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Syed Noor slams lift of Bollywood ban, calls it 'unpatriotic'

Syed Noor slams lift of Bollywood ban, calls it 'unpatriotic'

“It’s a commercial move devoid of any patriotism," says the Chairman of Pakistan Film Producers Association
19 Dec, 2016

After a gap of around two months, the ‘self-imposed ban’ by Pakistani film folks on the screening of Indian movies will be lifted on Monday (today).

The film being screened from today is Freaky Ali , a 2016 romantic comedy. The cast includes Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Arbaaz Khan and Amy Jackson.

In September, Pakistani film industry had banned screening of Indian movies in reaction to a ban on Pakistani artistes in India by Indian Motion Picture Producers Association.

Pakistan Film Producers Association Chairman Syed Noor severely criticised the re-introduction of Indian movies.

“It’s a commercial move devoid of any patriotism. When the government has officially banned the Indian content why are the exhibitors not realising this fact. There is no uniform policy. I want to know who put a ban on the screening of Indian movies and who lifted it,” he said.

Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association Chairman Zoraiz Lashari confirmed that the Indian films would be screening from today. “It’s a unanimous decision made with the consent of other exhibitors and film stakeholders.”

According to film circles, the cinema owners across Pakistan have suffered about Rs 150 million loss and some 100 employees lost their jobs since the non-screening of Indian movies.

Film director Shehzad Rafique was of the opinion that Indian films should be exhibited. He regretted that the recently released Pakistani movies, including his own Salute, didn’t elicit a good response from the public. “In my opinion the box office should not close down.”

Rafique said it seemed the Pakistani film audience had decided that they would not watch local movies. “The recently released movies had all elements. Blind Love was a commercial movie; Salute depicted patriotism; there were films on social subjects too but the public’s response was disappointing.”

Filmmaker, actor and director Javed Sheikh said: “It’s very simple. Whichever film would have potential either Indian or Pakistani, it would get shows at cinemas.”

He said among the recently exhibited films Actor in Law was given 16 shows in Karachi and Janaan got 12.

“Karachi film industry is producing quality movies. I am working on my new film Wajood. I won’t mind if any big banner Indian film is screened against mine,” Sheikh said.


