Despite constant demands to ban the screening of Indian films in Pakistan, the Lollywood community has not achieved much public or government support for their ‘movement’. The community, led by directors Syed Noor and Sangeeta, have been recently holding press conferences where they have condemned the screening of Indian films, and have announced that they be given space in cinema houses instead. Last week, in a press conference, Syed Noor said that Pakistan did not allow India to even ‘set foot’ inside the country since 1965, so this screening of films was just underhanded bargaining on part of the cinema owners, who refused to screen their films. The harsh tone of the press conference, with this blatant demand, has left many wondering what will happen next. Many members of the public feel that Lollywood’s aggressive stance against the Indian film industry is impractical and unrealistic, and that they are in no competition with the gigantic film industry – the second largest in the world.
When Sangeeta was asked if this was realistic, she bitterly replied with another question: “Why don’t we also open up our borders to them, then?” But present at these meetings are even those who have collaborated with India. For instance, Reema, has employed Indian talent alongside Pakistani talent in her movie ‘Love Mein Ghum’, which itself made no waves. Prior to this, both Moammar Rana and Meera have also acted in Indian films, even though these were not hit films. On the other hand, Indian directors seem to welcoming Pakistani talent in their industry. From singers like Rahet Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam, Strings and others, to actors employed by Bollywood directors especially Pooja and Mahesh Bhatt, the industry does not seem to feel that Pakistan is a threat of any kind to them.
“We do not object to Hollywood films because they have always been there anyway and they are not our competition,” says Sangeeta. “But we are in competition with Indian films because of the language.” This too seems to be an improbable fact. As can be seen, most of the films produced by the Pakistani film industry are in Punjabi and Pushto, thereby limiting an audience in itself. Urdu language films that are being made are few in number. It is also a fact that most films are carelessly edited, directed and produced on extremely low budgets, but many critics even argue that budget does not always matter where art is concerned.
Actress Meera opines that working with Indians is not something wrong. But she maintains that she cannot leave her fellow workers in the circumstances they are in. “I almost choke when I see them in the state that they are in – brilliant and talented production teams, almost starving because they do not have enough money to survive because they are not getting any jobs.”
One of the biggest cinema owners in Pakistan, Nadeem Mandviwala, wraps up the situation. “This is all being done by those people who simply do not want the challenge of standing up to an Indian film,” he says. “Take Shoaib Mansoor. He has not said a word to anyone, been quiet all along and yet his film is the one that has brought the most recovery in cinemas. It is still up! Can these people beat that?” He adds, “Today, it is the public who controls the films being screened. They only want good quality films, whether it is American, Indian or Pakistani.”
