Pakistani film industry struggles to survive

t('articles.tweet')

* denotes required field.

• Your name *
• Email to *
• Comments *
• CAPTCHA *

Reset

LAHORE, Pakistan - Kashif, a student, came out of a posh theatre after watching a Bollywood movie and said Lollywood produces no more quality films.

Viewers of domestic (Lollywood) films don’t get the pleasure of a good story line to enjoy with popcorn, he said. “Most of the time I go for VCDs or DVDs of Bollywood and Hollywood movies at homes”.

The day when first-class movies were produced and cinemagoers thronged the theatres seems to be a memory today.

Now, Pakistani filmmaking has all but vanished. The industry that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as distinct from Bollywood (India’s film capital) is now barely breathing.

Many cinemas are closed, and the rest pay heavy taxes. Many cinemas are used for commercial functions.

Because of government laxity and rampant film piracy, over the past two decades the standards of the film industry have deteriorated and technical facilities have closed. Only 120 out of 1,000 cinemas across the country are open today.

“The Pakistan film industry is facing a critical condition. A revival of the industry can take place only if the government lends a heroic hand and expresses serious concern,” Sangeeta, a film actress and now a director, told Central Asia Online. “We can recover, but in terms of technology and skills the industry is archaic”.

She lamented that the industry needs the latest equipment and new studios, and “producers aren’t investing since the equipment is obsolete”.

And she demanded a ban on Indian films. According to Sangeeta, showing them hurts the local industry since the foreign films are shown at the best cinemas. “Now the investors are interested in buying Indian films for release here”, she said.

“We are giving away the whole business to the Indians. Money is flowing from here to Bollywood”, said Lollywood actress Reema, who produced a film to try to revive the industry.

“During 2009, only three movies were released. They flopped at the box office. Such movies are the main reason for the falling number of cinemas nationwide,” said Safdar, a cinema owner. He lamented that most visible directors, producers and cinema owners need second jobs to make ends meet.

Few films are in the pipeline. Private production studios have started making TV plays. But Syed Noor has established a film school to assist the coming generation of filmmakers in Lahore.

“The importation of Indian movies was needed … to keep the identity of cinema houses alive”, Safdar said.

Hashim Ali Titu, in charge of production at Bari Studio, said an unprofessional attitude by actors pushed Lollywood’s creative talent out of the industry. Scripts got worse, and Pakistanis stopped watching local movies.

Titu cited other challenges: cheap or free access to films on cable channels, rising production costs, a tide of foreign films, higher costs for chemicals and raw materials, and devaluation of the rupee.

“Also, people are looking for clean entertainment”, he said. “Now is the time to introduce the latest technology and creative talents who are able to produce quality work … good script, story line, caring true professional attitudes”.

The Pakistani film industry, which was already on its deathbed, suffered another heavy blow when the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department initially imposed a 65 percent entertainment tax on it in 2009-10.

“The amount of the total entertainment tax paid by the entire cinema industry in Punjab is only around US$301,531, which is peanuts for the Punjab government," said Amjad Farzand Ali, chairman of the Film Industry Action Committee. "It easily do without it if the chief minister expressed that interest”.

Somebody in the government heard the industry's cry for help. Filmmakers recently received support from the government, including the establishment of a production house. It is also said that the Punjab chief minister (CM) has agreed to waive the 65 percent excise tax on cinemas in principle.

“The Punjab government is all set to offer maximum possible assistance and to resolve the Pakistani film industry’s problems amicably,” said Khawaja Imran Nazir, media coordinator to the CM, Punjab.

But Jahanzaib Baig, chairman of the Pakistan Film Exhibitors Association (PFEA), alleged that the minister’s committee has expressed a negative attitude toward those in the industry.

As the film industry has been pushed to the brink of collapse, the Senate Standing Committee on Culture appointed a committee to aid its revival.

The Senate group also discussed ways to elevate the industry's flagging quality, issues of law enforcement, film censorship, and piracy, including cable and video-related subjects.

The committee urged the government to provide incentives for private film production groups to make quality low-budget films on social issues. It said the government should implement a policy of setting up cinemas in every housing society and in every museum nationwide.