'The Legend of Maula Jatt' becomes first Pakistani film to get same release date in China

KARACHI: Talks of the release of Bilal Lashari's Maula Jatt has been making rounds for quite a few years, but the team finally made the announcement last weekend that the film will be hitting screens in 2019. While that's huge news, The Legend of Maula Jatt will also be the first film from the subcontinent to get the same date release in China with its domestic release in Pakistan, stated a press release.

oh yes ! https://t.co/GOw0gR7ycx

— The Legend of Maula Jatt (@MaulaJattMovie) December 7, 2018

Only a handful of big studio backed projects from Hollywood have been able to achieve such mainstream release in China. The most commercially successful Bollywood films from India like Dangal, Secret Super Star, Hindi Medium and Bahubali, all have been released in China after months or a year later after their domestic and international screening.

It’s no mean feat as China has a limited quota for foreign films to be released each year. Therefore, annually a small number of films are selected among myriad of them released globally, after thorough scrutiny by the Chinese regulatory authorities. Till date only a handful of Hollywood movies belonging to the league of Spider Man 2, Captain America and X Men recently have been the chosen ones to secure the Chinese theatrical release overlapping with US domestic and worldwide release.

Bilal Lashari and Gohar Rasheed: THE STARS COME OUT, Frieha Altaf hosts the after party for Lux Style Awards 2016 in Karachi

The rest of the foreign films from the most lucrative markets, primarily Hollywood and Bollywood, see a later date release in China, which is now the go-to market for Hollywood blockbusters theatrical revenue wise.

This breakthrough for a local film is all set to give Pakistan a global footing in the world of cinematic craft. A film from an infant industry like Pakistan has set benchmarks for even the most commercially viable neighbouring cinema in the subcontinent, Bollywood.
Not only is this groundbreaking but also a hope for all other Pakistani movies to make it big internationally by not following Bollywood trends but by setting few for them.

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