by Momin Ali Munshi
Friday 19 June seemed like just another night at Lahore’s popular DHA Cinema. Yes, it was the first day of Ramzan but movie-buffs had gathered in huge numbers to catch the first show of the much awaited Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor dance flick ‘ABCD 2’. Due to Ramzan the show timings were tweaked a bit and the first show post-iftaar was to start at 10:45pm. The audience sat in their seats, the pre-movie commercials played, then the National Anthem ( which is a norm at DHA Cinema) and then the film finally started. About two hours later the film had progressed towards its climax and the ending was almost upon the audience when something strange happened and the crowd went berserk.
In the film the scene was such that the last dance was to begin , the mega finale dance which was what the entire film had been leading to, the audience was already excited and the cheering had already begun. But boom, cut, and the end credits start playing.
A visibly confused audience did not know what to do. Maybe it was a technical error they reassured themselves but when the credits ended and the curtains were drawn they knew something was not right. While some indifferent viewers walked out of the cinema, the majority was still on the seats wanting some answers.
The management was soon called and the explanation put forward was that the last scene had the use of Indian flags and hence the censor board had chopped the scene off and the cinema was not at fault as this was the print they had received. But the cine-goers would not have this and wanted to see the end or be refunded. An hour later, after the so-called ‘dharna’ and the hilarious exchange of words between the female cine-goers and the cinema management the tickets were refunded.
But the main question still remains? Why would Distributors Club which are the Pakistani distributors of the film, release a film which had the last 15 minutes chopped off. Nobody in their right mind would want to spend 500-700 in a cinema to watch a film which ends before the climax even starts.
Moreover the sight of an Indian flag should not have raised so many eyebrows given the fact that almost ever other Bollywood film has some patriotic/religious track where the flag is seen. Hell, we saw an entire song called “India Waale” in the 2014 release ‘Happy New Year’. I havent yet seen the questionable portion so cannot comment on it but given the entire fiasco I will soon see it.
Lastly just for some additional information let me tell you that the film has set the Indian box-office on fire and is bound to set new records. However it seems highly unlikely that the same fate will be replicated here in Pakistan.
Lets wait now and see what happens tomorrow. Will the film still be screened? Will it be taken off? Or will the censor allow the climax to be shown. You stay tuned to Galaxy Lollywood for all the updates.
Momin, let some “patriotic” Pakistani movies like Waar get a release in India, then we will talk. Bloggers like yourself forget time and again that Pakistan is a taboo word in India, even though singers and actors are there now. With the current fundamentalist regime in power in India, bollywood, backed by their government is making a concerted effort to push the Indian brand/patriotism down the audience’s throat. With great freedoms, come great responsibilities my friend and the censors are right about their decision. Its a pity audiences turn up to watch such movies and pay serious money to view it.
Are we seriously comparing ABCD 2 and Waar?
Are you seriously talking about a movie called ABCD 2 on a blog called “Galacy LOLLYWOOD”. Ironic.
I was anticipating such a comment. We do not report on Indian films but when something happens in connection to the local film market we do report!
“Bloggers like yourself forget time and again that Pakistan is a taboo word in India, even though singers and actors are there now.”
What the hell are you on? Have you heard of Veer-Zara?
Momin Ali Munshi, please tell me whether cinemas of lahore other than DHA also cutting climax scene of ABCD2 or not>
Yes it’s playing at other cinemas.
seriously???…
U guys should do a little bit of research before blabbering in the comment section…
Pakistani movies are not banned in India….
I still remember when Pakistani movie BOL was released in India…..
The channel Zindagi in India only shows Pakistani dramas…..
We don’t create any ruckus over it…
If the content is good we will appreciate it…
Now lets come to movies…
For a pakistani movie to release in India u need to find a distributor first….
It will be very difficult to find one…
Do u know for every 100 movie tickets sold in India only 17 are bollywood tickets…
The rest are for regional movies namely mollywood(kerala), tollywood(telugu), Kollywood(tamil),
Sandalwood(kannada), Hollywood, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marathi, so and so….
Every state has a film industry…Bollywood is just bigger compared to others….
So on a typical friday all these distributors have to find screens for all these movies….
So for a pakistani movie to find screen is next to impossible…
Even if they find some screens, u need extensive marketing to let people know about pakistani movies….Which requires crones for rupees…Which could exceed a pakistani movie budget…
For pakistani movies first let ur industry revive properly first….
And lastly… if u find an indian Flag in a movies and that threatens ur security and unity…
Then i dont know what to say…grow up….
Remember bollywood helped to revive ur lollywood…since it helped with the increase of cinemas and multiplexes in pakistan…..
And Finally ” Good luck Pakistan Film industry”…..
You need to be reminded that every channel in Pakistan from Geo to Urdu1 has been screening Indian content for the last 10 years now. Bollywood has been screening in Pakistani theaters since 2004 although it is banned even in countries like Bangladesh that are friendly to you. You guys need to seriously get over your delusions and no need to create ruckus over Zindagi airing Pakistani content for what — like 12 months now. If you are comparing Pakistani movie industry to your Tamil Nadu Industry, then you are seriously deluded. Even more deluded is that fact that you think that bollywood has revived the movies. Pakistani films have always been there since 1947, it was only the transition to less costly digital technology and the media boom that has resulted in the current era of film revival and it is here to stay, bollywood or no bollywood.
@PakPhilmPhan Man cool down. Because of the troubled relationship between our two countries, such incidents happen time to time. The author is only reporting one such incident here. He has just narrated the incident and is not even trying to judge any one or give his own opinion on this.
And, by the way, the Tamil film industry is pretty big. Actually, the top 2 biggest budget Indian movies are not Bollywood movies. They are ‘Baahubali’ and ‘Enthiran’ from the Telugu and Tamil film industries respectively.