Pakistan may allow regular screening of Bollywood movies soon

London, Jan.30 : A Parliamentary Committee on Culture in Pakistan is seriously considering lifting the ban on Bollywood movies, given that they are hugely popular with people in Pakistan.

According to a BBC report, Pakistani cinema goers may soon get to watch their favourite Bollywood films if the government clears a proposal by its MPs to remove a ban on them.

Officially Indian films are banned in Pakistan, a prohibition dating back to the 1965 war between the two countries.

Since 1965, only three Bollywood films -- Mughal-e-Azam, the 1960 classic starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala; Taj Mahal, a 2005 film, starring Pakistani actress Sonia Jehan; and the 1984 film Sohni Mahiwal. inema owners in Pakistan are keen to screen Bollywood films, but local filmmakers fear an influx would harm the Pakistani film industry.

"We have devised a mechanism for allowing the import of Indian films for a period of one year, after which the arrangements can be reviewed," Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, who headed of the parliamentary committee, was quoted as saying.

He, however, said the government would have to clear the proposal to allow the import and release of Indian films.

Though details are unclear, reports suggest that the import of a dozen Indian films will be allowed against the export of an equal number of Pakistani films to India. It is not clear also whether the Indian government would agree to such a proposal.

India's Hindi-language film industry, which includes Bombay's Bollywood movies, is the world's largest by viewership.

ANI