[Reader-list] Aijaz Gul on the Cinema in Pakistan:History, PresentScenarioandFutureProspects

[mohd arshad]

*Aijaz Gul on the Cinema in 
Pakistan:History,PresentScenarioandFutureProspects* * * 

Hailing from a family of film exhibitors, Aijaz Gul is the leading film 
critic and historian of Pakistan.He has been writing on films for last 
eighteen years in the Pakistani as well as foreign media and has three books 
on Cinema to his credit. The last Managing Director of the now defunct 
government-run National Film Development Corporation of Pakistan, AIjaz Gul 
spoke to Arshad Amanullah on the sidelines of the recently concluded 
Osian-Cinefan Film Festival. 
 
  1.Why Lollywood,Pakistan's once thriving film industry,is now in terminal 
decline?

 Answer:

Well,that's true that Pakistani film industry has enjoyed a boom after 
Independence.The fact is that the film industry in Lahore didn't come into 
inception in 1947.Lahore was a thriving capital of films,especially Punjabi 
films and many notable filmmakers were working there before 1947.Pakistan's 
first film *'Teri Yaad'* actually started before Independence but it was 
released in 1948.It was diredted by Dawood.It was a very bad film but it 
made the beginning.There were so many people who sacrificed their glowing 
careers in Mumbai in late 40s and migrated to Pakistan.Some of the notable 
people who came from Mumbai to Lahore were: Noorjahan,Shaukat Hussain 
Rizvi,Sohan Lata,Nazeer and Nisar Bazmi.Likewise,many people left Lahore for 
Mumbai.So,that was the evantuality of Partition.After the Independence of 
Bangladesh in1971,cinemas which were in that part what we used to call East 
Pakistan,are of course not with us any more.Cinemas in Pakistan,at least in 
metros, are located at the very choicest places.So with the passage of 
years, the value of property has increased.And with alternative leisures 
like cables,DVDs,CDs,and amusemenet parks,people now have other
options.Sothe cinema-going has faced a
crisis.The number of cinemas which we have now is about more than 500 and 
almost half of them are not working regularly.Piracy has no
limits.Indianfilms are some times availanble here even prior to their
release in
India.You know,today's Hindi is very closed to Urdu.So when you have this 
new film in a language even which is spoken in Pakistan,Urdu films have 
suffered.But,interestingly,25 Pashto films have been produced last year 
while there was a time when about 10-12 films were produced.And may be the 
reason is that India(..laughs...) has not produced Pashto films.There is a 
saying that if Americans spoke Spanish,Britain would have a film industry 
and I say: if India spoke Persian,Pakistan would have a film industry.

 2.Why does Lollywood,in terms of technology and expertise,lag behind 
Bollywood?

 Answer:

When the times were good,people invested in film related activities.Now when 
we are facing a lean time,obviously the people who are in the film trade, 
have shied away.The tragic part is that all those people who took the 
industry across decades after the Independence, have passed away. So when 
the production rate is not very high and the box-office ratio is very poor 
then of course there is no investment in equipments

 3.But where is the new generation?

 Answer:

The new generation is definitly there but I just want to mention some of the 
very notable directors like Anwar Kamal Pasha who was the total
filmmaker.Hewas the first filmmaker in early 50s who directed,produced
and scripted
films like *Do Aansu*,*Gumnam*,*Qatil*,and *Anarkali*.He was in a way the 
first Pakistani director.There were rebellious filmmakers like Riaz Shahid 
and Khalil Qaisar who made films against the British Imperialism.

 4.Rebellious in what sense?

 Answer:

Khalil Qaisar was rebellious because he was against the currupt 
system,whether it was British Raj or the Pakistani Government. Riaz Shahid 
was a writer and also became the director but essentially he was 
collaborating with director Khalil Qaisar.They took Tanveer Naqvi as their 
lyricist,used Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry,used Rasheed Attre as composer.So it 
was the whole team.Riaz Shahid kept on writing against the vices of the 
system and the curruption in the establishment.

  5..They used different countries as the background of their films?

 Answer:

Yes.They took the subject of Palestine,Andalus,Kashmir. *Shaheed* deals with 
the British curruption in the Middle East.Khalil Qaisar did not live
long.Hemade
*Shaheed*,*Farangi*,*Naga*n,*Havel*i,and about two or three more films and 
passed away in a very tragic way.So,Riaz Shahid took over and he did 
continue with his revolutionary scripts and films.His film '*Zarqa*' dealt 
with the independence of Palestine,'*Gharnata*' dealt with Muslims in Spain 
and *'Yeh Amn'* dealt with Kashmir.He died in 1972.As he had to face very 
serious problems with the censor board,many people think that he died becaue 
of the system. His son Shaan,who is now playing in films as a leading 
man,says:"*Mere baap ko cancer ne nahin,censor ne maara*" ..

