New Delhi: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently created a buzz in the tinselvile. All thanks to her recent release ‘Sarbjit’.
Helmed by Omung Kumar, ‘Sarbjit’ narrates the struggle of Dalbir Kaur, whose sole aim in life was to get her brother Sarbjit, who had been mistakenly taken to be an Indian spy, out of the Pakistani jail. Randeep Hooda plays Sarabjit Singh, while Aishwarya is seen essaying the role of the sister in the biopic.
The movie got rave views from all over the world within a week of its release. But looks like ‘Sarbjit’ won’t get a chance to impress the audience in Pakistan.
According to the media reports, the movie isn’t getting any distributors in the neighbouring country.
“Up till now, no major distribution company in the country has approached the information ministry for an import authorisation [for Sarabjit],” Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) Chairman Mobashir Hasan told a leading daily.
Hasan further stated that the CBFC reviews the movie only after a distributor visits the board requesting import authorisation. “The CBFC then gives their comments on the film following which the information ministry tells the Ministry of Commerce whether or not the film can be cleared for import,” he said
On the other hand, the local distributors claim that ‘Sarbjit’ is not just a controversial movie, but it doesn’t have any commercial future in Pakistan as well.
“Distributors usually identify the films they want to import at the start of the year and looking at it from a commercial standpoint; I don’t think people are interested in such stories at the moment,” an anonymous distributor was quoted saying by a leading daily. He further added that films with questionable content make risky investments that can result in financial loss for importers. “Even local audiences are against such movies. If the censor boards deem the movie unfit for release then your investment is either stuck or goes entirely to waste.”
Moreover, the distributors feel that with Housefull 3 releasing on the same screen, it is difficult for a movie like ‘Sarbjit’ to fare well at the box office there.
“With movies like Housefull 3 releasing in the same window, it would have been very difficult for Sarabjit to do well at the box office,” Footprint (Pvt) Ltd General Manager Mirza Saad Baig reportedly said the daily.
On the other hand Omung Kumar wishes that ‘Sarbjit’ does release in Pakistan as there is nothing in the movie to get banned.
Let’s see if ‘Sarbjit’ will get a chance to grace the Pakistani theatres.
