Unprecedented: Exhibitors delay lifting ban on Indian films

Official announcement did not take place as expected, due to terrorist attack in Quetta

MUMBAI: Exhibitors have postponed the announcement regarding the resumption of Indian film screening in Pakistani cinemas, due to the terror attack in Quetta. The announcement, which was scheduled for the same day, is now expected to be made sometime within the next few days.

Distributors and cinema owners from across Pakistan already met at the Royal Palm on October 22 to discuss the fate of their businesses, in light of the ban on Indian films. “Participants at the meeting discussed the financial losses to those associated with the film business. It was decided that another meeting would be held on October 25 with Pakistani Exhibitors and Distributors Association  chairman Zoraiz Lashari to announce the lifting of the ban,” a source told The Express Tribune.

Lashari said, “Our basic demand was a lift on the ban on Pakistani actors working in India and the Indian authorities have done that. Even Fawad Khan’s film is all set to be released in India on time, which is why we are looking forward to a more positive outcome of this entire scenario.”

The exhibitors’ meeting that was supposed to take place in Lahore on Tuesday was also postponed, as were all other entertainment and cultural activities scheduled across the city, for the day. The list of events included a press conference by legendary singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan regarding the current social and political climate between India and Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2016.

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