Come Eidul Fitr, films are likely to see big business at least on the first three days of Eid. The Eid holidays will be a long weekend providing ample opportunity for films to earn at the box office. One Bollywood, four Hollywood and five local films, including three in Pashtu, are expected to hit the screens this Eid.

The film expected to draw major business is Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma-starrer Sultan. Trade gurus are of the view that Sultan would remain the most profitable movie and might break the record of last year’s Pakistani hit Jawani Phir Nahi Aani.

Urdu film Sawal Saat Sau Crore Dollar Ka, directed by Jan Muhammad Khan with Ali Muhayyudin, his father the veteran Ghulam Muhayuddin and Ismail Tara among the star cast might also create ripples at the box office.

There are high hopes from another Urdu production, Blind Love, directed by Faisal Bokhari starring the legendary Mustafa Qureshi and son Aamir Qureshi as well as Mathira and Nimra Khan.

The four Hollywood films expected to release on Eid are Finding Dory, Ice Age: Collision Course, The Legend of Tarzan and The Secret Life of Pets.

The three-day Eid festival the Lahore Arts Council had planned to organise close to the occasion has been cancelled.

Council officials told this reporter the festival had been cancelled due to forecast of heavy rains. The festival, they said, was supposed to be organised out in the open with stalls set up, but keeping in view the weather forecast, the management has decided to cancel the festival. The festival was being organised by the district administration, Punjab Council of Arts and Lahore Arts Council.

The officials said soon after Eid a meeting would be held at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall presided over by Lahore Arts Council Board of Governors Chairman Kamran Lashari about designing new programmes of various genres such as theatre, music and dance.

Commercial theatre at the Open Air Theatre Bagh-i-Jinnah would resume from Eidul Fitr onwards after a gap of four months. The Punjab Council of Arts had stopped all commercial activities there to renovate it, but the renovation work could not begin.

So officials said they had decided to open the theatre till the renovation begins. They said their plan to renovate Open Air Theatre had been approved in the budget 2016-17 and work would start as soon as all the formalities had been cleared. The council would hire a consultant who would present a final budget for the renovation, including a hydraulic roof over the theatre, lights and some other improvements.

Officials said they wished to bring about such changes in the theatre so that no ongoing activity was hindered despite bad weather.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2016