Minister says no to Indian films

ISLAMABAD: Ajmal Khan, the federal minister for sports, culture and youth affairs, has ruled out screening Indian films in Pakistani cinemas.

“Exchange of films with India is not possible in the present circumstances because our film industry cannot compete with Indian movies and a decision in this regard will be taken at an appropriate time,” the minister told the Senate Standing Committee on Sports, Culture, Tourism, Minorities and Youth Affairs in a meeting with the Pakistan Censor Board officials in Lahore on Saturday. Mr Khan’s statement was in contradiction to his predecessor Rais Munir Ahmed’s who had told the Senate that the government was considering exchanging films with India and screening Indian films in Pakistani cinemas.

The minister said that Pakistani films did not reflect the true Pakistani culture, which was not a good sign. “Our film industry is going through testing times and is not producing quality films,” he said.

Mr Khan said that there were no qualified film producers and directors and technology used in Pakistan films was also outdated.

The minister said the government had decided to help the industry financially and he added that the government would provide financial assistance to legendry artists Mehdi Hasan and Rangeela and the National Film Awards would be held regularly.