TWO INDIAN FILMS SET FOR RELEASE IN PAKISTAN

LOLLYWOOD MOVIE POSTER
Now there is hope for Bollywood in Lollywood as two Indian films are set for release in Pakistan later this month. Mahesh Bhatt’s “Awarapan” and the Sunny Deol-starrer “Kaafila”. The Federal Censor Board of Pakistan has lifted the ban on Indian actors (there was a time even Hollywood films with Indian names were refused certificate like Naseeruddin Shah’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) but has a precondition for Indian films released in Pakistan. Any Indian film with a Pakistani co-producer or having a Pakistani cast and shot outside India can be released in Pakistan. The notification that was issued in April states that films which are made abroad with foreign actors and technicians , are not liable to be put under strict censor policies. However, no stuff would be allowed which does not come in conformity with their moral values.

Bhatt’s film was shot in Hong Kong and has a Pakistani co-producer . Kaafila, based on illegal immigrants, has two Pakistani actresses playing lead roles in it and the film was shot in Bulgaria. Sohail Khan, the distributor and co-producer of Awarapan, is hopeful that his film will be the first Hindi film to have a simultaneous release in Pakistan and India. He said, “Releasing Indian movies in Pakistan means we collect the revenue for them and give them all the profits. Only coproductions with Bollywood can end the crisis. We need to do business on equality basis. It means we invest on equal basis and our actors and crew also work in these films.”

Several producers have tried in the past to release their films in Pakistan. But only Akbar Khan’s Taj Mahal, which had a Pakistani actress in it, Mughal-e-Azam and the Jimmy Shergill-starrer Rehguzar were successful. Rehguzar managed as it was produced by a Dubaibased company.

If films start releasing in Pakistan officially, for most Indian film distributors this will be a territory that is equivalent to that of Mumbai. Plus the returns will be huge. Nobody wants to lose a territory considering the kind of piracy of Indian films in Pakistan. Adds distributor Masood Ali, an NRI who has made a film with Pakistani director Omar Sharif, says, “If these two films are released in Pakistan, it will open doors for producers like us to release our films there.”

Source: Times Of India

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under News 

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