Why are Pakistani filmmakers hiding their budgets
- Khel Khel Main, the first Pakistani film released after the epidemic.
- When Dr. Strange came out, however, things got a bit tangled.
- An image must bring in three times its budget to be profitable.
In recent years, the Pakistani film industry has been on the mend. For two years things have gone downhill due to Covid, but theaters are finally open and the movies are back.
This Eid al Fitr, however, there was fierce competition, with five films premiering at the same time.
When Dr. Strange came out, things got a bit tangled up and Pakistani filmmakers lost a lot of money.
In recent years, the Pakistani film industry has been revived. For two years everything went downhill due to Covid, but theaters are now open and movies are showing again.
Despite several films having been huge box office hits, producers wanted Dr. Strange pulled from theaters because they were apparently losing money.
This raised the question of how much money, however, on Pakistani film budgets. In Pakistan, unlike Hollywood and Bollywood, budgets are often hidden from public view and rarely revealed.
With two big Pakistani movies set to hit theaters, Mooroo posed the problem to famed Fizza directors Ali Meerza and Nabeel Qureshi.
Read more: Lollywood movie ‘Javed Iqbal’ to premiere at UK Asian Film Festival
They said budgets aren’t disclosed because those who aren’t involved in the film industry don’t understand the arithmetic.
When it comes to business, Fizza and Nabeel say an image has to make three times its budget to be profitable.
To break even, you need to earn double. Nabeel Qureshi also mentioned that the business of a film includes much more than just ticket sales, such as television and music rights.
