Forum Pakistan

Cinema in Pakistan
The Pakistan film industry is one of the biggest in the world and quantitatively, Pakistan ranks among the top ten film-making countries in the world. In spite of remaining in a perpetual state of crisis, the Pakistan film industry continues to release at least 80 films per year. Cinema going is still a favourite pastime of the population. Pakistani films are currently seeing a revival with support from both the electronic and print media. Pakistani film songs are popular among all segments of society and many Pakistani film stars have become household names.
In spite of their popularity inside the country, Pakistani films are largely limited to the local market. They have failed to make any mark outside the country and do not have any standing in the international market.
At the time of independence in 1947 Bombay was the leading film-making centre of the subcontinent. Lahore was a secondary centre with three studios, and a negligible number of films used to be made there mostly utilising the services of stars and directors from the bigger and more glamorous centre of Bombay.

Following the upheaval of partition most of the Hindu and Sikh workers and technicians moved to India, leaving behind a big void. A few veterans such as W.Z. Ahmed, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Nazir, Sibtain Faz1i, Munshi Dil, Luqman and Ataullah Shah Hashmi opted to migrate to Pakistan and laid anew the foundation of the country's film industry.
Few of the leading stars of the time came to Pakistan.

Those who did included top heroine and singer Nur Jehan, who was married to Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, Khurshid, who soon withdrew from the scene, Swarnlata, wife of Nazeer, and Ragni. Pakistan was, however, lucky to get music directors of the calibre of Khursheed Anwar, Ghulam Haider, Feroz Nizami, Rashid Attre, and the legendary Timir Baran.
For several years after independence the distributors and cinema owners of Pakistan were heavily dependent on films produced in Bombay and the other established film centres of India, and Indian films continued to be imported without any restriction. The first indigenous Pakistani film, Teri Yad, was released on 2 September 1948. Produced by Deewan Sardari Lal and directed by Daud Chand, the film starred Nasir Khan, younger brother of superstar Dilip Kumar, and a little-known actress Asha Posley. A poor effort, both productionwise and technically, the film flopped miserably.
In 1949 six films were released, five of which failed at the box office. The surprise hit of the year was Pherey, a low budget film which was also the first *Punjabi language film of Pakistan. Pherey, produced and directed by Nazeer and starring himself and his wife Swarnlata, was a big success and became the fir t Pakistani film to enjoy a silver jubilee, a continuous run of 25 weeks.

The following year saw another silver jubilee hit, Anwar Kamal Pasha's Do Aansoo which introduced a new leading pair, Santosh Kumar and Sabiha, to the viewers. The pair went on to become the superstars of the country and starred in innumerable hit films. Other major hits of the early period include Shaukat Hussain Rizvi's *Punjabi venture, Chanway, starring Nur Jehan and Santosh Kumar; Sibtain Fazli's Dopatta, with Nur Jehan and Ajay Kumar; Gulnar with Nur Jehan and Santosh; Gumnaam, directed by Anwar Kamal Pasha and starring Sabiha and Sudhir; and Qatil also by Anwar Kamal Pasha, starring Sabiha and Santosh.

A major landmark of that period was Sassi, a lavish production by film distributor J.C. Anand, based on Shah Latif *Bhitai's well-known folk tale. The film, starring Sabiha and Sudhir, created a record by becoming the first golden jubilee film of Pakistan running for an unprecedented fifty weeks. The film also did very well in India, beating some major Bombay productions.

From the beginning producers had been agitating with the government to stop the import of Indian films in order to provide protection to the newly emerging local film industry. Their efforts bore fruit in 1954 when a concerted movement was undertaken to stop the release of the Indian film Jaal. The movement was successful and this opened a new phase in the history of Pakistani cinema.

