I feel compelled to ask a few questions. I saw my first Pakistani movie, yeh dil ap ka huwa, and the dvd guy told me it was the best most expensive Pak movie made. I was excited. But half an hour was all I could take. It was a long half hour.
It looked like a badly made 60’s drama.
Is this really ‘the best’? Come on Pakistan, you can do better!
Immediately after that I saw Tehzeeb. Made by a muslim, about a muslim family. It could have been any Indian family though. Brilliant stuff, though a tad less brill than Khalid’s earlier stuff.
So did all the good script writers, producers, directors, cinematogrophers…get left behind in India when Pakistan was made?
When my cuzins in Pakistan play old Pakistani movies, I sometimes sit and watch a bit with them. Those movies are great. Performances are magnificent. The other day, I was watching a song performed by noorjehan, when she was acting in pakistani films. There was no major choreography done. The dance steps were simple. Yet, I was so spellbound by her grace. I've never had my eyes glued to the television screen like that before.
What's happened is that during Zia's time in office, pressures were placed on the film industry. Financially, things began to look bad. Most of the talented crowd left the industry within a decade and headed for TV. Not suprisingly, the same era saw a boom in TV popularity. So, while TV gained creativity and popularity as an art venue, film industry fell. The industry was left in the hands of those who were left: loserville folks who thought they could make a movie if they showed some skin and heavy-figures like Anjuman's massive thighs in her famous one-leg-lifted pose.
The crowd changed also. Film cinemas used to be a place where the middle class and upper class folks - the educated type - went for timepass. No longer the case. So, even if a really good movie was made, you wouldn't see the same sales you would see in clean theatres in good areas where the "ghandi public" can't get in so easily.
When I saw Yeh Dil Aap Ka Hua, a movie at that time was running in its 25th or 50th week or something along those lines...I had the same reaction you did. The style is copied from Indian hit movies, except that the script seems its been written by a 4rth grader.
I would recommend to you independent movies like Khamosh Paani, Raat Chali hai Jhumke, Daira (although it was telecasted on TV, so you might find a copy easily), Jinnah, Sufaid Raat, etc. These independent movies have been shown in karafilm fest. I put up a thread on that a while ago - maybe you should look at it to find something of interest.
must have been a hell of a expericen watchin a new Pakistani movie... you should be awarded the most courageous person award for watching a half hour of new Pakistani movie...
PCG made it pretty clear.. Old Pakistani movies are a treat to watch.. but new ones are just drat. double drat :(
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*Originally posted by PyariCgudia: *
When I saw Yeh Dil Aap Ka Hua, a movie at that time was running in its 25th or 50th week or something along those lines...I had the same reaction you did. The style is copied from Indian hit movies, except that the script seems its been written by a 4rth grader.
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I see what you mean about cinema being in the wrong hands and watched by the wrong kind if this movie is a hit. It will take some doing to get the fim industry back on track.
I think the Pakistani film industry would be much more successful if it used actors (includes "actresses"), scriptwriters, directors, etc. that make Pakistani dramas. Movies don't require skin or dances to be entertaining and this way the movies would not only have a decent storyline, perhaps, but good actors as well.
I dont think karina said anything wrong: we all know the qualities of pakistani movies(now we are not talking abt drama serials!). Why are we all trying our best to be rude to her.
Karina , PCG is right:old pak movies of Noor Jehan, Shamim Ara etc are very worth watching. THe script, the story, the acting, the songs, everything is remarkable!
Criticizing your own industry for constructive purposes shows that one is concerned about the state the industry is in. You guys show absolute ignorance to the problem. The pakistani film industry is absolutely corrupt, its being run by the biggest ghoondas in town.
Its ethnocentric, its offensive, its classless, it uses physical force on its own actresses, it has no respect for women, and it lacks any intelligence.
Being in denial of all this is ignorance. No one is comparing Pakistani films to Indian films. We're saying that there are problems in the film industry and asking why we can't be professional about this industry like people in other countries where film industries are successful? And karina raises a really good point. Movies are being made in India by muslims. And they're successful quality films. So, its not an issue that Pakistan's Islamic nature is the reason for Pakistanis making bad films. It goes much deeper than that.
