Indian film distributor Shyam Shroff stunned the Pakistani delegation at the FICCI Frames meeting when he described the condition of Pakistani theatres he first visited 20 years ago.
"When I visited Pakistan recently," Shroff, who is also a wellknown theatre exhibitor, said, "theatre conditions had deteriorated. I was told that Pakistani families have stopped coming to theatres because of bad films produced by Pakistanis."
Sajjad Gul, CEO, Evernew Entertainment, a Pakistan production company, felt Indian cinema had taken a great leap in the last decade and Pakistani filmmakers needed to learn from the Indians.
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Gul's father founded Evernew in 1938 in then undivided India. "I will be happy to continue co-producing films in India," he said.
Amit Khanna, Chairman, Reliance Entertainment Private Limited, surprised the younger audience by reminding them that he was the first person to shoot a video album with Nazia Hassan 20 years ago. "I did that with Nusratsaheb [the late singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan] and Salma Agha later.
"It was a very memorable experience," said Khanna, who once wrote lyrics for films. "Pakistani artistes have tremendous talent and there is a need to tap that."
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