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Cut for
films. Are we? retrospect The
money part Happy
ending Subject: Piracy House empty Revival survival A language of their own Retakes
Editorial You talk of Pakistan film industry and everybody gets worked up. You get to hear everything from plain common sense to the wildest of suggestions. In fact there's enough material for many a documentary, if nothing else. People tell you that there was a time when we had as many cinemas, now we have ten per cent of that. Once we used to make as many films, now it's a fraction of that. This too is a fact, and no wild suggestion, that at one point we were among the world's top ten in terms of numbers of films produced in a year. Some try to argue it intellectually. Lahore, prepartition, was famous for its radio and not its films, they say. So we produced the best television plays, building on that tradition. And Bombay continued with its own tradition -- of films. This line of thought has never been taken seriously, it seems. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this Special Report, pegged as it is on the 'yet another' conference in Islamabad about the revival of Pakistan film industry. We have always taken our film seriously. Or at least that is the impression one gets after seeing the various policies that were put forth ever since the country was created. In some cases these policies were implemented most heartily and yielded some results too. But generally the industry has not been able to kick off. Perhaps because of the presence of world's biggest industry right next door. We tried to protect our industry by not allowing films from India which ate our industry nevertheless. Don't know if it's hypocrisy or what that elsewhere we propagate free market, in this sector we ask for the reverse. Perhaps there's some truth in people arguing that Lahore was at the tail-end in the undivided India and would always stay so. Perhaps we are not cut for that. Meanwhile we seem to have lost our own tradition too -- of drama. So perhaps we need more conferences on film. Till one day we are ready to shoot -- something that is a box office hit.
We may not have invested as much in producing quality films as we did in formulating policies -- beginning from the 1950s By Nadeem Iqbal "A film shall not be certified for public exhibition if, in the opinion of the Board, the film or any part thereof is prejudicial to the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or amounts to the commission of, or incitement to, an offence," reads the Motion Pictures Ordinance 1979. One wonders if the government really believes a film maker would all these things through film? This official policy regarding films has been consistent since 1947. But despite lack of official support the film industry managed to not just survive in adverse circumstances, it did fairly well. Till quite recently Pakistan was ranked among the top ten motion picture producing countries of the world -- with an average production of 80 full length feature films annually. This official reprimand of the film maker is not only
reflected in the laws but also in the policy. As the 1979 Film Policy says:
"The potential of the cinema as a force not only for entertainment but
also for education and projection of the values, national aspirations and
cultural dimensions of a The cinema has gone down from its annual output of over 142 movies to around 50 and the cinema houses are not more than 414. Compare this with India's 700 feature films and 900 short films screened in around 13,000 cinema halls.. At least five factors can be listed that have propelled the silver screen's descent. One, the official obsessive perception of film as a means to promote cultural, religious and ideological identity of the country. Two, strict national censor code despite the fact that more uncensored, pirated and smuggled Indian and English movies are freely available than what is produced in Pakistan. Three, entertainment is considered a luxury for the financially struggling country and thus cinema has always been heavily taxed without re-investing some revenue back for film promotion or developing its infrastructure. Four, filmmakers' threat perception from the 'same-language', Urdu/Hindi, Indian film industry. And lastly, respective official committees' recommendations have always been general and broader and therefore never implemented. Though known as 'commercial art', still film breeds on the cultural and artistic activities of a society. A 1968 committee 'Problems of National Art and Culture' headed by the poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz noted that: "There is a school of thinking which holds that all cultural activity in general and the performing arts in particular are immoral and anti-religious." And that, "... these anti-art-attitudes inherited from the past have been seized upon by certain forces in the country for specific political ends. They first sought to equate all culture with music and dancing and then to equate all music and dance with the lewd vulgarization of these arts by inept professionals. From these premises, it was easy to proceed to the