FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2002
Pak cinema owners reel as Islamists crack whip
AFP
PESHAWAR: Cinema owners in northwest Pakistan are struggling to survive as a new Islamist provincial government pushes ahead with a campaign to remove sex -- or any hint of sex -- from the screen.
In Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), almost all theatres obeyed a police deadline on Wednesday to take down "vulgar and obscene" advertisements, part of a larger crackdown that includes shuttering moviehouses showing explicit films.
Cinemas took the hint and removed all billboards picturing actresses. Most of the new advertisements simply give the name of the current film offerings or, for a few pushing the envelope, kept up only those posters that showed no women.
>From a business perspective, the impact has been devastating.
"Only 60 people came all day," said Murad, a ticket seller at the Capital cinema. "There were 150 people a day before the ban."
"We've obeyed the orders, but this could force cinema houses to close down in a short span of time," said Sanobar, a cine a owner. "The majority of our filmgoers are illiterate and they used to come here after looking at the signboards and posters outside the cinema."
Shafi Khan, the Capital cinema's manager, pointed to his empty screening hall: "Look how many people there are."
"Nobody is coming. The cinema looks just like a house or some other building," Khan said.
"The entire film and cinema industry could face collapse," said another cinema owner, Rab Nawaz.
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