PESHAWAR: Speakers in a seminar here on Sunday urged stakeholders to revive cinema through quality productions and sponsorship saying movies could be effectively used to counter the narrative of militants.

They also highlighted the evolution of Pashto cinema aka Pollywood and suggested steps for its revival.

The daylong event titled ‘Contemporary Pashto Cinema’ was organised under the aegis of Mafkkoora, a private organisation, with local artists, musicians, film critics, scriptwriters, and movie buffs being in attendance.

The speakers said unprofessional people had robbed Pashto film industry of its strength to please cinegoers leading to the negative portrayal of KP people and vulgarity and death of visual art on the silver screen.

They demanded an immediate halt to the demolition of cinemas and said authorities should provide adequate funds for the production of quality movies.

“Vulgarity, substandard contents, lack of professionalism and tunnel public vision regarding the film industry caused the cinema to decline. Until the approach of viewers becomes positive, Pashto cinema won’t stand on its own feet again,” critic Azizullah Karwan.

CEO of Mafkoora Hayat Roghani said the main objective of the event was to bring together writers, intellectuals and local artists to hold a comprehensive debate on the evolution and decline of Pashto cinema.

Veteran Pashto film star Aman Khan, who attended the event as the chief guest, pointed out that numerous factors were responsible for the decline of the Pashto entertainment industry, which started its journey in early 70s with “high standards.”

“Early 90s marked the decline of Pashto cinema due to a lack of official patronage, and philistinism towards visual art. If our people play their due role in boosting this effective medium, cinema can see its revival,” he said.

Senior film critic Haji Aslam Khan said around 1,800 Pashto movies had been released on a variety of social and cultural issues since the start of Pashto cinema in early 70s but the industry was taken over by some investors, who were bent on “tarnishing the image of Pashtuns.”

Prof Samiduddin Arman told participants that KP had been a fertile soil and produced legends in the field of cinematography.

He said when Bollywood launched silent movies in 1913, most of the talented people associated with the industry belonged to KP

Prof Hanif Khalil, author of a book on Pashto cinema, said there was no dearth of talent but stakeholders were required to understand the worth of cinemascope.

“We still have the best story writers and performers but nobody is ready to finance our projects to revive the cinema,” he said.

Prof AR Anwar, Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Prof Gulzar Jalal and Naeem Muhklis also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, january 1st, 2024