conclusion, as has often been done, that all art is immoral, hence anti-religious, hence ideologically unacceptable." The efforts for reviving film industry are not new. Many committees have been formed over decades for the purpose. The first of its kind was formed in 1955 when the government invited Italian experts to evaluate and make recommendations. The committee studied the then existing film industry consisting of six studios and 130 cinemas with 200,000 seats. Around 10 films were made annually with per film cost between 200,000 and 250,000 rupees. The major chunk of cost was incurred on music. The experts recommended that the concessions to film be enhanced to bring it on a par with other industries; and its development be ensured with special laws; reduction in different taxes; fully equipped pilot studios should be established in collaboration with Italians and to enter into join production with them besides establishing a training school. The report enthused some movement as in 1959 the government sanctioned 10 million rupees for the promotion of film industry. Foreign film festivals were held in the country while the local films were shown abroad. In 1961, the government and the National Association of the Italian Motion Picture Industry signed a three years agreement which, among other things, provided for the import of not more than 30 Italian films on rental basis. The government also introduced quota system as over three dozen cinemas granted 'foreign house' certificate with a condition to allow 15 per cent of playing time to Pakistani films and if the Pakistani houses wanted they could not allot more than 15 per cent of their time to foreign films. The number of active producers and distributors were 75 each. In 1965 after the war with India, again a nine-member Film Fact Finding Committee (FFFC) headed by N. M. Khan made 47 recommendations, giving a five-year plan including a ban on the impost of Indian film for next five years; to add at least 500 more cinemas to then existing 400 cinemas; and increasing the around 40 annual production of films to 200 while importing 350 other from all over the world except India. FFFC suggested that the length of the film should be restricted to 12,000 feet (around 2 hours); reduction in tax; to establish music and film academies, film manufacturing and processing laboratories be established in addition to establishing NAFDEC and entering in co-production with other countries and participating in international festivals. In 1973 again efforts were made to revive the industry with a film convention held in Lahore that ended in bringing the government into film production, constructing film academy and cinemas in addition to controlling the import and export of the film and raw material etc., and to organise film festival in the country and participate internationally. But the fact remains that none of these recommendations brought the desired result as was recorded by the Film Policy in 1979 that lamented: "Pakistan is among the lowest in the world in the ratio of cinema seats to population. While UNESCO has prescribed a minimum standard of two cinema seats for 100 persons, Pakistan has only 0.5 seats. Since the pictures are poor they can not recover their cost from the circuit and the circuit can not be enlarged because there is no attraction for a potential investor in building cinemas. All this has resulted in an annual investment of about 80 million rupees in film making going down the drain. It is also costing the country and annual foreign exchange expenditure of about 14 million rupees spent on the import of raw film stock, chemicals and equipment for no worthwhile social or economic purpose." The policy prescription includes the much touted old recommendations except that credit facilities be provided to film makers though public sector financing and that pirated foreign films smuggling be curbed. But in actual the policy paved the way for a very strict code of censorship. But the implementation of this policy also remained a non-starter. In 1986 the then Chairman Central Board of Film Censor, Abdur Rashid, who in his report, 'The Problems of Film Industry', wrote: "While as briefly portrayed spoilt child, our film industry was being reformed to reform the society, the government did nothing to control the uncontrolled video market which did and continues to do a much greater harm." To sum up the situation, he said: "... those in authority (the government) attempted a mindless slaughtering of a goose that could have laid golden eggs. This drubbing of the film industry might well be traced back to the absence of a well-considered and integrated national film policy and this is where the situation rests even to this day. Unfortunately, our approach to collective problem solving is, quite often ad hoc and individualistic without encompassing the given situation in its totality. It is due to this reason that in spite of various meetings on film industry where promises were made we are where we are." In May 2005, Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, chairman Senate Standing Committee on Culture, Sports and Tourism in a presentation