Left to decay

Apathy eating away at over 2,000 prints of iconic Lollywood films

LAHORE:

As Pakistani cinema moves forward in leaps and bounds, ignorance and apathy systematically erase whatever little is left of the Lollywood of the past; it’s almost as if the Orwellian Ministry of Truth is at play. While the need for the current wave’s anchorage in history may be debatable, there is no doubt that the loss of our film heritage is nonetheless an erosion of culture.

Buried under heaps of dust in the dungeons of Lahore’s historic Everynew and Bari studios lie more than 2,000 film prints that date back to the time when the region’s entertainment industry was also seeing a partition of itself.



And they don’t just comprise every run-of-the-mill film that was coming out back in the day. Dilapidated prints of some of the biggest classics of both Urdu and regional cinema such as Kon Kisi Ka, Zameen, Chan Mahi, Mera Ghar Meri Jannat, Chan Way, Jigri Yar also gather dust. Be it Buzdil or Langoutiya, Dhol Jani or Dil Da Jaani, the iconic productions perhaps interest no one anymore. In their defence, the studio owners claim they’ve sent out notices to makers of these films multiple times, claiming no responsibility of their upkeep and warning that they should be collected from the premises. One would argue why would anyone else care if the film-makers themselves are unwilling to own their celebrated works?

While apathy has been chewing on bits of the reels, it is rainwater that has caused the most damage. An Evernew official, requesting anonymity, says, “Whenever it rains, the water floods the rooms, causing damage to the stacks. Most of these prints cannot be restored.” He says film labs at both the facilities have already shut down, and finds it difficult to understand why the directors and producers won’t collect their material.



The craving for digitising film began as soon as Pakistan opened doors to the CD culture. There were some who instantly obtained the master prints and converted them to the more widely used format. However, what to do of the thousands of feet of memorable film reel that is today left to decay? What exactly is the negativity surrounding the negative film?



While the market demand of these films of the 60s, 70s and 80s might be questionable, the fact of the matter is that these rare productions are not available at CD libraries and stores.

In producer Sarwar Shah’s words, the government too isn’t entirely free of blame. Countries that have flourishing industries and a history of cinema culture have actually made an effort to record their film history. Preservation boards and film registries are set up by governments that treat iconic films of the yore as historically significant. “The tragedy is that today we do not even have the prints of films from our initial days like Teri Yaad,” Shah says. The producer says there are countries where, under the auspices of the government, research is undertaken to restore, colour and preserve old film prints but that is not the case in Pakistan. “Let’s be honest. The studio owners will never do that. The government will have to initiate this.”

Senior director Altaf Hussain is aware of the repeated requests the studio owners have made to the film-makers. “It indeed is a big loss. Turning digital is fine but what about our assets from the past?” he asks.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2016.

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