Pashto Cinema - Craziness
Driver o Calendar (Driver & Assistant), Lewantob (Craziness), Spi Lakai (Dog´s Tail), Nikka Da Shaitan (the Devil´s Grandfather), and Lur da Bala (the Beast´s Daughter) are the type of names of Pashto movies being made in Pakistan which speak volumes about the state of the industry. The question is, for what purpose are these movies made? Who the target audience is considered to be? What standards are kept in mind when making these movies? Along with being sub-standard, Pashto movies are also accused of promoting nudity, violence, and for promoting a distorted image of Pashtoon culture. It seems the women acting in the movies; whether they be the heroine or the extras doing a dance scene, has a weight of at least 400 Lbs and are wearing extremely tight clothing which is a reveal all. In most movies, the heroine will be wearing a dress that not even a European woman would wear. The heroes and villains will usually have long hair and wield weapons in their hands. Even when talking to his mother, the voice will be so thunderous that if not the whole village, at least the neighbours will be able to hear it. Most of the movies are engineered according to three or four formulaes that are just modified slightly for every movie. The movies will feature an unbelievable amoung of songs; all of which would be filmed at strange locations giving the impression as if the actors/actresses are being forced to sing and dance over there. It is better not to say anything about the extras dancing along with them. Pashto movies have not always been like this. The industry has seen better days. Analysts regard the 70s and the 80s as a glorious era of Pashto movie Industry. Even now, a few movies are made which are based on true stories or legends and were thus able to break numerous records when they were released in cinemas. Such movies include Adam Khan Durkhanai, Darra Khyber, Orbal (firefly), Armaan (Desire), Deedan (Glimpse), Baz Shahbaz, Zartaja, and Ilaqa e Ghair (Forbidden Territory or Tribal Areas). Classic Pashto movies have also been made way before this bright era as well. After the partition of the sub-continent, most movies were themed on traditional stories and legends, e.g., Yusuf Khan Sherbano and Laila Majnoon. The public, especially the educated segment of society used to watch these movies with enthusiasm in cinemas. Haji Sardar Khan Lala; a famous movie director gives a simple reason for the success of movies released in that era by pointing to a television lying in a corner of his room, ´´This devil was not available at that time. If anybody did have it, he would be somebody who is rich or influential. Since the common people did not have it, therefore they would go to cinemas.´´ The decline of the Pashto movie industry in Pakistan started in the late 80s and is still continuing. There are many more reasons for this. The Pakistani movie industry, especially the Pashto industry suffered a great deal with the introduction of the VCR after the advent of the television. Sardar Lala is the man behind 60 classic movies including the hit ´´Orbal (firefly)´´, all of which were appreciated widely. He says that when the educated audience were provided with the alternative of cheap entertainment in the comfort of their homes, they stopped coming to cinemas. Because of this, the quality of Pashto movies fell to such a degree that even now we are not able to recover from it. Yunus Qiasi, a famous story writer for Pashto movies in the 80s blames the decline on the disappearance of the ´story´ from the movies. ´´Without a storyline, the movie is nothing´´, he says. ´´Many story writers like me are not continuing with our work anymore because we demanded a reasonable pay for a good story. But the film makers would not be able to meet our demands because of a tight budget. And as a result, experienced story writers like us were sidelined and our position was taken over by amateaurs. Those who used to make tea for us are now writing stories.´´ Complaints like this are also voiced by film maker Sardar Lala who says, ´´Because of Greed of quick money and interest in making movies every Tom, Dick & Harry with a couple Lac of rupees to spare jumped into this field.´´ The standard kept on deteriorating and soon the music and sound tracks of the movies began to be copied from others as well. Without asking for permission or giving any credit to the poets or singers, film makers started copying their songs, lyrics and music. Just recently, a Peshawar court forbade one film-maker from this who was booked for copyright infringement. Being an experienced journalist, Yunus Qiasi also kept an eye on the developments in the movie industry. He states that the movie industry would long have closed back in the late 80s were it not for the Afghan refugees from across the border. Lack of entertainment led these refugees to the cinema houses to fulfill their desires. Thus the film makers started catering for this new audience. But even this did not make movie making a profitable enterprise. Pashto movies were being churned out at 1/4th the price of Urdu movies. Presently, a typical budget of a Pashto movie would be 28 Lac rupees (Rs 28,00,000) and it would be completed over an average period of 2 1/2 months. But as the standard of the movies fell, so did their numbers as well. According to the 1981 census, Pashto is the second biggest language of Pakistan after Panjabi. There was a time when 18-20 pashto movies would be produced annually but now this number has fallen down to 4-5 per annum. The reason for this now turnout according to Sardar Lala is the lack of profit generated. ´´Pashto movies are watched over a small area of land and the people´s attention are directed towards external influences., hence the logical decline in business.´´ A few years ago, these movies used to be watched even in the Gulf countries because of the huge expatriate population there. But even that has stopped now because of the afore mentioned reasons. The film makers are also not happy with the attitude of the government. They complain that not a single government provided the facilities that a film industry requires. Sardar Lala says that high taxes, prohibition of depicting institutes like the police and army in a questionable manner, and difficulties in obtaining permissions from the government for shooting purposes are such things that have prevented the industry to grow. While they complain about the government policy, film makers vehemently deny that Pashto movies are a source of nudity. When approached, Young film maker Shahid Khan comments regarding his movies that, ´´My movies do not depict any form of nudity. The dances only reflect the natural desires of a human being. Moreover, the dancers are all covered up with clothes, so you can´t call that nudity.´´ The film makers also regard the coming into power of the 6 party alliance of Muttahida Majlis e Amal as a bad omen. Earlier this year, the provincial government put a ban on display of film portraits depicting life forms outside cinema houses. Film makers argue that the un-educated segment used to come inside the cinemas after judging the content of the movie from the pictures on those large portraits because they are not able to read whats written on it and thus, we are deprived of a significant amount of visitors. Sardar Lala says, ´´It were these portraits that were a main tool of attracting the attention of our viewers. After all, large companies spend a lot of money on their publicity to generate more and more revenue.´´ Without doubt, the Pashto movie industry is undergoing a critical phase. Some analysts are of the view that this is only a phase and after treading through this dark period, the industry may soon be able to get back on its feet. When this will happen is difficult to judge at this time. -DE POKHTANO QAMI SANGAR- - 
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