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Pakistani
audiences show little appetite for cross-border productions
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Survey reveals 26 percent of people
support the idea of Pakistani artists working in India, 27 percent
want Indian entertainers working in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India have produced numerous dramas and
films together in the past few years, but according to a recent
Gallup survey, the support for such combined media productions has
fallen since 2007.
According to the survey, 26 percent support the idea of Pakistani
artists working in India down from 51 percent in 2007.
Similarly, 27 percent favour the idea of Indian artists working in
Pakistan down from 55 percent in 2007. This change in attitude is
widely attributed to increasing security tensions between the two
neighbouring countries.
A nationally-representative sample of men and women across the
country were asked, "Recently, India and Pakistan have started to
produce dramas and films together. Some people favour Pakistani
artists working in India while others oppose it. What is your view
point?”
The majority of the respondents (44 percent) claimed that they did
not favour it and 26 percent were in the favour of Pakistani artists
working in India, whereas 30 percent said they were unsure.
It was observed that a significantly higher percentage of people
living in urban areas (40 percent) favour such combined productions
as compared to their rural counterparts (19 percent).
To understand whether people are open to Indian artists working in
Pakistan, the respondents were asked "some people favour Indian
artists working in Pakistan, while others oppose it. What is your
view point?”
Once again, the majority (43 percent) did not support Indian artists
working in Pakistan, 27 percent favoured whereas 30 percent were
unsure.
Half of all respondents from rural areas (50 percent) opposed the
idea of Indian artists working in Pakistan.
The data reveals that support for combined productions is slightly
higher among the young – under the age of 30 – as 29 percent of them
support it. This compared with 23 percent of support among those
over the age of 30.
In 2007, when relations between the two countries were better,
opposition to Pakistanis working in India was just as high, 46
percent. However, support was in majority at 51 percent.
Similarly, for Indian artists working in Pakistan, opposition was
the same at 44 percent, but support was higher at 55 percent.
Since then, political tensions between the two countries escalated,
mainly after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, tilting much of
the support for joint cultural production not into direct opposition
but towards more uncertainty, evident from the recent 30 percent
unsure response in both questions.
The survey was carried out among a sample of 2,687 people in rural
and urban areas of Pakistan in January 2009. app
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Dailt Times:June 2, 2009
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