Article Credits : Jawad Nisar
Pakistani film industry or more appropriately ‘Lollywood’ is based in Lahore. Since 1896, Pakistani film industry has shared its history with India to produce some of the finest movies. But after the partition, Pakistani film industry began to dip down as most of the talented actors migrated to India. However, this instantaneous downfall was recovered by some very skillful artists; such as Noor Jehan, Ahmad Rushdi, Waheed Murad, Zeba Bakhtyar, and Nadeem. Hence, this period is known as the ‘growth’ of the industry.
The period of downfall of Pakistani film industry started from 1979 to 1987, during Zia’s era. And from 1988 to 2002, it finally collapsed. Obstacles in the film industry’s growth continued to Islamic regime of Zia; VCRs, introduction of entertainment taxes and cinemas are desperately in need of enhancement. Once thriving, cinema in Pakistan barely existed. Heavy blows on the industry were due to very low budget movies and competition from massively fan-based industry, Bollywood, coupled with film piracy.
Although Pakistani film industry has suffered terrible strikes, but it has not always been an endangered species. In the golden days of Pakistani film industry(1960), the industry made a huge step towards revival. And in early 1970s and 1980s, the industry boosted 12 studios and produced over a 100 films annually. But in the face of stiff competition from Bollywood, output dropped to 40 films – produced by a single studio.
Despite its ups and downs, Pakistani film industry is credited with producing some of the well-known film makers, actors, singers, writers, directors and producers. One of which is Shoaib Mansoor. Besides the downfall of the film industry, Shoaib Mansoor did a stupendous job by bolstering the industry by some quantity. His fim ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ (2007) proved to be an international hit, amidst critical clamour and acclaim. Thus, this ‘Pakistani blockbuster of the decade’ helped in the revival of Pakistani film industry. Moreover, ‘Bol’ (2011) and ‘Love Mein Gum’ (2011) also attested to be of great success for the struggling industry.
Apart from these little but triumphal achievements, Pakistani film industry has to churn its maximum efforts towards what is dubbed as the revival of the Lollywood.!