Pakistan imposes temporary ban on screening foreign movies during Eid
What's the story
Pakistan imposed a temporary ban on the exhibition and screening of Indian and other foreign language films during Eid.
The decision came as Pakistani film producers/artists have been complaining for the last two years that their new films face stiff-completion from Indian and Hollywood movies.
Hence, they aren't able to do good business; in some cases, they aren't even able to recover their investments.
Two bans
Ban would also be applicable for Eid-ul-Adha
According to a notification issued by the country's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the exhibition and screening of Indian and foreign films will be banned from two days before the Eid to until two weeks after the holidays.
An official in the Ministry said the notification was also applicable for the Eid-ul-Adha holidays which will fall around late August or September.
Local movies
Ban is imposed to promote local films during festival
"Temporary ban is being imposed in order to promote local movies on the festivals, a time when usual than larger audience is attracted towards cinemas," the notification said.
This Eid, also, a number of new Pakistani films are due for release but it was not clear which Indian films are slated for release during the holidays in India and elsewhere.