Pakistan govt. than i get all answers.

 

[Dance]

I also don't understand why previlage indian industry over Pakistan's?
If we want to open up than why not give equal opportunity to the all world?
Why hollywood movies are banned?
If i remember in 80's half of Lahore cinemas use to show English movies and half use to show Pakistani movies.
This govt. should apply for indian passports, if they fell more patriotic about india than indians it self.

Hollywood is banned in Pakistan? They still show American movies in cinemas

But yeah they should stop showing indian movies and give more opportunity to our own industry to grow.

 

[FreekiN]

I dont get why they're just banning it just for Eid? If they want to ban bollywood, then ban it permanently

Because most Pakistani's like Bollywood. The first movie that was released in Pakistan, 'RACE', after they unbanned Bollywood movies, the movie theaters were packed.

It's not like Lollywood is getting anywhere. Only thing we have is Dramas and that's hardly entertainment for the youth.

 

[RobbieS]

I also don't understand why previlage indian industry over Pakistan's?
If we want to open up than why not give equal opportunity to the all world?
Why hollywood movies are banned?
If i remember in 80's half of Lahore cinemas use to show English movies and half use to show Pakistani movies.
This govt. should apply for indian passports, if they fell more patriotic about india than indians it self.
On a second thought when i see RAW's grip over Pakistan govt. than i get all answers.

You have all the answers, yet you keep on asking the questions. Why dont you give it a rest?

 

[Dance]

Because most Pakistani's like Bollywood.

Yeah but it hurts our own industry, plus Pakistani TV and all that is banned in india so why should we let them show their stuff in Pakistan?

 

[FreekiN]

Yeah but it hurts our own industry, plus Pakistani TV and all that is banned in india so why should we let them show their stuff in Pakistan?

What Industry?

Khuda key Liye and Ramchand Pakistani

2 movies? Is that it?

If they start making some movies, maybe, just MAYBE, someone will watch it.

http://www.dhacinema.com/

How many Pakistani movies are being played in the above link?

Zero.

QTV is not banned in India. Pakistani movies are not banned in India. Fair enough.

 

[Dance]

What Industry?

Khuda key Liye and Ramchand Pakistani

2 movies? Is that it?

If they start making some movies, maybe, just MAYBE, someone will watch it.

Yeah I agree they should start making more better quality movies because then people would start losing interest in bollywood in Pakistan.
But if bollywood were banned then maybe people would start giving attention to lollywood.


And yeah I know theres no Pakistani movies being played because pretty much all of them are crappy

QTV is just one channel, what about Geo, ARY, PTV, the musik, and all those?

 

[RobbieS]

Yeah I agree they should start making more better quality movies because then people would start losing interest in bollywood in Pakistan.
But if bollywood were banned then maybe people would start giving attention to lollywood.

Banning bollywood movies may not help at all. I remember that bollywood was banned for sometime during Zia's rule and also sometime back. But I dont think its popularity decreased at all. The reason is cassettes and CDs. In today's world you just cant eliminate it by banning it from Pak cinemas. People have access to CDs and online downloads. They will find a way. Where there's a demand there's a supply.

 

[Patriot]

I don't think it should be banned.Let's face it Bollywood is too much popular in Pakistan.I personally liked bollywood movies when i was young but once i was young enough to understand english i was in love with Hollywood.But Bollywood is great source of entertainment for people and should not be banned.

 

[Dance]

Banning bollywood movies may not help at all. I remember that bollywood was banned for sometime during Zia's rule and also sometime back. But I dont think its popularity decreased at all. The reason is cassettes and CDs. In today's world you just cant eliminate it by banning it from Pak cinemas. People have access to CDs and online downloads. They will find a way. Where there's a demand there's a supply.

It may help it may not, the only reason that I would agree to a bollywood ban is because india bans Pakistani channels and all that while indian channels and movies are allowed to be shown in Pakistan and it may or may not help our own film industry. Other then that I really don't care if they are shown or not.

 

[FreekiN]

It may help it may not, the only reason that I would agree to a bollywood ban is because india bans Pakistani channels and all that while indian channels and movies are allowed to be shown in Pakistan.

No they don't.

QTV is available to watch in India. QTV is a sub-channel of ARY television. It's in high demand for Indian Muslims. Why? Because of the content.

Now tell me, why would any other channel be in demand in India? Besides GEO which is also going to set up an Indian network.

http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k4/aug/aug144.htm

It's an old article, but i dont doubt it.

 

[RobbieS]

It may help it may not, the only reason that I would agree to a bollywood ban is because india bans Pakistani channels and all that while indian channels and movies are allowed to be shown in Pakistan.

Point taken. I agree that India should allow Pak films as well. Actually I dint know Pak films were banned. Almost everybody I know in India has seen Khuda ke Liye but then again it could be via downloads.

But I do think that news channels should be banned. Simply because too much propaganda on from both sides. Arnab Goswami and Times Now are a pain with their rhetoric and so are all the Hindi news channels. I guess its the same for Hamid Mir and his channel.

 

[Neither Right Nor Wrong]

Yeah I agree they should start making more better quality movies because then people would start losing interest in bollywood in Pakistan.
But if bollywood were banned then maybe people would start giving attention to lollywood.


And yeah I know theres no Pakistani movies being played because pretty much all of them are crappy

Bollywood movies were banned in Pakistan for better part of last 4 decades(after 1965)..what wonders did lollywood do??..infact more than 400 cinemas were broken from late 80s to present day..and ppl switched too pirated VHS and DVDs of same bollywood movies...so this banning business has ended up hurting Pakistani industry more.