Bollywood Movies To Be Screened In Pakistan Again

Post the surgical strikes by India in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and the Uri Terror Attacks, Bollywood had decided to ban Pakistani artists in India. Pakistani Cinema Owners had retaliated by voluntarily deciding to refrain from screening Bollywood movies. The Govt. of Pakistan did not play any role in this ban. This hastily taken decision by Pakistani cinema owners turned out to be a costly affair  for them. Pakistan doesn't produce as many movies as Bollywood and the small number of films made in Pakistan could not cater to the multiplexes that were recently built in Pakistan. It is said that around 1700 people lost their jobs and multiplexes were on the verge of shutting down due due to financial crisis. This loss compelled the cinema owners in Pakistan to rethink their decision and start screening Bollywood movies once again.

Pakistanis love Indian Cinema and Indians love Pakistani singers and artists and therefore the common people in both the countries were totally against any ban on cultural exchange. Pakistan's lead actress Mahira Khan will be seen in SRK's upcoming movie Raees and Pakistani fans have reasons to be happy now as they will get to see their favorite Pakistani as well as Bollywood star together on the big screen. Dangal is also releasing this week and is expected to do good business in Pakistan.

The move to lift ban on Indian movies have been welcomed by the majority of Pakistanis, however there are some hawks in Pakistan who oppose this move. A small time Lollywood (their film industry) actor Hamza Abbasi, Lollywood superstar Shaan Shahid and a once successful director Syed Noor are against Bollywood because they fear that competition will make them lose their relevance. Lollywood has been a protected industry for decades when Bollywood was banned and this led to a steady decline in Pakistan's film industry because the makers kept churning out junk because they knew that the audience had no choice but to watch their crap as Bollywood was banned. Lifting of ban in Pakistan have made these hawks jittery because they fear that competition will make them irrelevant and that there will be no takers for their junk if they decide to release their movies against Bollywood movies. Hawks aside, the aam jantaa of Pakistan have welcomed the move to screen Bollywood in their cinema halls and we hope that cultural exchanges between the two nations increase with every passing day.