ISLAMABAD: Panelists during a discussion on ‘Cinema in Mother Languages’ said they were not very optimistic about the future of cinema in mother languages, noting that the production of Balochi and Sindhi language films has already been stopped, and the situation is not much better for Punjabi and Pashto films.

The discussion was held on the second day of the Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival held this weekend at Lok Virsa.

Film critic Ijaz Gul, who is also the coordinator of the Mandwa film club at Lok Virsa, attribured the downfall of Urdu cinema to commercialism and local story subjects, but added that the production of quality Urdu language movies like Manto, Bol and Khuda Ke Liye gave him hope.

Mr Gul said Urdu films have played an important role throughout the history of the subcontinent. “The subjects, even at that time, were very bold – the silent movie Daughter of Today, produced in 1924, had a very strong message about the role of women in society and talked about women’s rights. Films like Chakori, Qulli, Chotay Sahib were blockbuster movies because they had strong storylines,” he said.

He added that when movies are produced using the same formulaic storyline with “six vulgar songs and nonsense comedy”, they backfire whether they were in Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto or any other language.

Pashto poet and writer Akbar Hoti spoke about Pashto masterpieces such as Urbal, Dehkan, Badamala and other films that were very successful.

“At that time, our films had strong and diverse subjects, including the domestic and social history, politics, and many others. However, the downfall of Pashto cinema began in the 90s, when violence and vulgarity became an essential part of every movie.”

Mr Hoti said the government also did not play a role in protecting and promoting the medium of film, and there was no censor board to regulate film content.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa now only has two or three cinemas in Peshawar, which have only survived because their owners produce movies to keep their cinemas running.

He said they are producing commercial films and are not aiming to promote art or cinema itself.

Speakers from KP and Balochistan said the people of the two provinces do not accept films, and educated young people have not opted to pursue the field.

Punjabi film critic Ijaz Qaiser, meanwhile, blamed the government for not protecting mother language cinema, saying: “It is the prime responsibility of the government to make efforts to facilitate local cinema and keep local languages alive.

“Unfortunately, the film industry in Pakistan in every era followed the government’s policies. For example, if we had a dictatorship we produced movies according to their policies and if we get a free hand from the government we consider it licence to show vulgarity in films.”

The panellists also noted that the film industry was not able to become an independent industry such as Bollywood or Hollywood. They said political influence has ruined Pakistani cinema, and criticised the screening of Indian movies in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2017