Pak cinemas cautiously resume showing Bollywood movies

The screening of Bollywood films has resumed in Pakistan after three months in a low-key manner with cinema owners still fearing an adverse reaction from extremists amid recent tensions between India and Pakistan.
A visit to some single screen cinemas and multiplexes a day after the screening resumed yesterday showed small crowds and low-visibility publicity posters.
The manager of Capri cinema in Karachi admitted this is being done intentionally.
"The relations between the two countries are not good so we are just keeping it low-key and not creating too much hype. It will take some time for things to get normal," Saleem said.

"The response to screening of Indian films once again has been a mixed one going by social media and other media outlets. While some are objecting in a spirit of patriotism there are others who support our decision," said well known film distributor Nadeem Mandviwalla, owner of Atrium cinemas.
"I can understand why my colleagues are still apprehensive about any strong reactions because I have been through it myself. Indo-Pak relations can stir very extreme reactions in both countries, more so in India," he said.

Mandviwalla also owns the historic Nishat cinema in the heart of Karachi which was burnt down in 2012 amid violent protests against a purportedly anti-Islamic short film called "Innocence of Muslims" aired on YouTube.

The Nishat cinema which was an iconic symbol at one time for Karachi's thriving cultural and arts scene still remains a charred building with Mandviwalla refusing to rebuild it.
'Freaky Ali', a 2016 romantic comedy which has a cast of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Arbaaz Khan and Amy Jackson is the first Indian film to be screened after Pakistani film exhibitors, distributors and cinema owners had in a collective show of patriotism voluntarily suspended the screening of Indian films last September after a ban on Pakistani artistes in India by the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association.
"Films that had already been imported will be screened as a token for now while we are negotiating for release of new Bollywood releases," Mandviwalla said.

He said the decision to screen Indian films again was taken because the government had not pushed for any ban last September and there was no public agitation over screening of the films at a time when there was a serious threat to Indian filmmakers in India over casting Pakistani actors.
Another film distributor in Karachi conceded that in the
three months the screening of Indian films was suspended, cinema owners and distributors had suffered losses of about Rs 150 million and some 100 employees lost their jobs owing to flat business.
But Pakistan Film Producers Association Chairman Syed Noor severely criticised the reintroduction of Indian movies.

"It's a commercial move devoid of any patriotism. When the government has officially banned the Indian content on television why are the exhibitors not realising this fact. There is no uniform policy. I want to know who put a ban on the screening of Indian movies and who lifted it," he said.
Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association Chairman Zoraiz Lashari said the decision to end the suspension was a unanimous one made with the consent of other exhibitors and stakeholders.
Popular actor and filmmaker Javed Sheikh welcomed the decision to resume screening of Indian films.
Sheikh who has acted in several Bollywood hits said it didn't matter if a film was Pakistani, Indian or English, as long as it was good and had potential people would go to see it and it would be shown at cinemas.