Posts tagged jahanzaib baig

Bitterness over IPL aside, Pak audience laps up Indian films

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Bharati Dubey| TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 26, 2010)

Mumbai: Sporting ties between India and Pakistan may have been weakened because of the IPL auction, in which each Pakistan player up for bids was rejected, but our neighbours continue to import Indian cinema to run the film business in Pakistan. There were apprehensions that Salman Khan-starrer Veer would not find takers after the Pakistan government threatened to break bilateral ties with India . However, the film has got a good initial at the box office and Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots, even after two months, is being shown in three screens of one cineplex. The average earning from Indian movies is about Rs 2 crore a film.

Satish Anand, a distributor from Pakistan, said, Veer had an outstanding initial. The deal for My Name is Khan is already sealed. There is no interference from the government on the release of imported films. But the cricket controversy has hurt sentiments and affected goodwill in Pakistan. According to him, Bollywood films continue to have uninterrupted screenings. One reason for the demand for Indian films in Pakistan is the lack of good local cinema . Most distributors and exhibitors are happy because Indian films are keeping them in business. I dont see the situation changing soon; that too in the absence of good local films. Indian films have been playing in Pakistan households for the past two decades. The only change has been their recent introduction on the national cinema circuit,  said MD of More >

Death by Bollywood

0
3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

CROSSOVER CINEMA Bollywood films do business of crores in Pakistan The Pakistani film industry, crippled by the flood of Hindi film releases, is agitating for new regulations

Bharati Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; November 1, 2009)

This year, the Pakistani film industry produced only nine films. The reasons for this dwindle are many but most fingers point to one culprit who, they claim, has killed their industry: Bollywood.

In the recent past, almost every film released in India has simultaneously been released in Pakistan and done business of about Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. Salman Khan starrer Wanted, reported to be a mega hit in Pak metros, has earned about Rs 5 crore till now; Wake Up Sid grossed Rs 1.5 crore; New York made Rs 3 crore while Love Aaj Kal earned Rs 2.5 crore. Most cinema halls in Pakistan are found playing only Indian movies, leading to a paucity of venues for local films: a source from the Pak film industry points out that there are four Pakistani films ready for release but no cinema halls available to screen them. But while this swamping has angered many members of the Pakistani film and television industry, there are some who feel it is unfair to point a finger at Bollywood alone. Says Jahanzaib Baig, chairman of the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association, “Local films, which, at 15 to 20 per year, were already in scarce supply, have dropped to around nine. But it’s not only because of Bollywood—the real issue is the lack of infrastructure More >

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