Hit Hard By A Self-Imposed Ban, Pakistan To Resume Screening Of Indian Movies From Today

Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association and cinema owners have announced to end the self-imposed "temporary suspension" on screening of Indian films from Monday, 19 December.

Nadeem Mandliwala, a board member of the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association, said on Sunday that the group wanted to "lodge a protest" and felt that the message had been sent. He said the decision to boycott the films came in response to a similar move by the Indian film industry.

Screening of Indian movies was banned in Pakistan as a retaliatory action when Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA) banned Pakistani actors from working in India amid escalating tensions over border issues in Kashmir.

The ban brought cinema industry in Pakistan, which has thrived on Indian films for the past five decades, to a standstill. Pakistan’s film industry is still in its early stages and produces lesser films as compared to India, the largest producer of films in the world. According to some estimates, the industry in Pakistan lost nearly 70 per cent of its revenue after the screening of Indian films was banned.