to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had recommended that to discourage rampant piracy, the government should allow annual import of five Indian films for the next five years. The importer to whom license will be issued should also ensure that his counterpart in India imports five Pakistani movies for screening in at least three major cities of India. Chaudhry estimated that the import license would bring the government an annual fee of 200 million rupees. The proposal has a support of film distributors and exhibitors, who see revival and increase in the cinema circuit, but not of film producers who fear losing their already lost market to Indians. The Committee's other recommendations include organising award ceremony with the seven Saarc countries; three-year tax and custom duty relief for the import of film equipment; construction of cineplexes at malls and shopping centres in the existing cinemas and providing them credit line. In a recent conference organised by federal culture ministry in Islamabad on February 6-7 on how to revive film industry many suggestions were made including establishment of National Film Academy with full government support and allocation of Rs.250 million for the Film Finance Foundation, which would be managed by a board of governors comprising officials of the ministry and professionals of the film industry. The recommendations also included proposal of joint collaborations with different countries including India. It also stressed a workable policy on import of Indian films to keep a strict check on anti-Pakistan and anti-religious contents. The recommendations have also suggested allowing joint productions with Afghanistan. The money part In the absence of clear cut answers, the financing of films in Pakistan remains shrouded in mystery By Ahsan Zia Gone are the days when cine-goers could easily distinguish between a hero and a villain. Pakistani cinema has constantly been portraying criminals as heroes for quite some time now. This trend, associated mostly with Punjabi movies, has played a role in deteriorating the overall standard of Pakistani film industry. The following questions come to mind: Who are the people financing such films? Is it an attempt at money laundering? Is the absence of government's practical support to the industry the actual root cause for this? In the absence of clear cut answers, the financing of films in Pakistan remains shrouded in mystery.
Sources say movies such as Atif Chaudhry, Hamayun Gujjar, Pappu Shehzada and Kalu Shah Pureeya were allegedly funded by the underworld mafia. "Our film industry is knuckling under the pressure of mafia at the moment," says Director Pervaiz Rana, adding that by the dint of its wealth and influence, the mafia is quite successful in compelling us to direct most movies on the lives of criminals. "So much so that they even give us the script of their own choice at gunpoint." Holding these criminals' relatives responsible for the sorry state of affairs in the film industry, he says that either these relatives are producers of the films or are indirectly providing finances for the production of such movies. "Production of movies such as Maula Jutt, Bhola Sunyara and Atif Chaudhry, etc suggests either the underworld mafia is funding such movies just to improve the tarnished image of these criminals in the eyes of the public or they are terrorising people through such movies." He says even though Lollywood has been recognised as an industry at government level, banks and other financial institutions continue to avoid the industry due to the enormous risks involved in the business. "There are few financiers left in the film business who dare to produce movies in such conditions. Most of them are either criminals or are relatives of such criminals. We would rather toe their line than starve." Pervaiz admits that such approach has also caused a rapid decline in the number of films produced during the last five years; saying only 14 to 16 movies are being shown in cinema every year in the country. He is, however, optimistic that the government's steps, if implemented, will go a long way for the revival of the industry. Producer Awais Adil bears out the notion that elements belonging to underworld mafia are involved in money laundering in Pakistan. As for their modus operandi, he says production of a Pakistani film generally costs the financiers Rs. 5-6 million at maximum. But these financiers claim that the total cost of the film ranges from to Rs. 20 to 30 million. By the dint of Income Tax officials, these financiers, he says, fraudulently show heavy losses in the annual Income Tax Return to the government under the pretext that their film has flopped at the box office, and they could not recover the money incurred in the making of the film. In this way they not only whiten their black money, but also save income tax, he adds. He questions, "If they are facing losses in production of such films, why don't they leave the industry?" He opines that producers and directors of such negative films should be banned, besides streamlining the whole system from making to marketing the films with the help of financial institutions. Adil goes