Dhaka, April 24: Bangla-desh has lifted a four-decade ban on Indian films in a bid to boost attendances at cinemas, a government minister said on Saturday, drawing loud complaints from local actors and directors.

Films produced by India’s huge entertainment industry, centred in Mumbai, have been banned from cinemas in Bangladesh since the country’s independence in 1972 in a bid to protect the local movie industry. “We lifted the ban to boost the cinema industry,” Bangladesh commerce minister Faruk Khan said.
Cinema hall owners, who have been clamouring to be allowed to show Indian films, said they expected to start showing Indian films shortly. Kazi Firoz Rashid, president of the Bangladesh Cinema Halls Owners Association, said the government’s decision was “the best thing to have happened” to the country’s cinemas.
The number of cinema theatres has slid to 600 in 2010 from 1,600 in 2000 in the country with Bangla-deshi films and soft-porn English-language films shown in movie houses failing to draw viewers.
“Film enthusiasts can easily see good Indian films on cable television so why should we stop Indian films being screened in our cinemas?” Mr Rashid said.    
    —AFP