Pakistani Film Industry

When I inadvertently changed the channel of my television, I heard a devilish laughter of a heavy curled moustached man, wearing kurta dhoti, and here the villain of Pakistani Film has captured the heroine. Crying out loud and pleas to help; she then tries to get rid of the villain, then camera zooms up from the face of villain to the entrance of hero in the scene. Hero enters with the devious smile on his face booming with the dread that he is going to spread. As expected from the makers of the film they all start fighting with the dhsoom sounds in background.

Such typical type of scenes in Pakistani films seems necessary; the fighting might take place in fields, havelis, and mountain footings. But wherever it is, it has to be in Urdu, Punjabi or Pushto.

Welcome to Lollywood, or what’s left of it. Since the decline of Pakistani cinema in 70’s the originality of the stories, the good script, the meaningful dialogues, and innovation of the story plots has disappeared. It is all the same a poor village culture that is shown with hero being dressed up like a villain. Not ready at all to accept the affection of the heroine and being crazily in love with her when the villain enters.

The reasons for NOT liking Pakistani movies is not that we have become habitual of watching and admiring Hollywood or Bollywood, it’s just that Pakistani film makers are continuously portraying what is solemnly not in OUR culture. The film industry should be producing something that is matching our culture so people can affiliate themselves with the characters of the film. In olden times the industry was in so boom that people were fond of watching the movies in cinema. The cinemas used to be literally “houseful” and the audience used to relate and enjoy the films to their extremes.

But now, the Odeon Cinema's creaky, ripped red vinyl seats are mostly empty except for a couple of back rows where a dozen Pakistani men sit slouched, their eyes half-open, legs slung over the seats in front of them. Along the hall's bubble-gum pink walls, rows of fans barely move the hot, dank air. The Odeon's loudspeakers crackle like a ham radio. 

The industry is in sharp decline and here we are doing nothing to make The industry has never been like this from its emergence, in 60’s and 70’s Lollywood gave so many hits and Lahore was buzzed with so many movie premiers and red carpets that it is considered to be the best era for Pakistani film industry. The Pakistani film industry has always been based in Lahore; lollywood thrived in a country staking out its identity which is different from the neighboring country. Today Pakistani film industry has all but vanished and has become the victim of cable, VCR, Islamization by General Zia-ul-Haq and of course by the DVD piracy.

The stigma attached to the film industry in Pakistan has been aggravated by policies that have dominated the state. The political regimes of the country have been an obstacle in the way of the success of Pakistani cinema. It seems light years when Pakistani film industry was in so bloom that people all the way from villages and small towns used to visit Lahore just for the sake of watching Pakistani movie.

In 1985, 1,100 movie houses operated in Pakistan; today, only 120 are in business. The few directors, producers and cinema owners often rely on second jobs to make ends meet.

The solution is not banning the movies of Bollywood or Hollywood in Pakistan but the best way is to PRODUCE something worth watching for the audience. we must be able to appreciate the efforts of Pakistani film industry now. Because they are trying their best from last 10 years.

As we see in the movies no one ever dies without fight so here we are witnessing the fight of the Film industry of Pakistan for their revival. A bunch of good movies in last past 5 years have raised the standards of our films a little more.  As the sudden re-emergence of Bollywood has been seen in our cinemas the great Shoaib Mansoor has produced the best of all times movies Khuda kay liye.  It has been a great success for the falling industry. It has been built on a strong story plot. From the actors to the cameras, from the scenes and to the idea it is considered to be the best movie so far.

At the moment Shoaib Mansoor’s movie Bol has been gaining much importance and praise from the viewers because it depicts the culture of our small towns and illiterate people. It is emotionally and ethically a must watch for every Pakistani.

Sometimes the film makers claim that due to the lack of fiancés they are unable to build good movies but according to my point of view the main hurdle is the sincerity that is missing towards the art. We are blessed with the best actors and locations and ideas, if we want to we can be making a lot of good movies starting from a smaller scale. There is obviously no deficiency in innovative ideas in Pakistani people. But across the board, directors have bemoaned the weakness of infrastructure, the poor state of studios, the lack of actors and festivals as well as official and/or professional funding channels.

It’s not that easy to kill a monster, defeat a villain, or win a girls heart – as with every movie there are bumps along the way. A filmmaker may have an idea, the script, the equipment and the actors. Even with the digital revolution and a new age in filmmaking, a little bit of investment is required. 

Nothing comes for free, because let’s face it, this ain't the movies. Filmmakers in Pakistan often finance their own films. There are no glitzy production houses willing to risk investing in films.

The Pakistani film industry does not need to compete. I believe it can co-exist on a smaller scale. What it needs to focus on is quality and innovation and once it finds a following, it can evolve and expand respectively. So what we have to do is start.