.

6.It means that they wanted to glorify the Muslim past?

 Answer:

In a way,yes.Riaz Shahid wanted to do that time and again.But he also made 
films like '*Gunahgaar*' which takes place in Pakistan.It deals with treason 
and has corruption at its centrestage.

 7.How did he deal with the ordinary people.,i.e.the masses of Pakistan?

 Answer:

Well.*'Clerk'* would be a good example of dealing with the poverty of an 
ordinary clerk who would not subscribe to curruption,to bribe and palm 
greasing and who lives by his own rules.But he is consistently bugged by his 
wife who wants more and more material goods and eventually he catches
TB.Sothat was a good
subject.But it didn't do very well at the box-office because it was very sad 
and very grim..

  8. How did the ban on the Hindi films in Pakistan affect Lollywood?

 Answer:

There was a time when over hundred films were produced in Pakistan and they 
were doing very well.Indian films were being released every month.Cinemas in 
Pakistan were enjoying the boom in the 60s. Shortly after the second 
Indo-Pak war,Indian films were banned in Pakistan.Cinema owners didn't raise 
their voices against the ban because they benifitted economically and 
Pakistani films were doing very well then.All the original filmmakers who 
had laid the foundation of Pakistani cinema and their patrons have now 
passed away,the number of films have reduced and the quality has gone 
down.Only 25 Urdu and Pujabi films were produced last year.So the cinemas 
are falling short of films.Thus, the exhibitors are right in asking to lift 
the ban.I think umbrella protection has had its ill-effects. 

 9.There is tremendous demand of Indian films in Pakistan.So why does the 
Governmet of Pakistan not lift the ban ?

Answer:

You do know that filmmaking is not just art and technology.It's also a big 
business.The Government of Pakistan knows this and it wants to make it as a 
part of trade or may be it is waiting for still better times when people 
would still get even more closer.

 10.Is there any chance of collaboration between Bollywood and Lollywood?

 Answer:

The PM of Pakistan met the members of the film industry on June 13 and said 
that he was all for collaboration between 
India,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Iran,Nepal,

Sri Lanka.I think India and Pakistan are joining hands indirectly.Some of 
the good films which had been produced in recent years, have collaborated 
with India for their production and post-production.They have used Indian 
singers: Udit Narayan,Kumar Shaanu and Kavita
Krishnamurthy.Forchoreography, Indian art directors have been
hired.So I think co-production,i.e.collaboration is already taking place.

 11 What similarity do you find in cinemas of India and Pakistan?

 Answer:

In India, there are Hindi films and there are regional films. I've been 
enjoying Art films by directors like Shyam Benegal and Satyajit
Ray.Butfilms which are being produced today in Mumbai,many of them are
banal:they
lack subtlety and common sense,they are weak in script,imagination and 
aesthetic values.An educated and intelligent person looks for these things 
in a good film.However,Bollywood movies are rich in music, production 
values,cinematography and editing.They are big in terms of budgeting and 
casting.because super stars have their own appeal.The average viewer is 
carried away by all these gimmicks.He does not go into *script ki 
baarikiyaan which is * not there in most of the films.He just enjoys the 
music,the actresses and the witty dialogues and like to forget each and 
every thing for those two and half hours.Interestingly,Bollywood flicks are 
more popular in Pakistan than Lollywood productions because Hindi films are 
technically superior to their Lollywood counterparts.Another reason is that 
cinemas of both countties have the same ingredients of dance and song 
sequence, comedy,marriages,parents, the system and police.So like an Indian 
viewer,an average Pakistani also gets his kicks from these highly 
melodramatic contents.

 12..How will the exchange of artists shape film industry of both countries?

 Answer:

There is fear in Pakistan that if the Pakistani artists go to work in 
Bollywood,they will be swallowed by the industry and will lose their 
indentity and star values,and hence,their bargaining power.But I don't 
subscribe to the opinion, because for one thing, its true that Sawan kumar 
gave a very small role to Talat Hussain in

*Sautan Ki Beti*.Likewise, Manoj Kumar invited Zeba and Muhammad Ali to 
Mumbai to work in his production *Clerk* ,and their roles were very 
brief.But these are petty matters and we should not be talking about
them.Myhat is off to Mahesh Bhatt because Meera is seen in
*Nazar* from beginning to the end.I would say (..laughs..): Mahesh Bhatt 
should have reduced her.However,it's a very average film and the subject is 
not very original.I think nobody should worry about small roles or 
insignificant contribution.Let's start and make a beginning.