Originally published in Dawn, December 19th, 2016

Comments

Dr Riffat Jabeen Dec 19, 2016 06:06pm
These few selfish have no sense of honour. How Pathetic!
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Dr Riffat Jabeen Dec 19, 2016 06:08pm
Give respect to your country first before expecting from others to give you respect. Money is not everything. Self respect is highly important and necessary to live with honour.
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Dr Riffat Jabeen Dec 19, 2016 06:10pm
Unconsidered and hasty decisions may be more harmful than any thing.
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Alexey Dec 19, 2016 06:11pm
There you go. Have fun folks! All on the expense of a plunging local film industry. I bet Indians themselves don't love bollywood as much as we do.
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Dr Riffat Jabeen Dec 19, 2016 06:13pm
Exploit your own talent and resources to fill the gap. We have quality actors and writers who may be given chances to help fill the gap and educate the masses.
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Ebrahim Dec 19, 2016 06:23pm
It sure is idiotic when they are bombing our villages
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D&d Dec 19, 2016 06:26pm
Syed noor, there is nothing anti national in screening Indian movies, rather we should use this opportunity to build our cine complex. Rest could be seen later
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Salman Ahmad Dec 19, 2016 06:32pm
Strongly agree with him on this one. Absolutely. 35 years of Bollywood-less life really hasn't done any harm to me at all.
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K Dec 19, 2016 06:37pm
Shud ban bollywood permanantly Ban will be death to pakistan film industry
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Thoroughthinker Dec 19, 2016 06:43pm
The real test of patriotism is observed when in testing circumstances.
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Salman Sheikh Dec 19, 2016 06:54pm
cinema owners need money they don't care what content they are showing in theater....
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Humna Dec 19, 2016 07:01pm
I agree with Syed Noor !!
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kash Dec 19, 2016 07:04pm
Respect Syed Noor,
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Harmony-1© Dec 19, 2016 07:16pm
Don't need "patriotic" certificate from you. It's a very misused word. More commonly used across the border these days under Modi Raj!
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Ahmad Dec 19, 2016 07:20pm
Produce some good movies yourself other than BAALI JATTI. So people wont have to go watch Bollywood Stuff Otherwise Stop Screaming.
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immo Dec 19, 2016 07:41pm
i find myself aggreing with this guy
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sk Dec 19, 2016 07:46pm
You cannot be nationalistic on an empty stomach. The fact is that Pakistani films do not have the same commercial pull as the films made in India. Depending on the few Pakistani films is simply not viable.
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mOHAMMED Dec 19, 2016 07:48pm
yes Syed Noor is right this just business why should we screen Indian move in Pakistan.
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Pak lota Dec 19, 2016 07:49pm
Most poor people are patriotic compared to people in power. So stop playing with their livelihood. Showing or not showing an Indian movie has nothing to with patriotism ,
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Ashwin Dec 19, 2016 07:52pm
You can show turkish, iranian or chinese movies but only Indian movies can fetch audience. Why?
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qaisar Dec 19, 2016 08:08pm
It is government duty to impose a ban on showing Indian Movies in Pakistan. How can they don't act on this very important issue. How can the government left this foreign policy decision to individual cinema owners. How greedy these cinema owners that they sacrifice national dignity.
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JAMIL SOOMRO, NEW YORK CITY Dec 19, 2016 08:10pm
I fully agree with Mr.Syed Noor's statement on ban of Indian Movies.The Pakistan's Foreign Adviser Mr.Aziz was recently mistreated and humiliated in Amritsar.The real drama of life and death is being played at the borders.India's" soft power"over Pakistani's minds of imaginary stories of romance, songs and dances is still working?
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salman Dec 19, 2016 08:13pm
You are absolutely right Mr Syed Noor.
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mulchand golchha Dec 19, 2016 08:30pm
Syed Noor has been always opposing Indian content in Pakistan. But art has no boundary and India should also open for Pakistan content.
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fahd Dec 19, 2016 08:39pm
Agree with him on ban
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Umar Khitab Dec 19, 2016 08:44pm
True that Mr Noor
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Dr.Malick Dec 19, 2016 08:51pm
Ashamed of these commercial decisions , Indians are laughing at us , whatever they do we are not bothered from the top level to lowest level , just slave of our own needs , for country we dont stand and will never stand that is the reason no one takes us seriously in the world
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parveez shafi Dec 19, 2016 08:54pm
Money over country. I am visiting Pakistan, from the UK, and seeing so many ads with indian actors, I was telling people to start a campaign to ban these ads, and get our Pakistani actors to do thouse ads. I am disappointed with the people of Pakistan.
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The end is near Dec 19, 2016 09:00pm
O' Come on. There is no Pakistani film industry. Keep showing Indian movies. Bollywood is everywhere.
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wellwisher Dec 19, 2016 09:11pm
money wins
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dabangg Dec 19, 2016 09:13pm
As always money is 1.
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Muslim Medina Dec 19, 2016 09:36pm
Movies produced in India have nothing new except songs. The stories revolve mostly around love triangle.
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manchi Dec 19, 2016 10:07pm
what about the treatment given to MR.Rajnath in pakistan? so it is tit for tat. give respect, earn respect
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macintosh Dec 19, 2016 10:12pm
You got to make a better product to attract the buyer. Make more effort and you will be rewarded.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Dec 19, 2016 10:32pm