on to say unless corporate sector and government invest in the film industry, as is the case with the Indian film industry, no one can change the prevalent trend in the film industry. They are also marketing films in the international market in a professional manner. Further, he says, "the nature of financing for films in India by corporate as well as public sector now ranges from cash flow financing for film production to film distribution/exhibition in overseas markets. Like the Bank of India, another bank by the name of Exim sanctioned loans for film production recently. The first three films financed by Exim Bank have been commercially successful across India and overseas." "Even though many people from the industry have risen to positions of political and social responsibility, including seats in federal and state parliaments, none of them have cared to reveal -- or have been under pressure to reveal -- the truth about the industry's finances." Actor Shan says, "Our industry is besieged by the underworld mafia. If any actor or actress dares refusing to work in such a movie, the financiers start harassing him or her. So, stars are compelled to work in such movies as no one comes to their rescue. Many an actor has already left the silver screen for fear of criminals and is currently working on stage or in television. I myself have fallen victim to the wrath of underworld mafia. Moammar Rana, Reema, Saud and Nirma are also among those stars who were beaten up by such people in the studios as well as in their homes in the past. It is deplorable that even some high ranking police officials are patronising these criminals." Director and producer Sangeeta sees nothing wrong with financing such movies, saying criminals or roughnecks are also a part of the society and of course, society is also responsible for making them criminals. "Let the cine-goers decide on their own on the subject of a film. If the film is good it will be successful at the box office; otherwise there is no dearth of failed movies in Lollywood." Happy ending Salim Gul Shaikh, Federal Secretary Ministry of Culture, is optimistic about resolving the problems plaguing the industry "The Federal Ministry of Culture is engaged in discussions with the film industry on how to revive the Pakistani film industry which is important to the government from a strategic as well as an entertainment point of view. The identification of problems plaguing the industry is not an issue anymore. The real challenge now is figuring out ways to resolve them. In order to do so we need the help of the film industry. "We believe that only when the government and the
industry work together, any progress will be made.in the right direction. It
was for this reason that a conference was held during the first week of
February in Islamabad which was attended by a number of representatives of
the film industry. As a result of the input that we received, we have
tabulated a range of suggestions related to "So far, the official approach has been to facilitate the process with soft interventions that would encourage talented people to come forward and deliver. For example, a number of institutions in the country have started churning out film producers. The government is planning to encourage them by offering financial support in the form of soft loans etc. A mechanism is still being devised. "We are also planning to facilitate foreign film makers in coming to Pakistan for film making as we have excellent locations. The government also recognises the need to upgrade the existing film laws. In order to do so we are holding discussions with the stakeholders on whether or not to allow the screening of Indian films in Pakistan." -- Nadeem Iqbal Subject: Piracy At present, illegally smuggled videos have now swollen
into a piracy phenomenon as according to a London-based International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) 2005 Report on There are approximately 20,000 shops in the country selling pirated films while hundreds of cable operators are relaying the pirated movies. -- N. Iqbal House empty At some point, not too long ago, the cine-goer stopped going to the cinema -- not because of viable alternatives but because the product in cinemas deteriorated beyond measure By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed Not too long ago Abbot Road in Lahore was one of the most visited places in the city -- thanks mainly to the hordes of ardent cine-goers. The road would get so crowded at the end of each show that commuters would not dare to enter it from either side. The place still stays packed all the time but now people hardly have a stopover here. Even if they do, it's for the purpose of visiting a couple of government offices situated here or dining out at some popular restaurant. The main attraction of Abbot Road -- the cinema houses --
remain deserted. Barring a handful of film viewers, they are mostly visited
