Indo-Pak ties have worsened! Yes, the Uri attacks have not only affected the political scenario of both the countries but have also had an impact on the film industry.
The revenge game is on! MNS threatened Pakistani actors to leave India within 48 hours and as a response to this threat, Pakistani government banned the release of the movie ‘M.S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ there. No one has an idea as to when this situation will improve, but one thing can be said for sure that if this continues, the film industry is going to incur huge losses.
Yes, it is a fact that if Indian films keep getting banned like this, Pakistani film industry might have to face around 70% loss in business and this might eventually lead to shutting down of cinema theaters and multiplexes.
Nadeem Mandviwalla, the owner, distributor and exhibitor of Atrium cineplexes says that the Pakistani film industry has witnessed high growth only due to release of Hollywood and Bollywood movies.
He adds
“I just hope the ties don’t remain tense on long-term basis. Even if there is a temporary ban we can survive but if there is any permanent ban you can expect lot of cinema houses and multiplexes to close down,”
Another famous film critic, Omair Alavi, says that the film industry in Pakistan has earned good profits only due to rise in the number of cinema screens, which is a result of growing popularity of Indian films there.
No doubt, Pakistani films do release and perform well, but for surviving in this industry, releasing minimum 60 films in an year is extremely vital, which is not happening currently.
Earlier too there was a situation wherein a ban was imposed on the release of Indian films, but then, this gave rise to illegal sale of DVDs. Not only would the ban impact cinema theaters and multiplexes but it will also affect cable operators, who run their business only on the basis of these movies.
Khan feels that if such things happen, the cinema owners would be left with no option but to reduce or shut screens for additional savings.
Abid Ali Zaidi, the Assistant Marketing Manager of Cinepax Cinemas, says that they already had plans to screen those old Pakistani movies in case a temporary ban was imposed.
Yesterday, we told you that Pakistan is the 3rd highest market for Indian movies and such bans would affect both, the film collections as well as Pakistani film industry! What do you have to say on this situation? Feel free to comment in our comments section below.