Pakistan cinemas bans Indian films as Indo-Pakistan tension reaches Bollywood

Pakistan's cinemas have stopped screening Indian films in solidarity with the country's armed forces, theatre owners announced on 30 September. It comes one day after two Pakistani soldiers were killed in clashes with Indian troops on the border.

Tensions have been increasing between the two nuclear countries over the disputed Kashmir territory. On 18 September, four militants attacked an Indian army base in Kashmir and killed 18 Indian soldiers, which India has blamed on Pakistan.

Nadeem Mandviwalla, who runs eight cinemas in Karachi and Islamabad, told Reuters: "We've stopped screening Indian movies at our cinemas from Friday [30 September] till the situation improves and normalcy returns."

Khurram Gultasab, the manager of Super Cinemas, also confirmed that his group of cinemas would not be screening Indian films. Other smaller Pakistani cinemas have also posted on social media confirming the same following the death of the two Pakistani soldiers.

Gultasab said: "I think we should show solidarity with our army engaged at very hot borders right now and secondly with our actors."

The Pakistani cinemas were also partly acting in response to the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA), a small filmmakers' body, banning its members from hiring Pakistani actors. Indian media has also reported that the leader of right-wing political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has given Pakistani actors 48 hours to leave India or be "pushed out".

Pakistani actors have begun appearing in Bollywood films increasingly over the last few years. The call for them to leave prompted an uproar in India, with many Indian actors coming to their colleagues' defence.

Salman Khan, one of Bollywood's biggest stars, said: "They are artists. These are two different subjects. They were terrorists, these are artists. What do you think, artists are terrorists?"

India has evacuated 10,000 villagers living near the border with Pakistan, heightening fears that the 2003 ceasefire between the two countries is now at risk. The United Nations and the United States have called for calm amid the increasing tension.