hose in the business of cinema are calling out the Punjab government for mandating a 9-pm closure time and a weekly off for all marketplaces and commercial establishments, including multiplexes many of which are housed in upscale shopping malls. As these malls happen to be popular cinema sites and their late-night shows bring in big crowds, especially on weekends, the exhibitors as well as filmmakers fear a dent in their earnings.

Their grouse is that in formulating its policy, the government did not take into account the stakeholders’ concerns.

For the uninitiated, the government had imposed restrictions in response to the serious power shortfall currently faced by the country. Later, succumbing to pressure from the traders’ community, it offered a relaxation in business hours for the week beginning July 3 through July 10 (Eid ul Azha). On July 12, another notification issued by the Punjab government’s Labour and Human Resource Department announced a “partial modification” in its earlier (July 2) notice, and granted extension “for further nine days.” This meant that on July 19, the directive would come back into force.

While it has provided temporary relief, the industry people are worried because the time bar will hit the business of cinema which is already fighting for survival. Director Nabeel Qureshi, whose film, Quaid-i-Azam Zindabad, scored an impressive tally over the Eid ul Azha holidays, is of the view that cinemas should be made an exception to the rule: “Firstly, because they don’t start their shows before 12 noon, so they should be allowed to stay open till late in the night; and secondly, because the working class can’t go to movies on weekdays; they can only catch the shows in the evening/ night.”

Eid is one important factor here. Traditionally, in Pakistan (as well as India), Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Azha are considered to be most conducive for film business, as audiences turn out in greater numbers on these festive occasions. No wonder the producers and cinema owners want to cash in on that. The producers plan releases on Eids, and the exhibitors are glad to give them extra shows. This year was no different. Lahore’s CineStar alone has been playing movies as late as at 2:30am.

It also depends on the performance of the movies. The five local Eid Ul Fitr releases didn’t fare well at the ticket windows, but Eid Ul Azha began on a promising note. Apart from Quaid e Azam Zindabad, Marvel’s Thor and Humayun Saeed’s London Nahi Jaunga also registered 90 to 95 percent occupancies and looked all set to usher in a fresh era of revival of cinema after two long years of little or no business amid the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Ali Zain, a Sargodha-based independent trade analyst, Thor was leading the pack at the close of the long Eid weekend, having earned Rs 50 million (approx), followed by London Nahin Jaunga’s Rs 47 million and Quaid-i-Azam Zindabad’s Rs 31 million.

On social media, the noise around the state of cinema industry has been growing. Filmmaker and distributor Irfan Malik posted on micro-blogging site, Twitter: “I see an impact of millions of rupees! ... immediate action needed!” Ad film director Ahsan Rahim tweeted, “Even if a mall closes, the cinemas should be allowed to remain open till late as it happens all over the world.”

This kind of collections at the box office had become rare of late, primarily because of the pandemic and frequent lockdowns which gave an unprecedented push to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime that threatened to change the viewing habits of the public. Besides, inflation has deeply impacted the footfalls, as cinema owners have been compelled to jack up ticket prices. More recently, flash floods in key cinema centres/territories like Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi have forced many an exhibitor to cancel shows. Given this scenario, could the government directive push the cinema industry back in the throes of a crisis it had barely come out of?

Qureshi argues that the momentum of (Eid films’) business ought not to be broken by one bad decision. Zain seconds him by saying that an important chunk of revenue comes from evening and late-night shows, particularly on weekends. He urges the government to “reconsider its policy and offer an exemption at least on weekends, so that the [cinema] industry can get back on its feet.”

On social media, too, the noise around the issue has been growing. Filmmaker and distributor Irfan Malik posted on micro-blogging site, Twitter: “I see an impact of millions of rupees! ... immediate action needed!” Ad film director Ahsan Rahim tweeted, “Even if a mall closes the cinemas should be allowed to remain open till late as it happens all over the world.”

Not everyone in the industry thinks the same way. Exhibitor and cinema owner Nadeem Mandviwala calls for fair game: “When the entire nation is grappling with an energy crisis, and when every store and restaurant etc is ready to close shop at 9 pm, why should cinemas be exempted from it?

“I am an exhibitor, so I know that heavens won’t fall if we plan our last show at 9 in the night, instead of 10 or 11,” he says.

While Mandviwala admits that the cinema business would be affected on weekends if the time restrictions stay, he isn’t loath to giving credit to the present government for having offered cinema industry a host of incentives including exemption from entertainment tax, early this year.

The writer is a   staff member