I totally disagree with the part where the writer criticises the remake and airing of old Pakistani films.
LAHORE: This is apropos of the story “It’s time for Pakistani cinema to shape up” (June 6). I totally disagree with the part where the writer criticises the remake and airing of old Pakistani films on television and says that they compare poorly with the stuff coming out of Bollywood. These telefilms have not been released in cinemas commercially and hence, cannot be compared or put in the same category as Bollywood movies or commercial cinema.
With reference to the golden era of Pakistani cinema, where the writer says that “we are stuck in the ‘golden era of Lollywood’, which barely ever existed”, I disagree with the notion that has been put forward. I believe that the Pakistani film industry had not one golden era, but three. The first one was in the 1950s, with actors like Santosh Kumar, Sabiha Khanum, Darpan, Noor Jehan, Nayar Sultana, etc. The second one began in the 1960s and lasted till the late 1970s with such stars like Nadeem, Waheed Murad, Shamim Ara, Mohammad Ali, Zeba, etc. The third golden era started in 1994 and lasted till 2000 with Babar Ali, Shaan, Moammar Rana and Saima making their mark. The films produced in this era were commercially and artistically prominent, case in point being Chooriyan, which did a business of Rs160 million in 1999.
Vasay Chaudhry
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2013.
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