Pak film-makers push for ban on Bollywood films

MUMBAI: The cultural bridge built between India and Pakistan by Bollywood is under siege. Fearing loss of business, a petition has been filed in a Lahore court demanding a ban on the screening of Bollywood films. Producer Syed Noor, who could not release his film Jugni on Eid this year, told TOI, "A petition has been filed in a Lahore court but I want to make it clear that we are not against Bollywood films. It's just that there is a need to regularize their release in Pakistan rather than getting them there illegally. We certainly don't want Bollywood films to release in Pakistan during our festivals, which is the main season for business."

Complaining about Bodyguard hogging all shows during Eid, Noor said, "Three big films Love Mein Ghoom, Bhailog and my film Jugni could not find theatres for their release. I know there are issues about the quality of our films and presentation but we need to survive. We produce about 100 films a year and there are not enough cinema halls in our country."

Noor is upset with the step-motherly treatment Pakistani films get and blames a group of distributors and exhibitors who collaborate to release Bollywood films in Pakistan. He said, "They throw out our films even if they are doing well at the box office so that they can replace them with Bollywood films."

The Pakistani government had lifted a 37-year-old ban on Bollywood films in 2006 with the release of Mahesh Bhatt's Awarapan and Sunny Deol's Kaafila with a precondition that any Indian film with a Pakistani co-producer or cast that is shot outside India can be released in Pakistan. Today, Pakistani producers, directors and actors allege that illegal means are being used to screen Bollywood films by calling them foreign releases in Pakistan.

But Mahesh Bhatt, who is considered to be a cultural ambassador between the two countries, wants to prevent this retrogade movement. He said, "I respect the concerns of my Pakistani brothers and sisters to save their own industry from extinction. The indigenous culture of every nation needs to to be 'protected' in this age of globalization. But we must not turn the clock back. Any retrograde movement will destroy what we have built brick by brick over the last five years."

The issue of allowing screening of Bollywood films and serials was discussed during a meeting of a delegation led by Pakistan's commerce minister Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday. Chavan said that he raised the issue during the meeting, adding that the minister conveyed that there was no ban on the screening of the films. The minister pointed out that there was a concern that Bollywood films were affecting the business interests of the Pakistani film industry.

Chavan added that the minister had said that special permission is required to screen Hindi films in Pakistan. Promoting Bollywood, Chavan rallied for a situation where both Bollywood and the Pakistani film industry can coexist, just like Hollywood films are allowed to coexist with the Indian film industries. The CM also rooted for the screening of Marathi movies, for and permission to telecast serials.