 | Going, Going, Gone: Burnt cinemas mean losses and delays for film industry
04 October 2012
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KARACHI:
In recent years, new producers and directors have worked hard to revive Pakistani cinema, which has been rapidly declining in terms of quality and output in the last few decades. The burning of five cinemas in Karachi last month was the last nail in the coffin before the impending burial of the Pakistani film industry.
The tragedy took place at a time when a number of feature films were under production and things were finally starting to look better in terms of business. As a result of the destruction of the cinemas, the projects that were to be released in the coming year have been delayed.
Ismail Jilani, the genius behind the famous show “George ka Pakistan”, is now directing a feature film called Chambaili, based on political themes, which will be written by the renowned Shahzad Nawaz. It is also produced by Nawaz himself and Abdullah Kadwani. “We were going in full swing and planning to release the film in the first quarter of 2013 until I saw what happened to the cinemas that Friday,” Jilani tells The Express Tribune.
He believes that if the extensive shooting of the film continues as per schedule, there is concern regarding where the film would be screened, since cinemas like Atrium and Cineplex do not cater to lower-income groups. “Cinemas like Atrium don’t cater to the people we are aiming at in our political narrative,” says Jilani.
“Atrium is a great cinema but nothing beats the charm of the huge screen at Nishat. Besides that, the real ‘masses’ came to those cinemas that no more exist and that is depressing and discouraging for any film-maker,” says Jilani.
With little hope, distinguished ad, film, and music video director Jamshed Mahmood (Jami) says: “I wasn’t worried for my film as much as for cinema owners who have to hold the fort on the exhibition end. It is impossible to even dream of investing in cinema houses, when the government can’t do j*** about our industry!”
Jami is working on his feature film which has become the centre of attraction for all the industry professionals. All eyes are fixed on his film, with speculations arising about whether it will be released on time in the aftermath of the cinema house destruction.
However, for Jami, this was a formal pack up for the industry which had given its last take years ago. “Fire consumed the cinema’s soul a long time back, they just cremated the body that Friday,” he says, clearly frustrated. He believes that the government is to blame, not the rioters, because they are the ones who allowed them to run amuck.
“We blame rioters as if all [the destruction] was their fault. Through its policies, the government has destroyed the industry for 30 years, while India lives on profits of Bollywood.”
“The lack of vision of the Pakistan government transcends a powerful message to rioters: go burn it down!” he says.
Humayun Saaed, a well known actor and the owner of Six Sigma productions, made significant progress on the shoot of Pakistan’s first cricket film, Mae Banoonga Shahid Afridi. As a producer, he now faces heavy losses on the business side. “It’s more than just a set-back for me, it is a major blow,” says Saeed talking to The Express Tribune.
“Whenever things are looking healthy for Pakistani cinema something or the other happens. At the end, the film-makers who gathered funds from various places for the film are the ones who suffer!” he says.
Mae Banoonga Shahid Afridi is a film written by Vasay Chowdhry which has been shot at different places in Pakistan, but despite all the efforts the losses might be more than the gains.“The cinemas that were destroyed were gold mines for the producers and exhibitors. Now whoever releases a film in Pakistan will suffer from a net loss of about Rs40 million per week,” Saeed says.
Another director, Shahzad Rafique of the super-hit film Salaakhain, is of the opinion that the Urdu film-makers lost their last resort in Pakistan. “The loss of this circuit of cinemas is quite similar to the losses the cinema industry suffered with the partition of East Pakistan, huge and irreplaceable,” Rafique explains. Rafique claims that his latest film Ishq Khuda is also being delayed because of the sudden tragedy. | | See Also in Showbiz News
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