Excellent statement by Syed Noor. Salute to him and all those who want to live with honor, dignity and respect and die for it too. Please keep it in mind that money, assets, revenue, profit, sales, stocks, bonds and shares are not everything.
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Naila Dec 19, 2016 10:45pm
I disagree with Syed Noor sahib. This is actually a very patriotic move as it will help the cinema industry and create jobs for Pakistanis.
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anony Dec 19, 2016 11:24pm
I completely agree with Syed Noor here. The ban should be indefinite.
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amar Dec 19, 2016 11:46pm
i am eagerly waiting to see Dhangal in Lahore
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Abraham Haque Dec 20, 2016 02:00am
@Dr Riffat Jabeen would you provide food and other expense money to them?
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SA Dec 20, 2016 02:21am
Indians aren't allowing few of our actors to work in their movies but we're desperate to show their movies. Instead support your own local film industry.
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Hassan Parvez Dec 20, 2016 03:28am
What Mr. Noor is trying to say is that he is afraid to compete with Indian film makers. Without competition he can go on producing low budget, low quality films and entertainment starved public will be forced to see his movies. Art is a universal thing it is not confined to any nation, race or religion. It is far above patriotism.
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Hassan Parvez Dec 20, 2016 03:33am
@Dr Riffat Jabeen Honor does not bring food to those children whose father lost their job. More the honor, life is important.
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RAj Patel Dec 20, 2016 03:45am
Still some people in Pakistan don't get it. People of Pakistan is from same greater Hindustan and has same likes dislikes and culture hence it attracts them when they see in Bollywood films.
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Hassan Parvez Dec 20, 2016 03:51am
@Salman Ahmad To you it may not have done any wrong, but it sure did immense damage to the Pakistani film industry. With out any competition, the film makers were very happy in producing low, budget and low quality films because the entertainment starved public had no choice but to see these low quality films.
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AD Dec 20, 2016 05:31am
Good decision. Let people unite. Movie ban is not a solution. Politicians from both side must stop uttering K word and focus on people development.
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straightforward Dec 20, 2016 06:37am
We watch indian movies, therefore cinemas owners want to screen !
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Akil Akhtar Dec 20, 2016 08:20am
For us money is more important that patriotism....unfortunately people follow the leaders...
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Akil Akhtar Dec 20, 2016 08:21am
People should boycott these cinemas and movies
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Harambe of Cincinnati Dec 20, 2016 08:22am
Patriotsim is a scoundrel's first refuge
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point of view Dec 20, 2016 09:18am
Classic example of "economy ruled over patriotism"
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Salim Khan Dec 20, 2016 09:38am
Quality and Capabilities always triumphs in the end. Its how life works. If Pakistan does not have enough capabilities ( remember even Pakistan's Advert productions are done in India) and the quality of the movies is much superior in case of India. Its beating the Hollywood in some segments. You can't keep it away from Pakistan.
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Waqar Dec 20, 2016 09:43am
I am strongly agree with Syed Noor, Some black sheep are spoiling the image of whole country. These greedy people show be punished hard. Why we need Indian movies, Now it's high time to change the trend and take the initiative to screen Turkish and Iranian movies.
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Rv. Banglore Dec 20, 2016 10:03am
Every one wants to show patriotism until he/she has nothing to loose from it.
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Asim husain khan Dec 20, 2016 10:05am
This is coming from a guy who has copied more bollywood movies than anyone else. Obviously this lifting of the ban gona hurt those who cant make good movies on their own and dont need quality competitors. Indian movies have revived Pakistani Cinemas in a way that now more quality movies are being made in Pakistan. Obviously Syed Noor cant make quality movies.
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deepak Dec 20, 2016 10:05am
The actual question for Pakistan is why cant they produce quality movies? Can they make a movie which captures audience in India?
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Sarah Dec 20, 2016 10:06am
For once, I completely agree with him.
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Rv. Dec 20, 2016 10:11am
I think he has nothing to loose like cinema owners and daily wage workers who work in cinema halls.
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Gopal Sutar Dec 20, 2016 10:30am
For how long do we keep seeing these Bollywood films - a boy running after a girl and other way round in India and Pakistan - Unfortunately good films based on dramatized but reflecting real life issues that concern our societies have no takers. The entertainment in subcontinent means song, dance, violence and romance. If this is how the demand is for Bollywood and the south Indian films (in various languages in India) no ban can stop them from flourishing. Of course some of the Hollywood films are no better. Good or bad English films have a few takers. It seems economic and business considerations prevail over every thing. We need to acknowledge this whatever our position.
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Shaukat Ali Khan Dec 20, 2016 10:51am
It proves that our people place self before nation. No one has even protested against this personal greed.
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Harsh Dec 20, 2016 11:15am
Pak actors won't be acting in bollywood in future so why has pak lifted the ban. Where is self respect?
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Nadeem Dec 20, 2016 11:19am
Patriotism is not so cheap so as to be associated with watching movies. Syed Noor seems to be a very frustrated in life.
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khan Dec 20, 2016 11:29am