The restriction on Indian films proved to be a double-edged sword. In one way it gave a new impetus to local productions and many excellent films were produced. But conversely it proved harmful, as the lack of competition made producers complacent. It also opened the flood gates for plagiarism of Indian hit films, which became a common practice after the ban. A number of successful films were produced which were blatant copies of Indian hit films such as Naukar; a rip-off of Aulad, and Hameeda, a copy of Vachan. The most shameful example of this piracy is Bedari, a patriotic film full of noble sentiments about the motherland and uplifting Qaumi Naghmas (national songs) which are still played and enjoyed on Pakistan's national days. However the film was a scene for scene copy of an Indian hit Jagriti, and the noble and inspiring songs were also lifted entirely with their words and tunes, with the sole difference that Vande Mataram had became Pakistan Zindabad and references to Bapu Gandhi were replaced by references to *Quaid-i-Azam. The same child star Ratan Kumar acted in both versions.

Since no action was taken against these artistically reprehensible acts, other producers were encouraged and stories, dialogues, sequences, and songs featured in Indian films continued to be lifted with impunity.
The effects of having a captive audience were disastrous. Frame by frame plagiarisation should have brought Pakistan's film industry at least to the technical excellence of India but it had the opposite effect. There was a structural fault in the film industry because directors like Zia Sarhady, Nakhshab, and M. Sadiq, who had proved so eminently successful in India, were unable to find their bearings in Pakistan. It was not as the producers tried to explain, that Pakistani cine goers were not appreciative of sophisticated efforts. New Theatres and Bombay Talkies films dating from the 1930s were popular throughout the Pakistan areas.

From time to time the Pakistani film industry would rise above itself. Ruhi (1954), an artistic film, was banned because of its socialist slant. Mutthi Bhar Chawal, based on Rajinder Singh Bedi's novel, Ek Chadar Maili Si, was a classic production by film star Sangita. Such films were few and far between, and when television overtook the cinema in 1964 it was not because of the convenience of home entertainment, it was because of the high standard of the teleplays.
By the end of the first decade after independence the Pakistan film industry was firmly established economically and the future seemed full of promise.

At this time Karachi had also emerged as a filmmaking centre and a number of new directors and new stars had appeared on the scene, including Mussarat Nazir, Shamirn Ara, Nayyar Sultana, Neelo, Zeba, Rani, Darpan, and Mohammad Ali.
Some of the major hits of the second decade included Waadah, Saat Lakh, Saheli, Kartar Singh, and Shaheed.
In 1966 a film was released which besides being the biggest blockbuster ever, also proved to be a trendsetter for the industry and upset all the old and set ideas about film-making in Pakistan. The film was Arman, which gave a new young and fresh look to the film industry and introduced a team of four young men, well educated, enlightened, creative, and brimming with fresh ideas. They were producer and actor Waheed Murad, director Pervez Malik, music director Sohail Rana, and Masroor Anwar, poet and writer. Arman went on to celebrate its platinum jubilee, and Waheed Murad, son of a film distributor and an MA in *English literature, became the first superstar of the Pakistan film industry, remaining a cult figure till his death in 1982.

Meanwhile, *East Pakistan had also come into its own as a producer of *Urdu films and had given the industry two of its biggest stars - Shabnam and Nadeem - who continued to rule over the hearts of film goers for several decades. Shabnam was discovered in East Pakistan thanks to her rustic charm, while Nadeem, an aspiring singer, who went to Dhaka from his home city of Karachi, caught the attention of director Ihtesham, and was cast as hero in Chakori. After enjoying a long innings as hero Nadeem is still going strong, enjoying top billing as character actor and now as a TV star.

The credit for producing historical films like Sirajuddaulalt (1967) and Shaheed Titu Mir (1969) goes to East Pakistan (Bangladeshi) producers. The art film Akhri Station and first colour film Sangam were also produced in East Pakistan.
The period from 1967-77 was the most prolific of the Pakistan film industry. The number of films being produced was steadily rising and reached its peak in 1968, when 124 films were produced. A number of hit films were produced during this time, the biggest of all being Aaina, starring Shabnam and Nadeem, released in 1977, which created a record by running for 250 weeks in Karachi.

In 1973 the government established the National Film Development Corporation (NAFDEC) with the laudable motive of giving an impetus to the national film industry. But the bureaucratic organisation which took too much into its hands, from the import of foreign films to production of feature films and documentaries, sustained heavy losses and did not do anything tangible to help the film industry. In 2000, after remaining a white elephant for several years, was unceremoniously wound up.

