First day, second show
Pakistani cinema deserves a second chance. If all the capable people, now involved in various lucrative genres other than cinema, were to pool their resources and come together we could yet have a vibrant, thriving film industry
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By Fizzah Hussain Rizvi
Pakistan’s film industry has never seen a worse time than it is witnessing now. Years and years of mind bogglingly senseless and intellectually insulting movie making has finally ensured the end of what should never have begun in the first place. It’s a classic case of self-destruction and please note, not at all unknowingly or as if no one saw it coming. There is no need to mention the type or titles of the movies that ‘graced’ our cinemas in the last two decades or so as it is unfortunately not only apparent but indeed is common knowledge. The current scenario of cinemas closing down or being broken down, the remaining cinema owners asking the government to allow them to import Indian films and actors using all possible means to grab roles in Bollywood, is depressing not to mention embarrassing.
Out of all suggestions being given to save the sinking ship called ‘Lollywood’, the most popular is “co production” with our (recently) friendly neighbours. Frankly speaking, a movie shot on foreign locations with Indian producers, directors, technicians, singers, music composers, choreographers, 80 per cent of actors with a Reema, Meera, Sana or Moammar Rana thrown in as the Pakistani element can not be called a Pakistani film by any definition of the term. And yes, with the present ‘genre’ of Pakistani films, importing Indian movies will no doubt shut down the local industry (or what’s left of it) completely. How many of us would go to watch Pappu Gujjar if even one cinema in the city is playing Paheli? The only ones to benefit from this move shall be the cinema owners.
To put it bluntly, all such suggestions and frantic ‘mayday’ calls being made to India are coming from a national habit of losing self belief and the will to try to rectify things from within and waiting for ‘foreign aid’ to sort out our royal messes. So the obvious question here is, what is the alternative? Is there any hope or possible solution? Of course there is! Only if we quit another inborn habit of looking at only one side of the picture as we are prone to, that being the negative.
The flip side of Pakistan’s unfortunate scenario is as big and promising as it gets. It’s a whole new world of opportunities waiting to be availed by all those who were never given a chance by the gujjar, badmash and gandasa mafia. It’s time for a rebirth and reconstruction of the Pakistani cinema, the way the educated upper and upper middle class of this country has always wanted and is capable of doing. The majority of all hack writers, producers and directors have disappeared from the filmi circles after a long series of stinkers, meeting what was their rightful fate. The handful of them that are left are coming up with gems like Graduate Gujjar, Pappu Shehzada, Madam Dehari Baaz and Naag aur Nagin in the recent future. No prizes for guessing the ‘Anjaam’ of these wanna be ‘blockbusters’.
All in all, the ‘no entry’ board this mafia displayed for all ‘non filmi’, educated, and therefore ‘wannabe’ filmmakers is no more. There is a huge vacuum waiting to be filled and taken over with full force. All the alternative forces should rush in and completely change the makers, viewers and type of movies in our country for good.
It is heartening to see and inform all that the process though in its extreme initial stage has begun already. Shoaib Mansoor, it is reported, is fast completing his first film Khuda Ke Liye, which, needless to say, will be something to watch out for and write everywhere about. The cast includes model Iman Ali, Fawad of EP (not confirmed in Mansoor’s typical under the wraps style of PR) and the brilliant Naseeruddin Shah. A few other at least better looking (print, costumes, makeup, music) projects are Imran Malik’s already released Teray Bin Jiya Na Jaye, Mubashir Luqman’s Pehla Pehla Pyar and last but not least Reema’s maiden directorial venture Koi Tujh Sa Kahan.
One has to hand it to Reema. Instead of whining about the bleak situation of the industry or calling up Indian directors for ‘aik chance’ the queen bee of Pakistani cinema went ahead and did what was required of her. She ruled our film world for more than a decade and owed one to it. Let’s consider her innocent until proven guilty of producing yet another good looking but intrinsically trashy film.
There are a number of people who need to follow in their footsteps. First of all, from the film fraternity it’s individuals like Shaan, Samina and Usman Peerzada and Javed Sheikh who should launch their new projects ASAP. And this time they ought to make the films they ‘want’ to make, with no compromises whatsoever. The audience comprising of ‘Gamas and Majhas’ has been catered to for long enough and now it’s time to bid them farewell.
