’Lollywood’ cinema aims to emulate Indian

'Lollywood' cinema aims to emulate Indian rival


       

By Simon Denyer
REUTERS
5:00 a.m. October 1, 2003

LAHORE, Pakistan – The camera is a museum piece – so primitive the voice track has to be dubbed in later – the roof full of holes, the set no more than a muddy pool surrounded by polystyrene columns and scattered blades of grass.

Evernew Studios may be Pakistan's most successful, but this is as far from Hollywood as you could imagine.

Pakistan's "Lollywood" film industry – the "L" for its base in Lahore – is in serious decline, and only a helping hand from its booming Indian rival Bollywood or a large dose of government support can lift it from the gutter.

"Some of our directors are afraid of competition, but there must be co-operation from Bollywood. Only then will we make good films," said leading director Hasan Askari. "At the moment we are wasting our skills making rotten films."

On the set of "Sohni Mahiwal," a classic Romeo-and-Juliet style folktale of lovers from different social classes – whose frustrated passion ultimately drives them to drowning – one of Pakistan's most famous actresses demonstrates her craft.

With a shimmy of her hips and a glint in her eyes, Meera glides around her male admirer seductively, drawing her veil across the camera as they move their heads together.

Kissing is forbidden in Pakistani cinema, but sexual titillation is a staple. Gyrating hips, heaving cleavages and bare midriffs dominate the obligatory dance scenes, and Meera is one of Pakistan's chief seductresses.

"I just like romantic love stories," she told Reuters on the set. "The future of Pakistani cinema is very bright, but we have one problem, we have no international market, no exposure."

Meera says she was offered two parts by Bollywood directors in Bombay last year, but had to turn them down because of tension between the two governments, and the risk she would not be welcome back home if she traveled to India.

A typical Lollywood film involves half a dozen song and dance scenes, a cliched plot about lovers from different classes, a one-dimensional villain who always ends up in jail, and amateurish fights with exaggerated sound effects.

The industry barely survives in tatty cinemas because of a ban on showing more professionally produced Indian movies, infinitely more popular among the viewing public.

The fact that every video shop openly stocks Bollywood films – in defiance of that ban – means that most people prefer to watch movies at home.


STIGMA AND OFFICIAL NEGLECT

The decline in Pakistan's film industry probably began in the late 1970s under the dictatorship of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq and his campaign of Islamization, when stricter censorship was reinforced by the stigmatization of cinema in general.

The stigma persists. These days many of Pakistan's leading actresses are former dancing girls from Lahore's famous red light district, Heera Mandi.

Heavy taxation and a cap on ticket prices starved cinemas of cash. Today many Pakistani movie theaters are grimy and run-down.

In its heyday, Lollywood would churn out more than 100 films a year, says leading producer Shahzad Gul. Today it manages just 30 or 35, many produced on shoestring budgets of around $125,000.

But perhaps the biggest reason for the decline is the sort of people the industry has attracted, rich producers drawn to the glamour of the movies but with little more than money to offer, and untrained directors avoiding the barest hint of controversy.


RAYS OF HOPE

The independent sector may be Pakistan's best hope, even if independent films are seldom screened inside the country.

Producers like Usman Peerzada and his wife, director Samina, complain that Lollywood is run by a mafia which does not understand the film industry. Government interference has not helped either.

Usman's 1998 film "Zar Gul" ("Golden Rose"), directed by his brother Salman, won praise at independent film festivals all over the world for its story of a truck driver fighting political corruption in Pakistan's tribal lands.

Yet it was banned in Pakistan because of a dispute with a provincial tourist board which helped sponsor it.

Lollywood, too, is trying to change its spots. Last year's "Yeh Dil Aap Ka Hua" ("This Heart Is Yours") may have been a traditional love story, but it did win over audiences from London to Dubai and Canada.

The most expensive in Lollywood history with a budget of 30 million rupees ($500,000), it was filmed in Pakistan, Switzerland, and Spain and crucially drew on Indian collaboration, with songs recorded in Bombay and dances arranged by leading Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan.

The film's leading actress Sana says she hopes Pakistan's directors will one day have the confidence to tackle more serious issues, braving not only censors and politicians but also more conservative Islamic groups.

"People want to see a change," she told Reuters. "The problem is we can't do films about social issues, political issues, domestic issues, culture."