Research on Pakistani Cinema
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Introduction
Cinemas of the third-world countries produce more than half of the world’s films. Countries such as Pakistan have emerged from the Western control. Pakistan shared its film history with Indian cinema (known as Bollywood) before Partition of the Southeast Asia in 1947.Pakistan cinema was in the top ten-film production countries until the mid 1980s. India was the international market for Pakistani film distributers and filmmakers at that time. There was a duration from mid-90’s to mid-2000’s, when the industry faced a severe downfall in production quality as well as quantity. This research will be helpful to introduce and further increase the knowledge regarding the Pakistani Cinema.
1.2 Purpose of study
Pakistan’s film industry has been struggling to survive for the past several decades, but it has recovered dramatically in the past seven years due to an increased number of quality films, co-productions and global distribution channels. However, because of strong identity of Bollywood popular cinema, which have similar pattern of film and spoken language, Pakistani films are failing to reveal the national identity to the rest of the world. As Pakistani cinema has emerged after two decades in decline, it is timely to examine its identity and unique features.
My involvement in this field of research started when I saw the documentary, The Forgotten Song (2006) in the Kara Film Festival 2006. This documentary is a tribute to the Pakistani film industry and exposed various factors of its decline at the same time. It persuades me to find a deeper understanding of this topic and research further information available in the literature present so that I can understand the unique elements of the genre of Pakistani films and how it differentiates from other cinemas, especially Bollywood which dominates the discussion of the South Asian cinema.
1.3 Overview of a Pakistani cinema approach
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Introduction
Cinemas of the third-world countries produce more than half of the world’s films. Countries such as Pakistan have emerged from the Western control. Pakistan shared its film history with Indian cinema (known as Bollywood) before Partition of the Southeast Asia in 1947.Pakistan cinema was in the top ten-film production countries until the mid 1980s. India was the international market for Pakistani film distributers and filmmakers at that time. There was a duration from mid-90’s to mid-2000’s, when the industry faced a severe downfall in production quality as well as quantity. This research will be helpful to introduce and further increase the knowledge regarding the Pakistani Cinema.
1.2 Purpose of study
Pakistan’s film industry has been struggling to survive for the past several decades, but it has recovered dramatically in the past seven years due to an increased number of quality films, co-productions and global distribution channels. However, because of strong identity of Bollywood popular cinema, which have similar pattern of film and spoken language, Pakistani films are failing to reveal the national identity to the rest of the world. As Pakistani cinema has emerged after two decades in decline, it is timely to examine its identity and unique features.
My involvement in this field of research started when I saw the documentary, The Forgotten Song (2006) in the Kara Film Festival 2006. This documentary is a tribute to the Pakistani film industry and exposed various factors of its decline at the same time. It persuades me to find a deeper understanding of this topic and research further information available in the literature present so that I can understand the unique elements of the genre of Pakistani films and how it differentiates from other cinemas, especially Bollywood which dominates the discussion of the South Asian cinema.
1.3 Overview of a Pakistani cinema approach
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