Guzaarish’s release in Pakistan irks Indian distributors

Pakistani exhibitors are in hot water for screening the film two days ahead of India.

LAHORE: In an unprecedented move, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai was released in Pakistan on Eidul Azha before it released in India.

Guzaarish was set to release in both countries on November 19 but Pakistani film exhibitors screened it on November 17. Insiders told The Express Tribune that Indian distributors have shown concern and questioned Pakistani exhibitors for releasing a much awaited film in Pakistan ahead of its release in India. However, they said that because the film has done well at the Indian box office, the issue has not blown up.

On the other hand, Pakistani film exhibitors say that they released Guzaarish two days ahead of its release in India because they didn’t have any major film to screen on Eid. Film exhibitor Jehanzeb Beg told The Express Tribune that this shouldn’t be a problem with local Indian film exhibitors as they don’t have any legal right to object to the territorial release of a film in Pakistan.

He said that in India, films are released on occasions like Diwali while Eid is the right occasion to release new films in Pakistan. “Pakistani distributors had bought the rights and they spoke to the people concerned before releasing the film. Only the main distributor from whom Pakistani exhibitors have bought the distribution rights of the film can object to this, the exhibitors in Dubai or anywhere else have nothing to do with it. Additionally, a producer may have an issue with this situation but not the distributors,” he said.

Earlier, it had been planned that Guzaarish would release on November 12 in both Pakistan and India, but then the release got delayed for a week in India.  As for the rules, an Indian film cannot be released in Pakistan before its release in India. Exhibitors, however, believe that this may be a moral obligation but there isn’t any legal obligation to do this.

Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association Chairman Zoraiz Lashari said that exhibitors had a film in hand so they decided to release it on November 17. “This is one rare case that may never happen again. We had the film and we wanted to release it on Eid so we went ahead with it,” he said.

An insider revealed that major distributors of Indian films in Pakistan would now be warned not to screen any Indian film before it is released in India.

The next film that is set to be released in both the countries on November 26 is Break Ke Baad¸which stars Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone. But the release of the film is not in question because of Guzaarish’s success in India. “Had Guzaarish not done well at the Indian box office, the release of more Indian films in Pakistan may have been jeopardised,” a source privy to developments said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2010.