It makes sense as the cinema industry only started to rise and without the bollywood movies all of us know the business has plunged, we need to keep the cinemas alive to have any hope of reviving Lollywood. I hope sense prevails and we can let the business grow.
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aslam shaikh Dec 20, 2016 11:56am
@Ashwin because of item songs
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Ghaznavi Dec 20, 2016 01:02pm
Totally agree with him.
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Ghaznavi Dec 20, 2016 01:04pm
@D&d and what about the dead soldiers and their families whose life will never be the same.
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Aamer Dec 20, 2016 03:40pm
@K FYI Pakistani film industry stopped with the arrival of Indian movies. But the best thing which came out of it is that Pakistani producers started making good quality films as a result we got to see movies like Yeh Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, Bachaana, Bol and Moore.
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imf Dec 20, 2016 04:52pm
@parveez shafi : Practice what your preach. Country over money, right (livelihood)- come back from UK and work & live in Pakistan. Then preach!
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Awesome Lyrics Dec 20, 2016 05:15pm
The point is the public wants this to happen, they were or are not happy with Iranian, Turkish & Chinese movies
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Masood Hussain Dec 20, 2016 07:42pm
Javaid Sheikh is talking sense. Seyed Noor does not seem to acknowledge the economic factor of patriotism.
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Pashtun Dec 20, 2016 08:26pm
@RAj Patel - " greater Hindustan" for God's sake don't insult us at least !
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Kn Dec 20, 2016 08:33pm
The ban was good. I am in a process of learning Turkish and now enjoying their content.
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Shaun Dec 20, 2016 09:59pm
@Dr Riffat Jabeen and who will finance?
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Shaun Dec 20, 2016 10:05pm
@mOHAMMED ..... then Noor should be happy that exihibitors are being practical, not unpatriotic.
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Shaun Dec 20, 2016 10:13pm
@Dr.Malick Pakistanis are India's friends and relatives, there is no such thinking in India like India laughing, but we definitely do become sad and pained when people get killed for whatever reason.
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Shaun Dec 20, 2016 10:32pm
@Waqar...... but revenue?
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Shaun Dec 20, 2016 10:39pm
@Gopal Sutar India produces a large variety of movies including the kind of those real-life movies you mentioned like Aligarh, Delhi6 and many others, but regrettably Pak audiences do not get them to watch as most of them are not released in Pakistan.
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anir Dec 20, 2016 10:43pm
Living with false sense of honour has to be ignored and love and respect for each other has to be propagated
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schali Dec 20, 2016 11:08pm
@Harmony-1© Zindabad!!
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schali Dec 20, 2016 11:10pm
@JAMIL SOOMRO, NEW YORK CITY Because he is the Foreign Adviser.
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numbersnuMbers Dec 21, 2016 02:59am
Questions: How many Pakistani films are made each year? How many Bollywood movies are made each year? Looking at releases it is plain to see that Bollywood releases nearly 4 time the number of films that Pakistan's film industry releases! The answer reveals the truth that Pakistani cinemas would shut down due to lack of customers if Indian films were banned since Pakistan cannot produce enough films to meet public demand!
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Ahsan Gul Dec 21, 2016 04:50am
We Pakistani are very emotional and think from our heart and not from head. And that is why we are trailing behind the world. I myself have endorsed Mr. Noor's ideas in the past but now after thinking I am totally against his way of thinking. Mr. Noor has sort of monopoly on Pakistani filims for more than 20 years what kind of movies did he produced.? His movies were sub standards but he made good money as there was no competition. So, now a great chance for him again to use loyalty and patriotism to remove Indian movies competition. He is no different than our some politicians who are self serving but talk big about their love for Pakistan. Sincerely
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zaheer Dec 21, 2016 10:12am
guess the indians are more patriotic-- really sad to see the ban lifted--
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Azeema Dec 21, 2016 10:47am
@D&d Well said... Let's not fool ourselves...
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KB Dec 21, 2016 01:33pm
I am with you Syed Noor...You are brave enough to say all this.
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JAMIL SOOMRO, NEW YORK CITY Dec 21, 2016 09:21pm
@schali So, are you saying it is o.k.to mistreat and humiliate Mr. Aziz as a guest in Amritsar because he is a Foreign Adviser of Pakistan and not connected with film industry?
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Zak Dec 22, 2016 01:40am
Ban indian movies and promote our culture and ways, not alien vulgar ones.
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gogo Dec 22, 2016 03:31am
Mr.Noor should watch more Indin movies so that he can improve his films.
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Az Dec 22, 2016 03:50pm
And he is right!
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Az Dec 22, 2016 03:53pm
@Ashwin because you Indians produce films in our Urdu Language! Films in Hindu languages no ones wishes to watch!
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Az Dec 22, 2016 03:57pm
Indians plagiarize Pakistani songs in Bollywood movies and then them back to Pakistan.
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khan Dec 23, 2016 01:05am
Syed Noor could never make good films and is afraid of competition. When you compete with the best you grow. Let not politics come in entertainment. Why doesnt he speak of western movies that have our youth copying them. Syed Noor should just retire and take a back seat.
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Shogun Dec 24, 2016 10:52am
Do the Indian cinemas screen Pakistani movies? Why should Pakistani cinemas screen Indian movies? Pakistanis should patronise the homemade movies.
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