by people wanting to park their vehicles here or in search of This situation has not arisen overnight; in fact certain factors have led to the downfall of cinema industry in Pakistan over the last couple of days. "The quality of films is the main reason," says Taj Din, owner of a general store in Mughalpura. In his late 50s, Taj Din is known in the area for his unmatched interest in Hindi and Urdu feature films. Talking to The News on Sunday, he recalls the days when, according to him, it was next to impossible to watch new releases without having advance bookings. "There used to be special morning shows for women and exclusive ones for students of schools, colleges and universities. On many an occasion people would not even refrain from buying tickets on high premiums, just to enjoy the luxury of seeing the first show," he says. Taj says the films produced till mid-1980s were worthy of being watched by families and had some lesson to convey to the viewers. "There would be a strong plot, light comedy, drama, a properly worked out theme and quality choreography. Not any more." He says most of the films produced now have their story plots based on the lives of proclaimed offenders or vendettas going on between rival groups for decades. No sane person would ever take his family to view such films that portray proclaimed offenders as heroes. "Similarly, vulgar dances by oversized damsels in these films are not an attraction strong enough for families to come out of their houses and head towards the cinema halls." Imran Babar, a banker, thinks people in our country are dying for quality entertainment and can help revive the film industry that is in tatters nowadays. "But this won't happen just like that; certain steps would have to be taken to see an early overturn. Quality films displayed in standard cinemas can attract crowds as they have in the recent past. I had no problem taking my family to the cinema to see Hollywood flicks -- Jurassic Park and King Kong. The cinema was in great shape, crowd decent and ticket price not much keeping in view the quality of the show." But, he says, more often the films are not worth watching, cinema halls filthy and crowd cheap. "The poor condition of cinema halls is also a cause of industry's decline. Not many people return to these places after finding stinking toilets, worn out furniture and rowdy attendants awaiting them." In this backdrop, lot of hopes were pinned last year on Indian movies like Mughal-e-Azam that could hopefully bring people back to Pakistani cinemas. But the experiment did not prove successful and the turnout was quite thin. People had watched the film so many times at home that a cinema screening was no longer a temptation. The question that skeptic film makers and exhibitors often ask is: How can the local film industry survive when the prospective cinegoers are addicted to foreign films, both English and Indian, available on video cassettes, CDs as well as satellite channels? The first blow, however, came with the advent of VCR in the middle of 1980s that turned cinema houses to a secondary source of entertainment. Nasir Ismail, owner of Prince Cinema, Gujranwala says the only way to bring people to the cinema houses is to improve the quality of the product on show. "This can either be done by allowing Indian films to be displayed here or improving the quality of the locally-produced films. But there is little hope that the second option is possible." He says whenever a good film arrives, cinemas start upgrading themselves. This means good films on show will ultimately result in upgradation of cinemas. Nasir tells TNS that though the Punjab government has abolished entertainment tax on cinema houses a lot more has to be done. He says the display of Indian films in Pakistan will prompt the local film producers to improve the quality of their product. "As for those who say Pakistani film industry is on the verge of collapse, I would say it has already collapsed. There are few film-stars who are paid; others are doing films for free. I suggest that they should stop opposing exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan on grounds that they will lose their source of sustenance." He adds that the future of Pakistani actors is safe and they don't need to panic in the presence of so many TV channels coming up day by day. "Many of them have found jobs in these channels or are doing serials/sitcoms. There is further scope for them in joint productions provided the Indian film producers decide to invest in this sector." Revival survival It is wrong to think that Pakistani film industry is in a crisis... because crisis only describes a temporary phenomenon By Nadeem Iqbal The maxim, 'If Americans spoke Spanish, Britain would
have had a roaring film industry', also stands true in case of Pakistan,
