Islamabad, Oct 09 (TNS): Ahsan Rahim’s action comedy, Teefa in Trouble, which features Ali Zafar and Maya Ali in lead roles released in July and became one of the highest grossing Pakistani films of the year. Teefa in Trouble is still on a roll and has been selected to represent Pakistan at the prestigious Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF), which is currently underway in Fuzhou, China.
At the festival, the film’s producer, co-writer and actor Ali Zafar represented Pakistan for an open dialogue to initiate and discuss the possibility of enhancing cinematic ties between the two countries. This is the first time that a commercial Pakistani blockbuster has been invited to screen at SRIFF.
Ali Zafar expressed his views during the meetings hosted by Chinese government and film officials and said, “Pakistan has huge potential and these are very important times for our industry with a long way to go to really achieve our full potential. We welcome all dialogue and initiatives to enable us to realise this full potential.”
According to the press statement, Ali Zafar highlighted that his film grossed approximately $2.7 million from Pakistan alone with only 101 screens and stated, “Considering Pakistan’s population we have a potential market of 1000-1500 screens which could easily multiply the business to 10/15 times more than its current value or beyond. Hence investment into Pakistan is sure to be lucrative. Pakistan has enormous potential and is a beautiful country and the world must get to see it.”
He added, “I am here to underscore the need to create history, opening doors for screening Pakistani films in China and I propose a quota on minimum 3 films a year to be given to Pakistan. Moreover Pakistani film students and film makers should be given an opportunity to work aside Chinese film students and film makers and vice versa.”
At the festival, Teefa in Trouble was privately screened to over 30 Chinese mainstream distributors.
