- In industry and cinema alike
By: Amna Khan
Every mindful, intuitive Pakistani is one national crisis away from Google searching; ‘Truthful statistics about Pakistan’. Statistics which shape the backbone of our commerce and economy are often subject to manipulation to lure unsuspecting masses into consuming a substandard product & enticing foreign investment from naive governments. Wrongful propaganda peddling reports that permeate our airwaves and Facebook newsfeeds such as Pakistan being the “happiest country in the world” are backed by no legitimate survey. However a catchy caption coupled with convincing enough graphics, circulated often enough, puts simple minded people in the delusion that things are perhaps better than fine.
Where the Kashmir issue has halted Pakistan’s primary investment project, CPEC, India has reportedly been injected with an influx of investors especially in its entertainment sector that is famously considered to be the king of regurgitating the ‘India First’ narrative. It is no surprise that foreign stakeholders place great value in ‘nationalist narratives’ because this suits their purpose of guaranteeing a patriotic audience for their company’s cinematic endeavors. However another factor to take into account is how our neighbor backs its nationalism with facts and figures. It is also a big country with an even bigger population thus the probability of it succeeding economically and ‘narratively’ is already bent in its favour.
While watching advertisements of fake facts flashing by on our television screens, we filter out the fact that it’s a lie, we know ‘Superstar’ & ‘Baaji’ were deplorable films, unfit for human consumption and the luxurious living that housing societies promise are a facade but the fakeness has no effect on us.
Pakistan’s global narrative and truthful statistics have had an uneasy relationship since its conception. Living under the shadow of an overpowering neighbor can take a toll on one’s identity. This however isn’t as simple as that, we’ve been inflating figures to support narratives of pseudo-progress long enough to see that it results in no benefit. In fact, investment heavy corporations find indispensable talent in Pakistan lacking both exposure and opportunity because misleading figures often misdirect supply from demand.
Firms give precedence to people of other nationalities over indigenous Pakistani’s due to historically ingrained issues of trust. Truth is we haven’t been able to successfully shed off our notorious reputation since the British ruled the subcontinent. All individuals with decision making powers have been foreigners. Even Chinese investors have been stingy about giving Pakistani nationals leadership positions in the coordination of CPEC. Most, if not all, multinational firms located within the country have had foreign CEO’s and COO’s. Simply put this is not normal. There is not one simple explanation for this corporate structure and we cannot continue to deny the redressal this issue deserves. It is this implication made on a global stage that Pakistani products and information is somehow sub-standard and misleading. We ourselves inadvertently acknowledge it, we are aware of its existence and we have even been subject to undue scrutiny because of it. Whether we admit it out loud or not we know it to be true.
While watching advertisements of fake facts flashing by on our television screens, we filter out the fact that it’s a lie, we know ‘Superstar’ & ‘Baaji’ were deplorable films, unfit for human consumption and the luxurious living that housing societies promise are a facade but the fakeness has no effect on us. We’ve accepted that authentic products and people come from abroad and we can’t place any faith in our own. We teach our children not to lie but live silently in one. We have non-objective news that often morphs into a screaming match between people who are paid to look frustrated.
This duplicitous nature is more starkly apparent in our depiction of cinema. Drama channels which are some of the biggest investors in the country’s entertainment industry pedal the fake news on how the likes of ‘Superstar’, ‘Baji’ & ‘Parey Hut Love’ have been superhits on the silver screen both abroad and at home. On ground reviews suggest the exact opposite, foreign cinemas have refused to review let alone screen our films due to their deplorable plot lines and cringe inducing dialogues.
Where these paid promotions and advertisements provide a facade of Pakistan, who can blame foreign entities for patronizing and under-rating us? The Pakistan I know is where big names from all three movies encouraged their friends to distort the IMDB reviews for their projects so that acknowledgement from abroad was possible. It’s much more difficult to do merit-worthy work instead; the shortcut of pandering people into over praising ‘revivalist’ cinema seems achievable.
Thus foreign investors place no faith in our statistics and no capital rich and reformative corporation wants to place faith in us. Pakistan’s media indiscriminately inflates figures to suit their purpose and forgets that in this globalized age of internet television they can’t get away with lying so easily. All three movies released during Eid were refused screen time abroad due to substandard credentials and competing India films guaranteed better box office results.
In an age where globalized internet television and Youtube have launched a new intensity for soft power wielded on the world stage there are no excuses left to hold us back. We can’t win by being petty in politics. By overpromising and under delivering when we boast about launching a rocket to the moon by 2022; progress reports and statistics need to back it up. Empty rhetoric and reports do not help.
Every country in South Asia is vying for investments from online streaming services such as Prime video, Netflix and HBO to refurbish their image abroad. HBO was also the investor who funded ‘Saving Face’ the Oscar winning documentary feature in 2012, proving how not only do the arts matter but they also help. The government seems dyslexic in its stance towards the field of movies. Where it believes in them enough to peddle D-grade scripts about the Airforce, it doesn’t not speak openly in support of better filmmakers.
When honest research backs a necessary undertaking the misconstrued image of the country will incrementally change. Mehwish Hayat in a well-choreographed PR makeover stated, ‘Bollywood could have used cinema to promote mutual understanding instead of vilifying us as they do.’ They could and should not, because we too couldn’t and wouldn’t have. It’s our responsibility to take the reins of our narrative in our own hands by being authentic and making a case for self-earned investment.
