Islamabad: Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday announced a boycott of Indian movies as well as 'Made in India' advertisements in the country.
"Cinema Exhibitors Association has boycotted Indian content, no Indian movie will be released in Pakistan. Also have instructed PEMRA to act against 'Made in India' advertisements," Chaudhry tweeted.
The move comes in response to an air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Tuesday in retaliation to the February 14 attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, which left 40 Indian CRPF troopers dead.
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Clearly, cultural ties between India and Pakistan have been affected since just in December last year, Chaudhry had assured help to Indian filmmaker Nandita Das in releasing her film "Manto" in Pakistan.
Before that, Pakistan's Supreme Court had placed a ban on the transmission of Indian content on local television channels. But movies were making their way to theatres and finding a good audience.
Right after the Pulwama attack, Indian film associations instructed filmmakers to avoid using any Pakistani talent in their movies and not to release their films in Pakistan. As a result, "Total Dhamaal" did not release there.
Kartik Aaryan's "Luka Chuppi", Diljit Dosanjh's "Arjun Patiala" and Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Milan Talkies" will also not release in Pakistan.