Addiction of watching movies
Nargis Khanum
The one lesson to be learnt from the self-imposed ban on screening Indian films, and its lifting on December 19 is: Don’t mix entertainment with politics. The ban was imposed as a tit-for-tat move on September 30 after the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) banned Pakistani actors, singers and technicians from working in their country.
The cinema-going public on either side of the border do not mix politics with entertainment. Pak movies and TV serials and drama are in great demand in India. They are not shown on the local TV or theatres but, do you know the number of DVDs smuggled from Pakistan by people visiting that country? This is nothing new. In the 1980s when I was going to visit family in India, I rang them to ask what they would like from Pakistan. They gave me a list of PTV drama. Not any old drama but the best and most popular productions. So they were well aware of what was good in PTV drama. Today, they know which films and which TV serials and drama are worth watching. Our music shows like Coke Studio and Nescafe Basement are also a hit in India.
Visit any DVD shop in Karachi and you will find the best-selling are Indian film DVDs. Indian films are also number one crowd pullers in our cinema halls, despite the fact that the tickets are a hefty Rs 500 to Rs 550 per show. The ban affected the footfall in cinema halls to such an extent that cinema halls were on the verse of bankruptcy, once the ban has now been lifted. It is well known that the current rebirth of Pakistani movies owe much to the rebirth of cinema-going to see Indian films.
It is interesting to note how attitudes have changed among those who were against the showing of Indian films when the Indian movies returned to Pakistani Cinema houses in 2008. At that time the Pakistani film industry disapproved and dubbed the showing of Indian films as anti-patriotic. But the showing of Indian films soon led to a revival of our own film industry. We were just getting back on our feet when cinema hall owners decided to ban Indian movies on September 30.
In 2008 when Indian films returned to Pakistani cinema houses, the critics said it would harm local industry. This argument was factious and laughable: where was this Pakistani film industry that was allegedly affected by showing Indian films?
In the days when Indian films were shown, Lollywood also did profitable business, producing good and bad films, all of which the local cinema-goers patronised. Even if those Pakistani films were not shown in any theatre in India, just as is the case to day.
It is Indian political bigotry which prevents Pakistani films and TV drama from being shown openly in the cinema houses or TV channels. But Pakistani thinking was not like that until the aftermath of the Fall of Decca in 1971. (PTV however, did not show Indian films but cinema houses had).
The big question is: how to speed up our film industry. At present it is moving at a snail pace. But the little that has been produced, whether serious films like Dukhtar, Moor, Khuda ke Leye, Ramchand Pakistani and Sharmeen Chinoi’s Oscar-winning pictures, as well as her cartoon ‘Bahadur’ series; or hilarious films like Na Maloom Afrad, Karachi se Lahore Tuk and Lahore se Aagey, it is excellent and world class entertainment.
Local film industry can thrive only if films are shown in more cinema houses. At present cinema houses in Karachi are elitist. The ticket is high-priced and covers all seats from A-to-Z rows. A large segment of society is denied film entertainment because it cannot afford the ticket price. Just imagine how much it would cost a working class family to purchase tickets for mother, father and at least two kids. Plus, viewing films traditionally requires a bag of popcorn and a cold drink. One cinema goer spends not just Rs 500 but actually Rs 1,000 per show. Our working class just cannot afford such lavish spending.
This is not only elitist but undemocratic. Previously theatres had different class tickets. The lower rows of seats for the cheaper ticket holders. A bar separating the next, middle class rows, and another separating the upper-class from the middle class rows. The gallery upstairs was for the highest-paying viewers. Thus everyone got to see the film and went home happy. This ought to be revived. If atrium cinema halls cannot be converted, at least cinema houses should be built for cheaper seating. Bigger patronage is the only way Pakistani film industry will reach its full potential. We have the talent, to make films all we need is some consideration for the common man’s enthusiasm by cinema exhibitors.
