Pakistani film industry takes legal route to ban Indian films

The artists, including actors Moamar Rana, Shaan, Meera, Sangeeta, Syed Noor and Shahid, directors Aslam Dar, Altaf Hussain, Masood Butt and Pervaiz Rana, and producers Jani Malik and Chaudhry Kamran, yesterday pledged to go to every extent to stop the screening of Indian movies.

They claimed they were perturbed by the public interest in Indian movies shown in local cinema halls and the fact that Pakistani films hardly drew crowds. During a meeting at Evernew Studios here, the artists said the film industry would regain its strength by standing tall against the screening of Indian films in the name of foreign films.

Aslam Dar said the filmmakers would file a petition in court against the exhibition of Indian films. He said he and other like-minded filmmakers, directors, actors and producers would try to hire an eminent lawyer to fight their case.

Moamar Rana said he wanted a concerted effort on the issue. "We should have some good lawyers to fight our case," he said. He said had Indian films not been screened, Pakistani films released on Eid-ul-Fitr could have done much better business.

Chaudhry Kamran, who recently produced the Urdu film "Bhai Log" that is doing good business, endorsed Rana's views. Syed Noor said Pakistani films had given a boost to the industry this year. Many movies had done good business and this was enough to silence critics, he claimed.

The film industry was united on the issue that more films would be produced not only to cater to the needs of theatre owners but to put an end to the screening of Indian films.