Pakistan movie theatres to resume screening Indian films

Pakistan film distributors and movie theatre owners have decided to lift their self-imposed ban on Indian movies.

They had stopped screening Indian movies after September's Uri attack on an Indian army installation had deepened the rift between the neighbours.

The exhibitors association chairman Zoraiz Lashari said Indian movies would be screened from December 19 since their business has been affected by the ban.

"Cinema business has been hit immensely and all stakeholders felt it was the right time to begin screening Indian films. It was always a self-imposed suspension, not a ban. So I`ll be releasing Freaky Ali in our cinemas and other cinema owners will follow suit," the Express Tribune quoted Lashari as saying.

Lashari will be releasing Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer 'Freaky Ali' on Tuesday. "A big media group and film exhibitors/distributors in India... are testing public sentiments and also the government`s reaction by releasing Freaky Ali at CineStar cinema," he added.

He added that even stakeholders in India had been stricken by the ban in Pakistan.

"We will first test waters with these unreleased films and then begin negotiations with Indian distributors to continue the import of movies into Pakistan," he said.

(WION with inputs from ANI)