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Salman Khan’s highly anticipated film Tubelight might not release in Pakistan around Eid or even later as a few local filmmakers and organisations have demanded the release of the film in the country be put on hold. This will definitely affect the film’s overseas business since Salman’s films have a huge fan base there.
The Pakistan Film Distributors Association and the Pakistan Film Producers Association, along with various local film-makers, are actively trying to stall the release of Tubelight, citing better business for the Pakistani films scheduled to release at the same time, reports tribune.com.pk.
We hear, the chances of Tubelight having a late release in Pakistan is also out of question since the distributors have to pay a huge sum of approximately $5 lac and nobody would be comfortable paying that huge a sum for a late release. Piracy is also a big player and with a late release, the distributors may lose as big as 30% of business due to it.
Yalghaar and Shor Sharaba are two Pakistani films that have currently been slated for a release on the Eid 2017.
“Indian films dominate our box office the whole year round. It’s only fair that Eid — being a Muslim festival — should not be. Besides, as Pakistanis, we must support the release of local content first,” said Sohail Khan, producer of Shor Sharaba.
“Shor Sharaba is supposed to release on Eid-ul-Fitr and if the government doesn’t stall Tubelight, I will not release my film as a protest,” he added.
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According to sources, the filmmakers will first urge the government to not give an NOC (No Objection Certificate) to Tubelight and for this, the associations are planning to write an official letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Also, they held a meeting here wherein it was decided that the entire Pakistani film industry — even its technicians and other less prominent members — will join the planned protest to stop “Tubelight” from being released on the Eid, reports tribune.com.pk.
“It’s been decided that all those related to the Pakistani film industry will support the Pakistani films that are supposed to release on Eidul Fitr,” confirmed filmmaker Altaf Hussain.
Actor Mustafa Qureshi said the government should always give top priority to local projects.
“I have always maintained that there should be a complete ban on Indian films,” he said.
Directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight also features Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. Another big hurdle for Tubelight is also its Indo-China war subject.
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