My Name Is Khan, first Indian film to release in Egypt after 15 years

Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan is set to become the first Indian film to hit the Egyptian theaters after a gap of 15 years.

The hosting Indian cinema as the guest of honour at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival, where more than 25 Indian movies were screened, seems to have paid.

The Indian Maulana Azad Cultural Centre here announced the Egyptian theatres are to receive copies of My Name Is Khan, which is set for a worldwide release on February 12, for screening.

The movie will represent a return of the Indian movies to Egyptian theatres after an absence of about 15 years. Indian movies have been extremely popular in Egypt since the 1950s but a recent wave of Egyptian comic flicks starting 1995 pushed them aside.

"Indians spend generously when producing their movies and the end result is superb. Indian movies have all the elements of attraction: love stories, songs, dance and scenery. Why wouldn't they be a success again in Egypt," Zaid al-Kurdi, manager of one of the distribution companies here, said.

"There was a repetition in the topics and stories of Indian movies. Egyptians got bored and as result I stopped requesting Indian movies. Today things are different. Indian movies are as good as American ones," Antoine Zind, Fox Warner's regional agent, said.

In 1980s', the popularity of Indian movies forced Egyptian legislators to declare a law stipulating that an Indian movie will not run in theatres longer than 5 weeks and that for every Indian movie shown, an Egyptian movie has to be produced.