Islamabad, Pakistan
Pakistan this week gave permission for an Indian-made film to be screened within its borders, softening a ban that has been in place for 40 years. The government said it would allow the 1984 movie, Sohni Mahiwal, a love story set in Punjab, to be aired in theaters. The film and many other products of Bollywood, Bombay’s thriving film industry, are already popular in Pakistan, but only in the form of pirated CDs. Pakistan banned the screening of Indian films in 1965, when the two countries fought the second of three wars. Easing cultural barriers is seen as an important step toward normalizing Indian-Pakistani relations. But Pakistani filmmakers support the film ban, worrying that an influx of Indian films could wipe out Pakistan’s film industry.
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