Rise of the Indie Film Maker in Pakistan


Author : Hasan Ahmed Ansari


Recent history says the Pakistan Film Industry should operate by the Chinese calendar: 2007 was the Year of Khuda Kay Liye, 2008 the Year of Ramchand Pakistani, 2010 the Year of Virsa and 2011 the Year of Bol. In that line 2012 can only be known as the Year of the Academy Award (for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy).
Ultimately the past few years have been a dirty triumph for the paranoid. You don’t need to conduct a research to establish the harsh reality that the Pakistani Film Industry or more popularly referred to as “Lollywood” has not just declined but seems to have fallen into an abyss.
The signs had become evident during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s but the Industry who had been resting on the laurels of the filmmakers from the “Golden Era of Lollywood” decided to overlook the cist and allowed it to develop into a tumor which sucked all of the life out of the Industry.
The years between 1979 leading up to 21st Century or the “Period of Crisis” – as referred to by the avid Pakistani movie-goers – was identified for becoming loud and localized, wanting in artistic or aesthetic merits.