Click to play videoMumbai: Mohit Suri’s Awarapan may not have been making waves at the box office, but there is some good news. The film is set to get a commercial release in Pakistan this Friday.
Although films with Indian actors are banned in Pakistan, Awarapan managed to get clearance because the film’s co-producer, Sohail Khan, is a Pakistani national. The film was cleared after two scenes and four anti-Pakistan dialogues were cut.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, whose previous movie Nazar was also shown in Pakistan, is enthusiastic about the release and says, “We actually wanted to release the film simultaneously on June 29. But the censor board took a bit long as the print could not get there on time. But this will be the first simultaneous release.”
The interesting thing about the movie is that it has more than one Pakistani connection. The music score composed by Pritam is all rendered by well-known Pakistani artists. Also, one of the lead characters in the film is shown to be from Pakistan. This gives the film great potential to do well there also.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt feels that everybody stands to gain in this scenario. “Official straight transparent business will earn the Pakistan government revenues in terms of entertainment tax, excise tax, music sales or DVD sales, which were lost to piracy until now.”
Awarapan will open with 18 prints in Pakistan.
Before Awarapan, Akbar Khan’s Taj Mahal and Mughal-e-Azam’s coloured version had also managed to get a release in Pakistan. But then it had taken months to get permission for theatrical release.
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