SPOTLIGHT: SPOILT FOR CHOICE THIS EID
Eid-ul-Fitr marks one of the two major periods of the year where cinema owners and filmmakers in Pakistan earn the most revenue. Nearly every producer eyes the two Eids every year as potential release dates because of the long weekends and the forgiving mood of the audience. However, this Eid things will be different because the releases — local and international — outnumber the number of screens available and the scenario could lead to an unfavourable outcome for some.
The two Pakistani films in the race to the box office are Yasir Nawaz’s Mehrunisa V Lub U and Hassan Waqas Rana’s Yalghaar. While one features Danish Taimoor and Sana Javed in the lead credits with Jawed Sheikh and Qavi Khan in supporting roles, the latter is home to the who’s who of Pakistan’s film industry. From Shaan Shahid to Humayun Saeed, Ayub Khoso to Adnan Siddiqui, Sana Bucha to Armeena Khan, everyone has a part to play in Yalghaar based on a real-life event.
Interestingly, Eveready Pictures are distributing both the films alongside two Hollywood biggies Transformers — The Last Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean — Dead Man Tell No Tales. They also had Cars 3 in their Eid planning but thankfully, it will hit the screens a week later to make the most of the summer vacations. Pirates of the Caribbean — Dead Man Tell No Tales was supposed to hit the screens on May 26, but the distributors chose to postpone its release because of Ramazan.
As Eid releases outnumber the number of screens, the situation could result in a different kind of crisis
“According to the government directives, cinemas would only open for two to three shows a day during Ramazan and that limited the scope of our film,” says Satish Anand, the chairman of Eveready Group of Companies explaining why he went for a later release. “Had we brought Pirates — an expensive import nonetheless — not only the number of shows would have been reduced drastically, we might also have faced losses. In fact, it will be releasing on Eid day in GCC countries as well, since in Muslim countries, the audience chooses to stay away from cinemas during the holy month. That’s why we decided to bring the film when they most look forward to it.”