ISLAMABAD: Although cinemas have decided to start screening already released Indian movies, 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.

Late September, cinema owners in Pakistan decided not to screen Indian movies until tensions between India and Pakistan dissipate. The decision came after the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association banned Pakistani artists from working in film projects in India.

The decision caused financial losses to cinemas, which were forced to reduce shows after their audience numbers fell. The decision to lift the ban on Indian movies was made last week, and older Indian movies that have been screened in Pakistani cinemas already were screened again.

“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 Mandviwala 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,” Mr Mandviwala said.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2016