Bollywood star Salman Khan's Dabangg is the current rage among Pakistanis with moviegoers thronging cinema halls, says a media report.
Salman Khan plays the role of a policeman named Chulbul Pandey while his sister-in-law Mallika does a raunchy item number Munni Badnaam Hui in the film. Pakistani cinegoers are not only humming the item song but are also enthralled with Chulbul Pandey's antics.
The footfalls in Pakistani cinema halls had gone down when Indian movies were banned during Eid, but Dabangg has created a buzz and moviegoers are once again thronging the theatres.
Rizwan, a booking clerk at Cinestar hall in Lahore says, “Families have started returning to the cinemas for Indian movies. The cinema hall is more than 70 per cent full during all Dabangg shows,” he says.
According to theatre owners, the film industry in Pakistan produces only a handful of low-budget movies every year and fails to garner a satisfactory response at the box office.
Arif Khan, owner, Gulistan cinema, says, “Hardly eight to10 movies have been produced in Pakistan during the first nine months of 2010 while 25 to 30 Indian movies have been released during the intervening period. Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, I Hate Luv Storys and Housefull have also fared well at the box office.”
