Cinema makeover

Distributors hopeful of the future of Pakistani cinema.

KARACHI: The time has come to replace the old and overused phrase ‘revival of cinema in Pakistan’ with ‘cinema has revived in Pakistan’.  Tehulka Filmed Entertainment, who are the official distributors of Don 2 and their strategic partners Mandviwalla Entertainment have the facts to support this positive notion. 

The sequel to director Farhan Akhtar’s Don has set a new record of the biggest opening week collection in Pakistan by grossing a hefty amount of Rs30 million. Don 2 has achieved this status by breaking the box office records of Bodyguard, a film which was also distributed by Tehulka Filmed Entertainment. Bodyguard — being the first Indian film to be released on Eidul Fitr — earned Rs30 million due to its strong star cast and apt time of release.

On a general level, the response and the success of these films highlight the growing cinema culture. The representatives of Tehulka and Mandviwalla Entertainment celebrated this burst of demand in an evening dedicated to Don 2’s strong opening at a local hotel.

Business Head of Tehulka Dr Riffat Siddiqi, who has been affiliated with the media industry for quite some time, has always been an advocate of media convergence. “We want to set new trends in film acquisition, import and marketing,” Siddiqi stated. “This time around, we distributed the films to many different centres. We even sent films to those cinemas that don’t do well and the result was surprisingly positive.”

The Director and Strategic Head of Tehulka, Kamran Yar Kaami, was of the opinion that film distribution has evolved with time and we need to keep up with it. “We have the demand, we just need to maximise our reach and try to bring more and more people towards cinema entertainment,” said Kaami.

To conclude the session Nadeem Mandviwalla, whose company also manages The Atrium Cinema, hailed the efforts put in by Shoaib Mansoor’s high-grossing venture. “Bol is still the most grossing film this year. Box office figures and public response show that there is a demand for local cinema and I think this is enough encouragement for the producers to start making local films,” said Mandviwalla.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd,  2012.