After remaining in hibernation for decades the cinema across the border is well on track to create a niche for itself, explains Aaqib Rangraze
|| AAQIB RANGRAZE
Pakistan cinema and it popularity has always been under gunslingers threat. The country’s film industry faced challenges after partition, mainly owing to shortage of funds and facilities. Though filmmakers had stories to capture in their lenses the only thing which stopped them to take the Pakistan cinema to the world was the budgeting. Post partition, no film was made for almost a year in Pakistan. The first feature film directed by Daud Chand Directed, ‘Teri Yaad’ was released in August 1948 after lot of struggle by the entire film crew. But Teri Yaad was the opening the Pakistan cinema was hoping as scores of filmmakers followed the suit with some of the successful productions like Teri Yaad.
The Pakistani cinema soon got its new image and then came the next stage of Pakistan film industry – ‘The Golden Age’ – which gave the nation many A-stars who went on to became the legends on the silver-screen. As the popularity of the black and white screen faded across the world the Pakistan cinema to catered to the taste of its audience by producing colored films from early 60s.The country had just stabilized its positions in the cinema world when the Indo-Pak relations started to deteriorate again. In May 1961 a film titled ‘Bombay Wallah’ was released across the country, the first film which faced political enquiry. In 1962, ‘Shaheed’, a movie on Palestine issue became an instant hit. As the armed conflict broke out between India and Pakistan in 1965, actor Waheed Murad made his debut in the industry. Known as “chocolate hero” during the early stage of his career, Murad shot into the prominence later and was compared with Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley.
Before the creation of Bangladesh (which was East Pakistan) Pakistan had three main film production centers; Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka. But after 1971, Pakistan lost Dhaka as a film production centre and many other screens resulting in decrease of number of cinemas. Formation of Bangladesh led many film personalities to move to the newly carved out country while some actors stayed back in Pakistan, thus dividing the filmmaking talent among the two countries. Pakistani cinema was at the verge of collapse. There were more worries in offing. Right after Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq became the 6th President of Pakistan in 1978, he started to Islamicize the country, leading to steep decline in the cinema production in the country. Government forcibly sealed many cinemas in Lahore and new tax rates were introduced which gave the jolt to Pakistan cinema.
As a result film production dropped from 98 films in 1979 to 58 in 1980 which further dipped to 40 in early ‘90s. An industry which once used to produce 80 films annually was now struggling to make more than two films a year. Amid the concerns the cinema was struck by the tragedy when Waheed Murad, the chocolate hero, died in 1983 due to stomach cancer with some reports suggesting that he committed suicide. His last film ‘Hero’ that was expected to revive the dying cinema failed to make a mark and similar was the fate of the science fiction ‘Shaani’ in 1989. Though the film received an award at Moscow Film Festival and even in Korea and Egypt it sadly didn’t impress the audience back at home.
Before the creation of Bangladesh (which was East Pakistan) Pakistan had three main film production centers; Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka. But after 1971, Pakistan lost Dhaka as a film production centre. Formation of Bangladesh led many film personalities to move to newly carved out country, thus dividing the filmmaking talent among the two countries. Pakistani cinema was at the verge of collapse.
In 90’s many films were made by single studios or by the filmmakers themselves. However local cinemas kept gaining the audience’s attention in mid and late 1990s with Haathi Meray Saathi which celebrated its Golden Jubilee bringing audience back to the cinema for 66 weeks. Some other notable productions of this era include Deewane Tere Pyaar Ke, Mujhe Chand Chahiye, Sangam, Tere Pyaar Mein and Gharkab Aao Gay which kept the industry going. In early 2003, young filmmakers took it upon themselves to get Pakistani cinema back on track. A new channel “Filmazia” was started in order to broadcast the films made indigenously in the country.
It was Mahesh Bhatt, Indian film director, who visited Pakistan in 2003 to attend the local Kara Film Festival in Karachi where he hired Aatif Aslam for the soundtrack of his film Zeher and Pakistani actress Meera to play a lead role in one of his film. It was the time when film industry again settled its base in Karachi and by 2007 Karachi had fully and permanently become the Pakistani film and showbiz industry’s headquarters. With time many Pakistani actors and singers started working in Bollywood – some of them include Malika Pukhraj, Noor Jahan, Gulam Ali, Reshma, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mohsin Khan, Sajad Khan, Nazia Hassan and current Indian and Pakistani youth heartthrobs Shafqat Amanat Ali, Adnan Sami, Ali Azmat, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Imran Abbas Naqvi, Nargis Fakhri, multi talented Ali Zafar, Aatif Aslam, Ali Fazal, Mustafa Zahid, Fawad Khan and Pakistani television actress Mahira Khan. Mahira is set to make her debut in Bollywood this year opposite King Khan Shah Rukh Khan in his most awaited Raees. With the release of Shoaib Mansoor’s Bol in 2013 which focuses on family planning and gender issues, many more filmmakers came forward to try their luck.
Following the success of Bol the films which caught the attention on box office were Waar, Main Hoon Shahid Afridi, Zinda Bhaag which was shortlisted for Oscar (Foreign film category). But it was 2015 which was most successive for Pakistani film Industry with some popular releases like Jawani Phir Nahi Aani, Wrong Number, Bin Roye, Karachi Se Lahore, Bahadur, Jalaibee and now the recently released Asim Raza directed Ho Mann Jahan which stars Mahira Khan, Sheheryar Munawar and Adeel Hussain bringing the Pakistan cinema back on the stage. The popularity of these films across the globe depicts that Pakistani cinema was well on track to compete with Bollywood and win laurels in coming times.
(Author is perusing journalism from Baramulla Degree College).
But it was 2015 which was most successive for Pakistani film Industry with some popular releases like Jawani Phir Nahi Aani, Wrong Number, Bin Roye, Karachi Se Lahore, Bahadur, Jalaibee and now the recently released Asim Raza directed Ho Mann Jahan which stars Mahira Khan, Sheheryar Munawar and Adeel Hussain bringing the Pakistan cinema back on the stage.