You know, I thought the same thing about dramas. That people from the drama industry should come in and make good movies. But, films like Laaj, Pyar Hi Pyar Mein, Fire - all bombed at the box office. These same TV directors are going to try again to make other movies, or so reported last week's Jang.
But, looking at the situation again, film-making is a distinct art from drama-making. Dramas are longer in time, and they're divided up in qists, or episodes. So to make a movie script requires a totally different format. You have to crunch all the excitement in 2 or 3 hours.
The censorship is much more lax in cinema than on TV. The films I mentioned took advantage of that. So what happens when a TV team tries to make a movie that is seductive and sexy? Well, its not a pretty sight.
The actual problem is in the script. Adjusting to writing a movie script is hard when you're used to writing plays. And there are no courses in Pakistan on how to write movie scripts. And the courses you take abroad can't fully teach it to you. A movie script writer has something innate in them - they are able to write these scripts.
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*Originally posted by Ira: *
I dont think karina said anything wrong: we all know the qualities of pakistani movies(now we are not talking abt drama serials!). Why are we all trying our best to be rude to her.
Karina , PCG is right:old pak movies of Noor Jehan, Shamim Ara etc are very worth watching. THe script, the story, the acting, the songs, everything is remarkable!
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Ira, thanks for a quality reply (apart from PCG's of course).
I don't take the offensive remarks seriously, those dudes have a low sense of self and any question mark by an Indian is seen as a personal attack.
What they don't realise is that a thriving movie industry means far more than mere entertainment - it's an industry that supports talent and people.
I think most Indians would agree that Pak dramas were (or are) better than ours.
Its just a matter of finding good script writers.
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And some good directors. A good director can make an ordinary script look better than it is. For eg I was talking of Tehzeeb, it is the brilliance of the director that makes the characters so rivetting.
PCG LAAJ FLOPED BECAUSE THEY DIDN't HAVE A LOT OF ADVERTISIGN AND STUFF BUT I HAVE HEARD LAAJ IS A GREAT MOVIE OTHER THAN THE DIRECTOR DUBBING HIS VOICE IN FOR THE HERO :D
Karina, dont mind some of the idiots here, Im glad you took your time out and watched a Pakistani movie. You could have given us a little more detail on anything you felt different about this movie and if there is anything unique about this Pakistani production that you think might be worthwhile and not found in bollywood.
Well said PCG :k: :k: i totally agree with u, the old movies kya baath hai…lekin nowadays they are just soo pathetic…u call them pakistani’s? u can’t even bloody sit down and watch these damn movies with ur families! the baysharm dialogues by the comedians…the slutty and desperate looking dance steps of the actresses and the ever soo annoying back ground music… would u take ur kids with u to watch these movies?
how can u guys support this behayaee…the lollywood is a black spot on pakistan
Have you seen some of the Marathi, Bengali and Kannada dramas. They are the best in the world. Marathi theater is extremely professional with very good writers and directors. Nana Patekar, Shreeram Lagoo, Reema Lagoo, Smita Patil, Jabbar Patel, Vijaya Mehta are all artists from Marathi theater.
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*Originally posted by Spock: *
Karina, dont mind some of the idiots here, Im glad you took your time out and watched a Pakistani movie. You could have given us a little more detail on anything you felt different about this movie and if there is anything unique about this Pakistani production that you think might be worthwhile and not found in bollywood.
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Spock, the only nice thing I can say is that the actors seemed capable of much better work if they had a better director and back up. Frankly I didn't find them different from bollywood types, in fact they could have been Indian (surprise surprise). That's why I'm puzzled - why is it impossible to find a khalid mohamed or gulzar in Pakistan who can make thoughtful yet stylish movies on low budgets?
You people shud be ashamed of urselfs, its a fair question that Karina asked, because sofar, Pakistan in the present era has not shown anything remarkable in the movie industry, and a few exceptions in the music industry such as Junoon. I dont understand why we have to bad mouth Hindus and India, we just make ourselves look BITTER.
pakistan paindabad