Life & Style

Lollywood: a brief history

A look back at the history of the Pakistani film industry.

Express October 23, 2010

Milestones in the Pakistani film industry

1966 The Waheed Murad-Zeba starrer Armaan released, which went on to become Pakistan’s first ‘Platinum Jubilee’ film. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Sohail Rana and featured the now-iconic song, “Akele Na Jaana”

1967 Nadeem and Shabnam debuted in Chakori, which featured the song “Kabhi To Tum Ko Yaad Ayenge”

1970’s Most popular actirs in Urdu films: Waheed Murad and Mohammad Ali

1979 Rangeela’s satirical film Aurat Raj releases, but is banned

1990 Reema made her Lollywood debut in Javed Fazil’s Bulandi. Her on-screen pairing with Shaan and the film’s success paved the way for a spate of films starring the two in lead roles

1999 Samina Peerzada’s first directorial venture, Inteha, released. It marked the Lollywood debut for television actor Humayun Saeed

First Pakistani Film: Teri Yaad

Release date: September 2, 1947

Produced by: Dewan Pictures

Directed by: Daood Chand

Starring: Asha Bhosle, Nasir Khan, Shola and Ghulam Muhammad

After the first release in 1947, it took a year-and-a-half for another production to release.

The higs and lows of Lollywood

962: From 1967 to 1977, 962 films were released. The film industry boomed in this period despite political crises and a war with India in 1965.

100: The number of films released in 1968

111: The best year for Pakistani cinema was 1975, when 111 films were released.

39: Since 2007, only 39 films have been released.

COMMENTS (4)

Shahida Kazi | 13 years ago | Reply A couple of corrections:Shabnam did not star in Chakori.The heroines name was Shabana.Secondly the heroine of Teri Yaad was not Asha Bhosle,but a starlet named Asha Posley.And what about the major landmarrks before 1960? believe me there were a lot of them.

Lalit | 13 years ago | Reply arts, like films and music flourish in a society which is progressive and forward looking.narrow mindedness and conservatism often strangles the art.in my opinion Pakistani psyche has inclined toward conservatism,specially after Zia era.there were times when Pakistani movies were at par with Indian movies.but a steady dose of fanaticism brought an early death for this golden period. Art requires strong measures to flourish,but stronger measures to die.if Pakistan wants its Film industry to survive the onslaughts of time,conducive atmosphere has to be built.this will help new talents in all disciplines to come to the fore,and they in turn will give life to the tattering film industry.blaming lack of technology or budget constraints is no help.

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