However the actual and real hope of saving and reviving Pakistani cinema lies with the people who have till now only dreamed of making better cinema and expressed a desire to make films and are currently working in all other media related fields. They are none other than our brilliant video directors, ad makers, TV directors, producers and some even actors, some singers and musicians. This is an SOS call to Mehreen Jabbar, her father Javed Jabbar, Asim Raza, Saqib Malik, Jami, Sohail Javed, Ahsan Rahim and Amena Khan, Meera Hashmi (who has a degree in film from the US) Jawad Bashir and his whole madcap group from NCA. Even individuals like Bilal Hasan Minto (World Ka Centre) otherwise pursuing their oh so propah careers but all the while waiting for an opportunity to fulfil their creative urges, should come out and take a chance right now. The list of probable saviours of our cinema includes TV veterans like Sahira and Rahat Kazmi, Iqbal Ansari, Yawar Hayat, Rashid Dar and countless others.
A number of youngsters are currently studying film related subjects in institutions like the old institution National College of Arts in Lahore and the brand new National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi. Then there are those who are studying film and related disciplines in foreign universities out of sheer passion and a deep abiding love for movie making and the performing arts. It is only these young graduates and the above mentioned ladies and gentlemen who are capable of bringing a long due and desired change in the now almost dead world of Pakistani cinema. These people do not come from a typical ‘filmi’ background and thus it would be easier for them to reject the tyrannical rule of formula flicks and hence break some rules which to date have been followed religiously.
For example, it’s not God’s will to make films three hour long with songs and fights deliberately inserted every twenty five minutes. It’s time to cut down on the length which will automatically leave no room for un necessary, forced stuff. Songs should be there only when required, to take the story forward instead of having no relevance to the story or plot. In other words, no item numbers please.
A realistic film without or at least with good songs that make sense, based on say a short story or novel by our literary giants should have been attempted by now, but it’s never too late. There is no dearth of dead and alive literary figures in the country whose works can be turned in to film scripts. It was not very long ago when our film studios were frequented by figures like Manto, Ahmed Bashir, Mumtaz Mufti, Faiz, Nasir Kazmi, Ahmed Faraz and Qateel Shifai. It is necessary to start this process all over again and convince present day personalities like Amjad Islam Amjad, Bano Qudsia, Bushra Rehman, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Noor-ul-Huda Shah and others to get involved with films and contribute in what ever way possible.
As far as actors are concerned, almost all TV actors (especially women) have stayed away from films to date and nobody’s asking why. It is the content of our movies that has kept them away and thus created a film actors-TV actors divide. It is an open secret that 90 per cent of the female and other talent in Pakistani movies comes from the red light areas which over the years created a certain aura of taboo in the studios and film circles in general. This situation can only be rectified by bringing in actors from TV and doing away with the filmi and non filmi divide. One is sure that all TV (and present filmi) actors would give anything to do a Mehreen Jabbar, Saqib Malik or Sahira Kazmi movie.
In the last few years, all those Lollywood movies that can be termed slightly better (sometimes just because of their good print and foreign locations) have had one thing in common, Indian singers and choreographers. The trend started with Shehzad Gul’s Ghar Kab Aao Gey and continued with projects like Teray Pyar Mein, Yeh Dil Aap Ka Huwa and now Mubashir Luqman’s Pehla Pehla Pyar and Reema’s Koi Tujh Saa Kahan also have Indian crooners lending their voices and choreographers doing their own bit. This is the only factor one is iffy about when it comes to Reema’s daring move. Have we all of a sudden gone bankrupt in the singers, music composers department? Or is it just a case of roping in names that are sure to sell as they are already like our family members, thanks to cable television and film piracy?
With Pakistan’s pop music industry attracting the Indians like crazy and our pop hits featuring in one Indian flick after the other, why have we bought into the myth that good film music is no more possible without an Indian connection?
If Shehzad ‘Shahi’ Hassan can compose the background score for Paap, Ali Azmat can lend his song ‘Garaj Baras’ for the same and Najam and Atif Aslam can contribute hit songs for Murder and Zeher, why not for their own country? While nobody can blame them for avoiding Pakistani films until now, one seriously doubts that Rohail Hayat and Shehzad Hassan can refuse a Shoaib Mansoor film, Strings can say no to Jami or Ali Azmat and Fuzon can reject an offer from Saqib Malik. Even our now written off filmi singers like Waris Baig, Anwar Rafi, Shazia Manzoor, Humaira Arshad and Shabnam Majeed can do wonders if given better songs (remember the brilliant ‘Anarkali’ by Shabnam Majeed?) They all have great voices, their problem has only been cheap ‘filumi’ compositions thrust upon them and they had no choice but to earn their bread and butter. Besides the younger lot we need to request or even beg people like Arshad Mehmood and Javed Allah Ditta to get involved with the process. Sajjad Ali’s younger brother Waqar Ali is another perfect candidate for the job having composed brilliant background music and theme songs for countless popular TV serials. He is an equally good singer as well.
