PESHAWAR: Despite threats of militants and razing of cinemas for commercial purposes, the resilient Pashto film industry is releasing four new and two old Pashto films to the delight of cinegoers in Peshawar on this Eidul Azha.

Arshad, Sabrina, Ayeena, Naz, PAF, Picture House and Tasveer Mahal cinemas will screen four new Pashto films titled ‘za yem kakai khan’, ‘zoye da badamala’, ‘tamashbeen’, and ‘I miss you’, and two old Pashto films.

Shahid Khan, a popular Pashto film hero, told Dawn that his new Pashto films would attract people to cinemas.

He said Pashto cinema would continue providing quality entertainment to Pakhtuns badly shaken by militancy at low rates.

Peshawar cinemas to screen four new, two old Pashto films

“It is for the first time that I’m introducing the technique of ‘black magic’ in Pashto movies that will definitely mesmerise cinegoers,” he said.

The film star said young viewers took great interest in the big screen as Pashto cinema was providing them with quality stuff. Young Pashto singer-turned-actor Shahsawar Khan, who is playing a journalist in ‘tamashbeen’ said his fans would enjoy his performance and songs in the film.

He said he was playing a side hero in three of the four new Pashto films to be released on Eid.

“I’d enjoyed my role in the movie and hope viewers will like my performance,” he said.

He claimed as usual, excellent music was the strength of Pashto films, while strong storyline, powerful dialogues and beautiful locales would make them a real treat for cinegoers.

Shahsawar said young artists needed encouragement and therefore, local businessmen should invest in ‘Pollywood’, as the Pashto film industry is popularly known.

“I have come from Dir to watch new Pashto film. I love music and decent dances in films,” Shah Fahad, a university student. He said providing security to cinegoers was the responsibility of the government.

Gauhar Khan of Mardan said he’d come to Peshawar to watch Pashto films. He said though Pashto cinema had lost its luster, young artists, singers and directors were trying to revive its golden days.

“Pashto films need 3D cinemas and good investors. If that happens, they could help present a soft image of the culturally rich province in the world,” he said.

The Pashto CD producers in Nishtarabad, the Pashto CD/telefilm production hub, are releasing only 10 new items this Eid. Of scores of production houses in Peshawar, only four have planned to bring out new stuff.

Muzafar Khan, producer and owner of the Muzafar videos and pioneer in the field, will bring out two new albums, one a Pashto comedy ‘noom da wada maakhla and the other popular Pashto movie songs ‘zoye da amala’.

Unlike the past, Pashto cinema is struggling to attract people. More and more cinemas in Peshawar are being razed to build commercial plazas, while the condition of the rest is miserable.

The Pashto film industry is in good position but it finds no place to showcase its productions.

“Yes, this is a harsh fact that Pashto filmmakers and producers are making good efforts to produce quality films but they have been facing insecurity. The razing of cinemas is another worry,” Arshad Jan, an avid movie buff, told Dawn.

Muzafar said he expected a sale of 4,000 copies of one CD though earlier I used to sell around 10,000 copies of a new CD telefilm.

He said the CD production business had worsened over the years.

“We cannot risk investing in the showbiz any longer. Our production house just meets the local demand. I don’t think Pashto films have improved its standards. Unfortunately, violence and vulgarity are the mainstay of Pashto films. There is no story and social theme,” he said.

Rajab Khan Rajab, a Pashto poet, said there was a dearth of film writers, actors and genuine producers.

He said cinema business in the country was on the decline and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was no exception.

“Out of more than a dozen cinemas in Peshawar, only half of them are screening Pashto films.

However, the entertainment-starved Peshawarites turn to these cinemas to have happy moments during Eid holidays,” he said.

An official at the local police department said there was no threat to cinemas.

He said the police had asked owners of cinemas to keep a close eye on the people while screening films.

The official said the people should also take extra care during their visit to and stay at cinemas and that should cooperate with security officials.

He said as there was no provincial cultural policy, six other cinemas, too, would suffer.

Azmat Ali, owner of a CD shop in Kabari Bazaar, said the thriving CD business in Nishtarabad fell victim to copyright and insecurity issues.

He said only 100 of the earlier over 400 CD shops were there in Peshawar.

“The CD shops used to provide entertainment stuff to Fata, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Afghanistan and the Gulf states. However, now-a-days, they face a slump,” he said.

Young movie buffs said good Pashto films were screened in cinemas on last Eidul Azha and they expected this time around, too, cinemas would show quality movies.

They said conditions of cinemas needed drastic improvement and that their security should also be beefed up.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2014