The Bangladesh government has lifted more than a four-decade old ban on importing Indian and other South Asian Films in a bid to boost the ailing cinema industry. The new order scrapping the ban and allowing the import of Indian and South Asian films was notified by the Commerce Ministry. <br/> <br/>Cinema hall owners are hopeful that they will be able to show Indian movies in their halls soon. The order banning the import of Indian films had been issued in 1965 by the government of what was then East Pakistan and continued in Bangladesh after its independence. <br/> <br/>As per the new order, the cinema hall owners will be able to screen movies from India and other South Asian countries with English or Bengali subtitles. At present only Bengali and Hollywood films are being screened in the country’s cinema halls. <br/> <br/>The Bangladesh government’s decision to permit import of Indian and other South Asian films has come as a major relief for cinema hall owners in the country. <br/> <br/>With the introduction of satellite television in the mid 1990’s, the theatres started to feel the heat with people preferring to watch the Bengali movies being screened by local channels and the Indian and other foreign channels showing Bollywood or Hollywood films. <br/> <br/>Moreover pirated DVD copies of most of the Bollywood movies are easily available in the local markets within days of a movie’s release. The theatre owners feel that the permission to import South Asian films with subtitles in Bengali and English will help in bringing back the audience to the theatres and boost their revenue to save the exhibitors. <br/> <br/>However some people associated with the Bangladesh Film industry are protesting against the move claiming that it will hurt the local film makers. <br/>