Amid the abysmal opening of the Amir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha at the box office, the Bollywood movie may release in Pakistan, according to local media. This is though the country had banned Indian content in 2019 after the tensions between the two countries escalated due to the abrogation of Article 370 from Kashmir.
According to the reports from Pakistan, a media group has approached the information ministry for a NOC on the countrywide screening of Laal Singh Chaddha. The film is being distributed globally by Paramount Pictures and is imported into Pakistan by the Cinepax Media group. The group has approached for the ‘No Objection Certificate’ and the movie will be released in the country after the NOC is approved.
Earlier the importers had plans to release the movie countrywide on August 11. While Saad Baig, the General Manager of Cinepax Media Group stated to the local media channel that the movie will be released after the NOC is approved, the Information Ministry stated that they have not received any request for NOC.
“Our policy is the same. No Indian film or any project produced in India will be released in the country”, the Ministry stated. Also, the Sindh Censor Board denied having received any such request. Reports mention that the film is first cleared by Information Ministry, then approved by the CBFC, and lastly is presented to the provincial boards for review.
Further, while the Information Ministry and Censor Boards have said that they have received no request for the NOC to release the Bollywood movie Laal Singh Chaddha in Pakistan, reports mention that there is a high probability that the movie might release in the country.
Since 2019, no Bollywood movie has marked its release in Pakistan. The country had banned all types of Indian content as the tensions escalated between the two countries on the grounds of abrogation of Article 370 from the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The then Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had said in a tweet, “No Indian movie will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan”.
As reported, the movie Laal Singh Chaddha in India has tanked at the box office with its opening day collection being abysmal. The collection on the first day of the Aamir Khan starrer movie is reported to be Rs 10-11 crores. It is reported to be the lowest opening that an Aamir Khan movie has seen in the past 13 years.
According to Bollywood pundits, an Aamir Khan movie should have ideally had an opening of Rs 30 crores. In the worst scenario, it should have not had an opening day collection of less than Rs 20 crores, however, the audience seems to have shunned the movie completely.