where the revised form would be: 'If Indians spoke Farsi (Persian), Pakistan The downfall of Pakistani cinema was not sudden. Since its inception in 1948 when the first Pakistan film Teri Yaad, directed by Daud Chand was released, the film industry has never been truly sans crisis. A scenario worsened by the fact that the industry's ability to survive has declined every year. Perhaps the most pressing current issue is that of the exhibition of Indian films in Pakistan. The prime minister does not seem to be interested in opening the Pakistani market to Indian films, closed down soon after the 1965 war. Interestingly, the ban was not imposed under any parliamentary act but in fact, under a notification, that was renewed in June, 1984. It reads: "The federal government is pleased to direct that all films, including features, trailers and shots, produced in India in any language, whether talkie, dubbed or silent, shall be deemed to be uncertified films." However, the ban has been rendered useless as recently there have been numerous films that have employed Indian artistes, musicians, choreographers etc. The 2003 Pakistani blockbuster, Syed Noor's Ladki Punjaban, employed the help of an Indian as assistant director. More recently, the post production of Reema Khan's box office hit, Koi Tujh Sa Kahan was done in Mumbai. Although the films making use of Indian expertise have not penetrated into the Indian cinema circuit, they have expanded their markets to the South Asian expatriate population in Europe and North America. For example Ladki Punjaban was released in 22 British cinema houses while Koi Tujh Sa Kahan that premiered in Pakistan was also released in UK after a fortnight. Such films consider Pakistan as their primary and foreign countries as their secondary recouping markets. However, there are films whose audience is the other way round. Khamosh Pani, a Punjabi film with English subtitles produced by Sabiha Sumar in 2003 targeted North American and European popular cinema. The film is the joint production of Pakistan, German and Pakistani production houses. The film was also screened by channel 4 in 2005. The film was released in Pakistan on DVD by the end of last year. 1997's Jinnah was produced in UK with donations of expatriate Pakistanis to project the image of founder of Pakistan. Its DVD was launched in UK in 2004. The budget claimed by this group of producers (who use Indian help or technology) is around Rs 3 crores per film. Yet it's not enough to convince the critics; they state that it does not reflect on screen. Meanwhile the budget of a film produced locally is around Rs 60 lac. However, the cost for keeping the budget so low is paid in form of the films' quality. Usually only 13,000 to 15,000 ft of film is used while shooting the whole project. This means that almost all the scenes of the film are shot in a single take. On the other hand, internationally the ratio of takes in a film is 1-50 (one shot is chosen out of 50 similar shots). The major problem with the 'single-take film' is that the director does not get much room for creativity and usually ends up copying scenes from other films. The reasons given by the producers and directors for using a limited stock of film reel are high costs and heavy duties. Although, recently, the government has lowered the duty on the import of film equipment, film-makers complain that the duty on the import of raw film has not been reduced. They also argue that if other taxes are added to the imported film equipment, the reduced rates hardly make any difference. A language of their own The number of films produced in regional languages is on the rise although they are classified as low-budget films According to Federal Bureau of Statistics, although Urdu has been the national language and main mode of communication among different ethnic groups, only 7.57 per cent of over 150 million people consider it their mother tongue. Punjabi seems to be the language of the majority (44.15 per cent), followed by Pashto (15.42 per cent) and Sindhi (14.1 per cent). During 1991-1999, around 165 double-version films (Urdu
films dubbed in Punjabi or Pashto) were Statistics indicate that since 1980, the number of films produced in regional languages is on the rise. During the three periods which the Pakistan film industry can be divided into, the first period between 1948-1971 produced a total of 1,108 films -- 696 Urdu, 274 Punjabi, six Pashto, nine Sindhi and 127 in Bengali. This is considered to be the 'Golden' period. This is attributed to the fact that there was no ban on Indian films which in turn ensured the production of competition-induced quality films. Also, TV was regarded as a novel thing, having been introduced in 1965. During the five years between 1972-1977, because of the
liberal policies of the government and the In the 26 years between 1978 and 2004, a total of 1,847 films -- 796 Urdu, 565 Punjabi, 508 Pashto and 43 Sindhi -- were made that had violence and redemption as their subjects. In an interview with TNS in 2005, a veteran film journalist, Yasin Goreja, said that many of the professional film makers died at the start of this period and as a result, filmmaking landed in the hands of criminal elements. "Also, film was used to whiten black drug money instead of earning profits, therefore formulaic pirated version of films were made," he had said. Over the years it has been observed that amongst the regional cinema it is the Punjabi and the Pashto industries that have flourished. Strangely since 9/11, the production of Pashto films is on the top as out of total 50 films released in 2005, 26 were Pashto, followed by 13 Urdu and 8 Punjabi. It might be due to the fact that Pashto, the language of North West Frontier Province is also the language of many residing in border areas of Afghanistan while the Punjabi language is shared with the largest Indian province of Punjab which means a comparatively larger market for these films than for Sindhi and Balochi films. It is imperative that along with developing the Urdu film industry, the government should also focus on developing infrastructure for promoting regional cinema since it offers a lot of opportunities for expanding our markets and sharing resources. -- N. Iqbal
