- Censor Board continues to await its chairman’s appointment
- Companies to incur US$ 400,000 loss if Iron Man 3, Go Goa Gone, Aurangzeb, The Great Gatsby not released
No new film, Indian or Hollywood, is being given the censor clearance due to the absence of the chairman in the Film Censor Board, Pakistan Today has learnt. The situation is not only irking the cinema goers but is also proving to be a financial blow for the stakeholders involved.
The cinema-going culture was recently revived after the screening of foreign films was allowed. This also resulted in opening up of new cinemas in all big cities across the country reversing the previous trend of converting movie-houses into commercial plazas. However, the chairman’s absence has turned out to be another blow to the recently reviving industry.
The board previously operated under the Ministry of National Regulations and Services headed by Firdous Ashiq Awan, while currently these powers have been shifted to the Cabinet Division which has the power to appoint the board’s chairman.
Sources said the Cabinet Division proposed Masoud Ali Khan’s name for the chairman’s seat and a summary was sent in this regard to the prime minister. However, the division has not received a reply yet.
The four movies which are currently waiting in the queue for the censor certificate is Iron Man 3, Go Goa Gone, Aurangzeb and The Great Gatsby, which are not probably going to be screened anytime soon. Just these four films if not screened will cause a loss of US$ 400,000.
Ahsan Ali, a banker said, “The government should take this seriously; culture is an important part of our lives. The cinema-going culture had just revived and now the government cannot appoint the chairman, which is just signing a single document.”
Saad Baig MD of a distribution firm Footprint distributing Iron Man 3 said this is the first time such a situation has been created, because normally in such situations there is always a vice chairman who acts as the chairman and the routine business continues while this time around there is no acting chairman.