Sunny Deol and Irrfan Khan starrer “Right Yaaa Wrong” was released on 21 screens in Pakistan Friday and producer Subhash Ghai says he didn’t face any problems distributing the film there even though Islamabad had banned Indian films for nearly four decades.
The ban was lifted in 2008.
“We got information from our overseas distributor that he sees good prospect to release the film there (Pakistan) as Irrfan Khan and Sunny Deol are very popular actor there. The film has hit 21 screens in Pakistan. As such there was no problem in releasing the film,” Ghai told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
In Pakistan, the movie has released in Capri Cinema and Cine Plex in Karachi, New Majestic Cinema in Hyderabad, Prince Cinema, D.H.A and Cine Star in Lahore, Taj Mahal in Faisalabad, Dreamland Cinema in Multan, Cine Plex in Rawalpindi and Kashmir Mahal in Gujranwala.
Earlier this month, the Lahore High Court dismissed a petition to ban Indian movies after the country’s players were not selected at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in Mumbai in January.
Justice Waqar Hasan, who heard the case, said he does not find any reason to ban Indian movies since it was a decision of private franchises.
Written and directed by debutant Neeraj Pathak, “Right Yaaa Wrong” revolves around two cops – Ajay Shridhar (Sunny) and Vinay Patnaik (Irrfan) and their intense rivalry. It also features Eesha Koppikhar and Konkona Sen Sharma.
“‘Right Yaa Wrong’ is a good film and it is releasing all over the world including theatres in Pakistan. I hope people will like it and I feel it should pick up with the audience all over soon,” Sunny told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
In 2008, Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf’s lifted a nearly four-decade ban from Indian movies and it was followed by the release of 16 Hindi films. Some of the movies released then include “Taare Zameen Par”, “Singh is Kinng”, “Welcome”, “Race” and “Dostana”.
Recently Amitabh Bacchchan’s “Paa”, Aamir Khan starrer “3 Idiots” and Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan” (MNIK) were released there.
Nadeem Mandviwalla, Pakistani distributor-exhibitor told IANS over phone from Pakistan that Hindi films are usually released on a large scale and do good business in the country.
“MNIK did very well here and it was the widest Bollywod release here across 23 properties. So did ‘3 Idiots’ that released here one week later, on Jan 1, across 22 properties,” said Mandviwalla.
“Even ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghajab Kahani’ and ‘Love Aaj Kal’ did very well here. ‘Paa’ could not do anything,” he added.
Mandviwalla also informed that “Karthik Calling Karthik” and “Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge” were supposed to release there but the distributors backed out because they felt they won’t be able to recoup the investment.
“Small movies are not feasible here because we have limited cinemas at the moment. It’s only big movies that bring footfalls and revenue here.”
Some of the forthcoming movies that will be screened in Pakistan include “Phoonk 2″ and “Raajneeti”.
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