A few practical recommendations to turn things around • In the federal system of government, as in Pakistan, the policy makers have to recognise that the interventions are to be made at different tiers -- federal, provincial and district -- of the government. In this the federal government's responsibility is to give a policy, provinces have to provide resources and districts must construct and maintain the infrastructure like cinemas. • One system worth studying is European. Although more than US$500 million of national and European Union public money was spent every year in 1990s in propping up the production of European films, producing some 600 films, fewer than 250 actually find their way through distribution and successfully on to a cinema screen. A vast majority of the remaining 350 films end up on television. But still that system is worth a try in Pakistan. • The federal government could generate a seed money of 450 million rupees -- Rs 250 million already generated through the sale of Nafdec assets and another 200 million can be earned if Indian films are imported - that could be used to establish a federal subsidy film fund. • This subsidy system should be used for creating a film making culture in the country like subsidising around 225 short films of 200,000 rupees each. The 'entertainment-content- starved' 40-plus private sector television channels in Pakistan will be ready to telecast them. The focus should be on underdeveloped rural areas like Balochistan province where no film has ever been made. • On the German model, all four provinces should provide soft loans to the producers with the condition that 50 per cent of the loan would be spent in the same province. • Provinces should introduce the French system of 'automatic aid' where receipts from films made by a producer get a share of the levy in proportion to those receipts. The subsidy is only paid if it is to go straight back into film -- either to pay off debts on former projects or the more likely case of re-investment in new productions. • Each of 100 districts of Pakistan must ensure designated cinema diplexes and provide tax exemptions for two years that would automatically attract the banks to extend them loans. • Provinces must ensure tax-free cinema cities in the metropolitan cities that would attract bankers to invest in constructing studios and film equipment manufacturers. • The feral government should give duty exemption on the import of film equipment for three years. • The MPO, 1979, should be repealed and a new law legislated that considers film as an industry. The government must ensure that the 35 mm feature film's length must be of 12,000 ft or not more than 2 hours besides encouraging low budget short films. • The official ambiguity on importing or not importing Indian film should continue. -- Nadeem Iqbal
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society is an acknowledged phenomenon of the
twentieth century. However, the film industry in Pakistan left to itself, has
failed in realising this potential or even in showing an awareness of
it."
The government has lately come up with a renewed pledge
as well as a handsome financial package of Rs 2.5 billion to patronise the
Pakistan film industry on professional grounds. Nevertheless, Lollywood still
seems family-dominated as far as financing for film production goes.
financing, piracy and the
establishment of a national film academy etc. Now these proposals are being
debated in different committees whose report will be consolidated into a
comprehensive plan of action in a couple of week's time.
Pakistan, the
domestic piracy market is worth US$27 million/year (around 16 billion
rupees). The replication facilities in Pakistan produced about 230 million
copies a year. With only about 25 million discs used locally, the rest
(roughly 205 million) are exported across the world.
open space to
sit and enjoy desi food. A couple of cinemas have even put up car parking
signs on their entrances and opened their yards for the general public.
would have had a roaring film industry'. This is because culturally,
traditionally and linguistically, Pakistan's Urdu film industry (Lollywood)
shares a common background with its rival, the Mumbai-based Hindi filmdom (Bollywood).
made in an effort to expand the film
market. Although this trend could not survive for long, it did succeed in
registration of the fact that there was a need for regional language films.
The regional language films are classified as low-budget films, estimated to
cost around 4 million rupees.
ban on Indian films, a total of
591 films -- 266 Urdu, 219 Punjabi, 33 Pashto, 14 Sindhi, one Balochi and one
English --were produced. The dominant genre remained love and social issues.