'Ek Tha Tiger' may have opened to packed houses in India but Salman Khan's fans in Pakistan will be disappointed as the spy thriller has been banned in the country
Though there is no official announcement from the censor board on the fate of the film, director Kabir Khan has said that it is not releasing in Pakistan. "True... Ek Tha Tiger gets banned in Pakistan. It was about peace and friendship between Indo-Pak," Kabir tweeted in reply to a fan from Pakistan.
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"Pak censor said no," he said, adding the censor did not give any reason for the ban. A well known Pakistani exhibitor-distributor, Nadeem Mandviwalla also said that he didn't see the film being released in Pakistan.
"I don't think the clearance is going to come as the censor board has unofficially made it clear to exhibitors and distributors that the film can't be shown in Pakistan," he said.
Another leading distributor Atif Rashid also confirmed the same. "The plan was to release the film with 35 prints on Eid as this was the best time of the year to do business but I have been told it cannot be released in Pakistan," he said.
The print of the film was sent to the censor board by the commerce ministry for review and a decision on whether it can be shown in Pakistan but the censor board has yet to come out with an official statement on its fate. Earlier, the board had said it will not clear ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ for release in Pakistan because it had references about the ISI.
A manager at a leading cinema hall in Pakistan said the business would not be as good this Eid as it was last year because of the ban on the movie. "Last year we did good business as another Salman Khan starrer was released and it raked in good money. 'Ek Tha Tiger' had potential of doing business in Pakistan territory of around 8 to 10 crore rupees," he added.
In ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, which released in India on August 15, Salman plays a RAW agent who falls in love with Katrina Kaif's character, an ISI operator. They take on the might of the two agencies as they fight to save their love.
Pakistani censor board had also banned Saif Ali Khan's ‘Agent Vinod’ this year due to its storyline about the ISI.u00a0
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