03-16-2005, 05:47 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bollywood, or ruin?
The demand that the government should allow Indian movies to be screened in Pakistani cinemas is not new. But new developments give it a fresh impetus, including the latest warming up of bilateral ties. The most pressing reason for Pakistani cinemas to show Bollywood films is that failing this move, the cinemas face rapid extinction. Many in Karachi have already been demolished and replaced with shopping plazas or wedding halls. Lahore faces the same fate as cinema houses on Abbot Road offer their compounds as parking space to make ends meet and others like the historic Ritz on the nearby McLeod Road face demolition.
Cinema owners argue that their business is terminally threatened if nothing is done about it. They have given a strike call for April 2 to protest what they call an inadequate supply of quality movies made locally, and a proliferation of cable networks telecasting whatever the market asks for with impunity and without any regard for the official ban on foreign flicks. The only way to salvage the situation, they say, is permission to screen Bollywood movies.
Without a large network of cinemas, no film industry can thrive no matter how much protection it enjoys -- another compelling reason to acquiesce to the cinema owners' demand. In any case, the easy availability of Indian movies in the local markets and through cable networks makes a mockery of the ban and the cultural invasion argument.
It also makes sound economic, cultural and political sense to expect that a Bollywood looking to do well in Pakistan's large film market will have to take into account Pakistani sensibilities, besides employing local resources and workforce to make its films relevant for local audiences.
Most importantly, the move may bring the Pakistani audiences back to cinemas leading to an improvement in the conditions of movie theatres and halting their impending demise for good. Who will not want to watch the classic (re-done in colour) Mughal-e-Azam on full screen, if and when it is allowed at cinemas in Lahore or Karachi? Instead, expect full houses for many weeks.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The demand that the government should allow Indian movies to be screened in Pakistani cinemas is not new. But new developments give it a fresh impetus, including the latest warming up of bilateral ties. The most pressing reason for Pakistani cinemas to show Bollywood films is that failing this move, the cinemas face rapid extinction. Many in Karachi have already been demolished and replaced with shopping plazas or wedding halls. Lahore faces the same fate as cinema houses on Abbot Road offer their compounds as parking space to make ends meet and others like the historic Ritz on the nearby McLeod Road face demolition.
Cinema owners argue that their business is terminally threatened if nothing is done about it. They have given a strike call for April 2 to protest what they call an inadequate supply of quality movies made locally, and a proliferation of cable networks telecasting whatever the market asks for with impunity and without any regard for the official ban on foreign flicks. The only way to salvage the situation, they say, is permission to screen Bollywood movies.
Without a large network of cinemas, no film industry can thrive no matter how much protection it enjoys -- another compelling reason to acquiesce to the cinema owners' demand. In any case, the easy availability of Indian movies in the local markets and through cable networks makes a mockery of the ban and the cultural invasion argument.
It also makes sound economic, cultural and political sense to expect that a Bollywood looking to do well in Pakistan's large film market will have to take into account Pakistani sensibilities, besides employing local resources and workforce to make its films relevant for local audiences.
Most importantly, the move may bring the Pakistani audiences back to cinemas leading to an improvement in the conditions of movie theatres and halting their impending demise for good. Who will not want to watch the classic (re-done in colour) Mughal-e-Azam on full screen, if and when it is allowed at cinemas in Lahore or Karachi? Instead, expect full houses for many weeks.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->