Lollywood: Royal Park to be made Film Street

Actors urge to ban the screening of Indian movies in local cinemas for two days a week.

LAHORE:

The government has decided to declare Royal Park Lahore’s ‘Film Street’, The Express Tribune has learnt. The area is home to the offices of most of Pakistan’s film producers.

Sources in the film industry said that the demand was raised during MNA Hamza Shahbaz’s meeting with industry leaders two days ago.

Artists, producers and directors are also learnt to have requested that Bahar Begum, the veteran actor, be made the first head of the Punjab Film Censor Board.

Hamza Shahbaz had received a delegation including actors Shan, Reema, Moammar Rana, Ghulam Mohyuddin and Irfan Khosat and producers Pervez Kaleem and Syed Noor.

The delegation proposed that the government remove taxes on the import of equipment for film production and cinema houses and ban the screening of Indian movies in local cinemas for two days a week. They said that the Bank of Punjab should provide interest-free loans for film productions. Shahbaz agreed to set up a committee to review the proposals.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2011.