Pakistanis couldn’t be happier with two back-to-back releases of Indian movies. After the racy action caper Race opened to packed houses last Friday, Pakistanis are eagerly awaiting Aamir Khan’s debut directorial venture Taare Zameen Par, which releases on March 28.Race was the second Indian film after John Abraham’s Goal to be released simultaneously in Pakistan and India. While Race faced a bit of trouble with the censor board, which asked UTV Motion Pictures to cut some scenes before granting it a U/A certificate, it was smooth sailing for Taare Zameen Par with the censor board, a children’s drama about a dyslexic boy, which hit Indian cinema halls last year. With Taare Zameen Par releasing this Friday, UTV will become the only Indian company to have a third release in Pakistan in less than six months. “With these new films, UTV has released three Indian films in Pakistan and we are glad that the authorities have opened their cinemas to our films,” a UTV senior official was quoted as saying. UTV, which is tapping the Pakistani market, has earned more in Pakistan with Race than the UAE, another important market for Bollywood films. Meanwhile, after the critically acclaimed Pakistani film Khuda Ke Liye releases in India on April 4, Indians can look forward to another Pakistani production — Khulay Aasman Ke Neechay — which is scheduled to open on both sides of the border on May 9.Pakistan banned the screening of Indian films after the 1965 war. The ban has been relaxed in recent years for several movies, including the classic Mughal-e-Azam and Taj Mahal. A committee of Pakistan’s Senate or upper house of Parliament recently recommended the lifting of the ban on Indian films and the importing of Indian films on a reciprocal basis.