Let us suppose or rather fantasise that all the above people decide to launch their film projects with all the desired ingredients, but where would they get the moolah from? Here’s a cliche, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. Nobody is asking these people to launch a Devdas or a Taj Mahal. It would be wise to begin with low budget, not too long films with their strongest points being the script, story and characterisation. Films that don’t need fancy cars and houses, heavy stunt related equipment, designer clothes and songs in Switzerland. Producers like Sajjad and Shehzad Gul (Evernew Pictures) Rashid Khawaja and Jamshed Zafar are the ones who should come forward and take a chance with new people for the sake of the industry that made them what they are today. There are countless (TV) production houses in the country, a lot of them owned by actors themselves (Humayun Saeed, Abdullah Kadwani) who are earning handsomely and making mega serials both inside and outside the country with budgets reaching above 10 million rupees. It’s time they expand their horizons and provide opportunities (read money) to individuals wanting but still waiting for such a chance.
Big television networks are also capable in every way of launch their own film projects with a deserving wannabe director and providing him/her with all possible means and facilities. It is obvious that publicity and promotion of these channels’ projects would be what every director dreams of.
We all remember that a multinational like Unilever belted out quite a few million bucks to Shoaib Mansoor for the two Supreme Ishq videos and some how the branding was very subtle in both songs which did not mar or interfere with the concept at all. With this approach there is no harm in bringing in our corporate giants like Unilever itself, good old Pepsi and Coke and others who agree not to demand shameless branding like in the disgusting ‘supari’ sponsored videos. It’s being done very successfully and unapologetically in our ‘favourite’ film industry next door and no one’s complaining or even writing any where about it.
Hema Malini played the perfect wife in Baghban who serves only Tata tea to the Big B, Aishwarya Rai sipped on Akshay Khanna’s half finished Coke in Taal and demanded “only Coke, no ice” in Kuch Na Kaho. And very recently a biscuit company sponsored the premiere of Shahrukh Khan’s Paheli because Shahrukh is their brand ambassador. And how many times do we see Digjam or Samsung or Air Tel or any other brand’s discrete signage in a street shot in countless Indian movies, with not a single protest from anywhere. This is just to state that doing it subtly and sensibly for the sake of our cinema, even for a few initial years, would definitely yield the desired results and the directors assuming this practice shall not go to hell in the life hereafter as some people have us believe. After all, frankly speaking our pop music industry and especially the brilliant video making today owes a lot to the big budgets they can command from corporate giants.
However, it should be remembered that a good, strong and sensible film does not necessarily need a heavy budget. Most off beat films, not only in Bollywood but all over the world, are made with budgets way lower than that of mainstream commercial flicks. A film based on an Urdu classic by Manto, Ismat Chughtai or Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi is possible to shoot on a few sets, the cheapest and fewest number of clothes and a small cast. Lack of money can be used to complement a project by experimenting more and more, using metaphors and symbols (think of the old days of PTV) and hence getting rid of all old formulas and masala requirements, which up till now have seemed unavoidable.
It was this approach and not help from across the border which made PTV dramas an inspiration for art cinema in India and took our pop music industry to new heights. Today our pop songs and videos have their own unique identity, which is totally opposite to India’s ‘who-wants-creativity-when-you-can-have-scantily-dressed-women-in-your-videos’ philosophy.
All said and done, the most crucial challenge remains making sure the whole process works and produces the desired results, namely, giving Pakistani cinema a new lease of life and putting it on the right track. So, can this formula work? With the right dynamics and tactics there is no reason why it shouldn’t. What is required is some rigorous and honest support from the electronic and print media. It is not rocket science that it’s nothing but pre release teasers on the telly and in newspapers that familiarize the audience with a movie and bring them into theatres. Pakistan suffers from a serious lack of film based TV shows and publications.
Recently, the power and influence of the media was witnessed when major TV channels and newspapers promoted Shehzad Rafique’s Salakhein months before its release and the film went on to do fairly well at the box office. If a decent amount of films start coming out every few months and the right hype is created in the media, distributors will automatically buy and release them as they would have no other choice. Similarly the educated class will come out to see these films due to the names associated with them. And if we remain at it hard enough for a couple of years, things are bound to turn around.
Fortunately, we are a small country and hence do not need a supply of several hundred films per year; even a few dozen would suffice in the initial stage. We also do not need hundreds of prints of a movie to cater to the whole country (which requires a separate budget). Movies in Pakistan are taken to smaller cities after they have done some business in the bigger cities and it’s commercially safe to produce more prints or when they’re ready to be taken off.
We as a nation have to realise, as soon as possible, that no matter what field it is, things will never change or improve if the process is not initiated from within, at the grassroots level, by no one but ourselves. When it comes to a radical change in our film industry, the long-awaited chance for a radical change is right here, right now. Clearly and urgently the resuscitation of Pakistani cinema is an emergency case of now or never!