The late 1970s almost proved to be the death knell for Pakistan cinema. This was the period when the VCR had became a household word, and the forbidden fruit of Indian films could now be tasted in every home.

Video shops were full of the latest Amitabh Bachan, Rekha, and Zeenat Aman films and the viewers could not get enough. Communal shows began to be arranged in private homes and entire neighbourhoods turned out to watch. Besides the latest blockbusters, classic Indian films such as Mughal-e-Azam and Pakeezah became the rage and the Pakistan film industry realised too late the mistake it had committed in 1954 with the restriction of Indian origin films.
The Martial Law period of General Ziaul *Haq heralded the worst period for Pakistani cinema. The developments in the country could not but have an effect on films and film goers. The uncertain law and order situation, the high price of cinema tickets and the difficulty in obtaining transport took their toll, and the elite and educated classes found it easier and more economical to watch films, Indian and English, in the security of their homes rather than go to the cinema. This change in the composition of cinema goers coupled with the new culture of weapons, violence, and drugs introduced by the Afghan war, and the rise of ethnic and sectarian movements in the country, also changed the content of the films. Now instead of family-oriented social dramas, a new genre of films glorifying violence, brutality and revenge became the norm.
As this genre was more suited to Punjabi and *Pashto than Urdu films, the production of Urdu films declined substantially. A new kind of hero, wielding a gun or an axe, who singlehandedly got rid of scores of enemies came in place of the romantic 'chocolate' heroes.

The biggest representative film of this genre was the legendary Punjabi film Maula Jat, which created a new record by running continuously for more than five years and became the biggest box-office hit in the history of Pakistani cinema.
Its lead actor, Sultan Rahi, became a cult figure, the biggest superstar of Pakistan, who was named in the Guinness Book of World Records by working in 650 films as the leading man. In most of his films he was paired with leading lady Anjuman and villain Mustafa Qureshi.

Meanwhile in 1979 General Ziaul Haq announced a new film policy and following the wave of moralisation, a new and more strict censorship code was introduced. All the films released earlier had to apply for a fresh censor certificate. These new measures proved to be deadly for quality films which were already suffering due to the prevalence of Indian and international films on video, and a large number of cinema houses had to be closed down.

For a time the producers toyed with co-productions and joint ventures with other South Asian and Far Eastern countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia to find new markets for their products. A number of new faces from these countries and fresh locations attracted cinema goers for a while, but the trend did not last for long.
In the 1990s Urdu cinema saw a revival and many new faces such as Reema, Shaan, Babar Ali, Resham and Meera were introduced. Conscious attempts were made to bring back families and the educated middle class to the cinema and to some extent, with the help of other media, these have been successful.
The turnabout came in 1990 with Bulandi, which introduced two newcomers Shaan and Reema in the leading roles. The film was a major success and encouraged other film-makers to lanch romantic films with a new cast. Another superhit of the period was Jeeva with Babar Ali and Resham, followed by Hathi Mera Sathi, Munda Bigri Jai, Chief Sahib, Sargam, Inteha, Jo Dar Gaya Woh Mar Gaya.

The revival of the Pakistani film industry is in no small part due to the support of television. The age of the satellite has brought into every home a spate of film channels and an onslaught of film-based programmes featuring hit songs and movie stars. Pakistani channels did not lag behind and programs such as Lollywood, Top 10 and Yehi to Hai publicised new films. Lollywood played a major part in popularising Pakistani film songs and film stars among the middle class audiences who had for several years forgotten their existence.

The directors of today, who are mostly young and educated, have made a great contribution. Syed Noor, Sajjad Gul, Sangita, and Sarnina Pirzada are some of the names which have a number of artistic and commercial hits to their credit. For the moment the future looks bright. The need is to expand the market by making Pakistani films strong both aesthetically and creatively, and better able to compete in the international arena.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mushtaq Gazdar, 'The Pakistani Cinema', Karachi, 1997.