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.

The large number of films produced – over the course of the last 20 years – in various vernaculars speaks for itself about the decline of the Pakistani Film Industry.

The Russian Film Industry which was also looking down the barrel adopted a very unique approach to get a new lease of life and chose to focus more on Indie Film-Making rather directing all of their energy towards Commercial Cinema. Their decision seemed to have paid off and yielded excellent results for them.

“The Russian Film Industry was going through a similar lean phase over the past two decades. As experienced and creative film makers – and actors - moved on to bigger things (i.e. Hollywood). Then the big production houses tried to repeat the same old formula but it failed. Of late they’ve done a few things right like the fact that they’ve started proper film schools and are focusing more on the basics like starting film schools and are concentrating more on the stories,” explained Christoff Nasiff an aspiring Russian Film-Maker who recently received his Masters of Fine Arts Degree from the reputed School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

The advent of Indie Film-Makers in Pakistan may well be a blessing in disguise. This gives Film Professionals the opportunity to get their basics and the fundamentals of Film-Making right such the Story, Acting, Direction and other Technical aspects.

Consider how the Pakistani film “Lamha” starring Mohib Mirza and Amina Sheikh opened to rave reviews at the New York Film Festival. This latest Indie Wonder also known as “Seedlings” made on a limited budget highlighted the fact that Film-Makers don’t always need to go all out to ensure the film is a success.

Several professionals identify creative freedom as a major factor in shifting towards Independent Film-Making. “Directors have greater creative freedom as they are allowed to bring forth their own vision in an Indie Film with no Studio sword hanging over their heads,” said Christoff Nasiff.