Pakistan curtails ban on Indian films in country to one week after Eid; box-office clash averted as Race 3 supposedly releasing week before Sanju
MID-DAY (June 6, 2018)

Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to reduce the ban on the screening of Indian films during Eid from two weeks to one week, clearing the way for the release of Salman Khan-starrer Race 3 and Sanju, Rajkumar Hirani's biopic on Dutt.

The Ministry announced in a fresh notification that the ban on screening Indian films will now be for two days before Eid and one week after the holidays, altering the previous ban, which was for two days before and two weeks after the festival.

Bollywood films, particularly the ones starring Salman Khan, have a huge fan following in the country, and there was pressure from local film distributors to defer the release of Indian films as they would affect their business. However, select distributors were against the ban as the festive period is the most lucrative time for the movie business. The Ministry said it had taken the initial decision to promote the local films — Mahira Khan's 7 Din Mohabbat and Javed Sheikh's Wajood — which are releasing on Eid.

Chairman of Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) Danyal Gilani said that, keeping in view the importance of local film industry and exhibition facilities, the government has decided that the screening of Indian films shall be restricted for a period of one week in total after Eid.