Islamabad, December 23 (Dawn): Although cinemas have decided to start screening already released Indian movies and Freaky Ali featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui is being shown, it may take a long time for newer Indian movies to be screened.
The owner of Cineplex at Centaurus, Nadeem Mandviwala, said the ball is currently on the other side of the border, but there were many phases that have to be completed before the movies can be screened.
“Forces, which created the situation, are still trying to create hurdles. Currently those hurdles are from Indian side and once they will be removed we will know if there are hurdles from Pakistani side or not. So far we have not faced any pressure from the Pakistani side,” Mr Mandviwalla said.
“I don’t think we will get Indian movies immediately,” he added. “It can take days, weeks and even months to start screening new movies. We have lifted the ban and now it is up to Indian distributors whether they will sell movies to Pakistan. However, a debate has begun in India about it,” he said.
“Once Indian distributors agree to sell movies, we will have to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the government. If the NOC is issued the movies will have to be cleared by Pakistan Censor Board,” he said.
“After that we will be in a position to say that new movies can be screened in Pakistan,” Mandviwala said.
