Laughing his way to the bank
Those wanting to see good cinema in Pakistan better hope for not-so-good cinema in Pakistan. The sort of films that won’t ever win any awards abroad, or at home, for that matter. But ones that earn a lot of money in the local box office.
Because once an ecosystem of commercially viable film studios has been set up in the country, the economies of agglomeration would be able to sustain projects that would have artistic merit, if not outright commercial appeal.
The 2015 blockbuster Jawani Phir Nahi Aani, was the highest grossing Pakistani movie ever, even if we adjust for inflation. Its commercial run ended at Rs470 million.
Amongst the producers is the movie’s lead star Humayun Saeed himself. Regardless of what one might think of Mr Saeed as an actor, he sure knows how to pick a winning horse as a producer. The script, written by Wasay Chaudhry (who also starred in the movie), was full of slapstick comedy and very topical humour which made for a very fun watch.
Humayun Saeed has had a streak of hit movies. Those complaining of him not acting his age in these are being silly. After all, Lollywood has always wanted to model itself after Bollywood and the most successful stars there are middle-aged actors pretending to be college students.
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Counter-intuitively, the opening of Indian movies in Pakistan has really given the local film industry a shot in the arm. Quite the opposite of what naysayers like industry regulars Shaan and Syed Noor had been saying. Indian films led to cinemas being a profitable business again.
And films like Jawani Phir Nahi Aani proved to the revived market for distributors what a winning proposition local films are again.
If this leads to a revival of the cinema business in second and eventually third-tier urban areas, we can expect a full-scale, thriving industry. We are a huge market, after all.
