Lollywood comes to a grinding halt

Filmmakers rush to complete pending projects before Muharram

LAHORE: No more Pakistani movies are likely to be released this year as most of the film-related activities come to a halt with the advent of Muharram on December 7.

Currently, Lollywood has four films in the pipeline including Love Main Gum by Reema Khan, Son of Pakistan by Jarar Rizvi, Shah Murad by Pervaiz Rana and Bashira Gujjar by Masood Butt. The films are in final stages, set to hit theatres after Muharram.

Syed Noor’s long awaited film Price of Honour, originally scheduled to be released this year, is likely to be postponed till 2011. Shooting of the film has been completed, taking it to the post production stage, said Lollywood’s ace director. Price of Honour highlights the issue of honour killings and is said to be the first Pakistani art film of its type. The film features young actors, all selected through an acting competition run by Hum TV.

Shoaib Mansoor’s Bol, debuting Atif Aslam as a film actor, is another upcoming film set to be released in the first quarter of 2011. The film which highlight the plight of women in society, has been cleared by the censor board. Talking to The Express Tribune, Mansoor said that Bol would be released once its distribution strategy is finalised.

For film critics, the ongoing films can bring crowds back to cinemas if all four are released around the same time. The matter, however, is not simple since very few cinemas screen Pakistani films as their focus remains on big budget films of Bollywood and Hollywood.

To make things more difficult for Lollywood, posh cinemas like DHA Cinema, CineStar, Cine Gold and Sozo World Cinema in Lahore do not screen Punjabi films at all. However, the administrations of these cinemas say that they do screen Urdu Pakistani films and want to go ahead with the films based on good scripts and stories.

“This week is going to be the last active week as far as film activities are concerned before the start of Muharram. Shootings stop in the month of mourning and no films get released. Several directors are giving final shape to their movies and will complete their post production work when Muharram begins. And if all goes well, the first month of the new year will witness release of some three or four Pakistani films,” said a director.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2010.