 13.How Lahore has reacted to anti-Pakistan films churned out by Bollywood? 

 Answer:

Well,this reminds me of President Musharraf who, in one of his interactions 
with journalists from India and Pakistan,said(laughs):'No more entire 
Pakistani films.I expect that you would not make those films anymore'.But 
India,as an independent country, has the right to make the kind of films the 
filmmakers want to make.However,they should care about their customers and 
audiences in Pakistan, and they should start making films differently from 
what they have shown in *LOC*, *Ghadar* , *Maa Tujhe Salam *
etc.Pakistanhas also played its negative role in films like
*Tere Pyar Mein*, *Ghar Kab Aaoge*, and *Ladki Punjaban*.Neighbouring 
country bashing might momentarily get cheap claps from the front-benchers 
but it's friendship and going together which helps in long run.We have to 
live together as the former Prime Minister Vajpayee said that you can change 
the friends but you cann't change the neighbours.So, we must work together 
into the future

 14.What are the stereotypes the Pakistani cinema generally plays on?

 Answer:

There are many hackneyed characters.There are sterotype mothers,fathers and 
dialogues which are also in Indian films like:'Ye shaadi nahin ho 
sakti'.There are stereotype situations,i.e.formula situations.There are 
stereotype lawyers,judges and courts.I was nailed by Yash Chopra in *Veer 
Zara* .I applaud three cheers for Mr.Yash Chopra for making this film which 
is a right move at right time but there were certain things,especially the 
climax sequence which unfolds in the court,could have been done differently.

 15.Does Lollywood have stereotypes along ethnic lines?

 Answer:

Yes,speaking of North West Frontier Province,there is an actor called Badar 
Muneer who has been working in films since 1970 and he just could not step 
out what he has been doing for last 35 years.Sometimes he is brought into 
Urdu films as a Pathan who is speaking Urdu and, of course,with his own 
accent and delivery.So we have those stereotypes.

 16.To what extent,the Kara International Film Festival which has already 
seen its four successful years,can contribute in creating a quality film 
culture in Pakistan?

 Answer:

There are upcoming filmmakers who are making their films on digitals.:Hassan 
Zaidi,Bilal Minto,Faisal Rehman and Mehjabeen Jabbar are just four or five 
names.Their works *Javed Champu*,*Raat Chali Jhum Ke* ,*Beauty Parlour* etc 
stand testimony to the fact that these new filmmakers,are a future asset of 
Pakistan.Inspite of having budget restraints, they are doing good
job.KaraFilm Festival which is being held in every December for last
four years,has
been providing them a platform to show their work, and let me tell you that 
Kara Film Festival has been making maximum efforts to bring Bollywood 
celebrities.In future,it would be a joint launching pad for Indian and 
Pakistani filmmakers.

 17.Do you have magazines that publish serious stuff about the showbiz?

 Answer:

Yes,we have specific film magazines and we also have film editions in very 
distinguished national dailies.Dawn,News and Nation have weekly film 
supplements. All major Urdu dailies like Nawa-e-Waqt and Jung, and then 
weeklies like Akhbar-e-Jahan,have film sections. Noor Jahan and Nigar,both 
from Karachi and Filmi Parcha edited by Tariq Lodhi from Lahore are weekly 
magazines and they exclusively deal with films.But serious film criticism is 
lacking and we need to work on that. Anyone who has earned a degree in 
journalism,is not qualified to write on films.I think you should be 
thoroughly trained in the film history and in film appreciation and only 
then you should write on films.

 18.What concerted efforts are being made to promote a vibrant film culture 
in Pakistan?

 Answer:

Well,in last three years there has been a revolution in the media.New TV 
channels and radio stations are coming up in the private sector.There is a 
mass communication department in Fatima Jinnah University which is for 
women.These young ladies are making short films on very challeging subjects 
as part of their curriculum.Geo Television of Jung Group,National College of 
Arts and many other institutes are coming up with courses in films Lahore 
and Karachi.So the beginning has already been madeStudents are already 
making films with a very very modest budget.Hopefully,in two or three 
years,they will be in the market as well as they will be shown in the 
festivals.

 (For the whole interview contact :arshad.mcrc at gamil.com)

  >>>>Mr.Aijaz Gul may be contacted on:

Aijaz Gul

Shabistan Cinema

Murree Road, Rawalpindi

Tel/Fax: 2278245

aijazgul at hotmail.com
  
<aijazgul2003 at yahoo.com>
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