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KARACHI: With almost every major sector across the world impacted by the deadly coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan’s film industry, too, has taken a beating, with multiple films shelved or postponed due to the ongoing pandemic in the country.
No film or stage drama was released in Pakistan for the second time on Eid-ul-Fitr. Several big-budget films were slated for release this year, with some in the post-production stage, while work on others had just begun but had to be halted indefinitely.
Some of the big-budget Pakistani projects, which yet to be released, include Hamza Ali Abbasi’s The Legend of Maula Jatt, Fahad Mustafa’s Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad, Saba Qamar’s Kamli and Farhan Saeed’s Tich Button.
Currently, the size of the Pakistani cinema industry is not that huge. According to stakeholders, only 60 sites are operating 154 screens across the country, with future investments in jeopardy due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a large number of theater artists were severely affected and staged a protest against the government for subsidy. However, no action has been taken in this regard, yet.
As cinemagoers in Pakistan, once again wait with bated breaths for theatres to reopen, a resurge in Covid-19 cases has made it seem highly unlikely. In view of the current situation, the announcement for the release of the films will only be made when the Covid-19 situation starts to improve.
