In order to show their disagreement on the Centre’s decision to revoke provision of Article 370 Pakistan not only banned the trade between the two countries but also banned Indian films to release in their county yet again.
Pakistan had earlier taken the steps in February in the wake of Indian Air Force airstrikes in Balakot.
With Pakistan having a huge fan base for both Bollywood movies as well as stars, the ban surely has had its impact on the revenues. Alongside the loss at the box office, the country will also need to face issues like piracy.
Here is how Pakistani film market will suffer after banning Bollywood movies in Pakistan –
An Indian film pockets around Rs 4-5 crore at the Pakistan box office in its lifetime.
In addition, the ticket prices are on the lower side and Pakistan is a market where studios do not put in the equation of their revenues and it comes in the picture only when a film’s collections are under-reported.
On the other hand, Indian movies attract strong footfalls in the Pakistani multiplexes. Hence, some of the distributors and exhibitors in the country believe that the ban on Indian films is only a step back for the industry, which has been on the revival mode.
Their home-grown productions do not get big audiences in large numbers to the theatres.
According to the reports, two out of 20 locally produced films make money which makes the Pakistan film industry more dependent on Bollywood or Indian films.
Bollywood Film Records in Pakistan
It was only last year when Kannada blockbuster KGF made waves at the Pakistani box office by witnessing houseful shows, despite it being the first Kannada film to release in the country.
Films like Sanju, 2.0 and Sultan have had a good run in Pakistan as well. Salman Khan blockbuster Sultan collected 11.6 crores in just 11 days in the neighbouring country.
The number of screens dedicated to Hindi films has also increased from 95 to 110, as per the reports.
While Pakistan’s contribution to India’s box office collection is between 4-6 percent, the Pakistan film industry depends up to 70 percent on Bollywood and Hollywood content.
These numbers prove to conclude that banning Indian films is a big loss for Pakistan.
