On Pakistani cinema

 K S Sivakumaran

I enjoy some of the Sinhala films and teledramas (it’s a misnomer –only in Lanka they call ‘teledrama’ when it should be ‘telefilm’) for realism. Similarly I enjoyed the best of Malayalam films and telefilms for the same reason. When I was in Muscat, Oman I used to watch the Pakistani telefilms for the psychological realism in their telefilms.

As far as the widescreen was concerned, one of the most intriguing and aesthetically satisfying Pakistan film was Khuda Kay Liye made in Urdu and English dialogues with subtitles. This film was made by Sohaib Mansoor and the Nasserudin Shah of India had an important role in the film as a neutralizer between extremes of racism and religion.

Many Hindi films shot in America in recent times must have been influenced by the predicament a Muslim faces after the 9/11 catastrophe a few years back.

Cineastes who understand the medium of Cinema always like to ask the filmmakers “What makes a great film” Answering this question, the Pakistani director replied:

“It is only a courage, conviction and motivation to make a meaningful cinema. I do not think there is anything called parallel cinema. Any artistic movie should be gripping enough and vice-versa to make a good commercially viable film. It should click with the classes and masses.”

Comparing Indian films with Pakistani films Shoaib Mansoor admitted that the “Indian film industry is ahead of Pakistan in terms of quality….The experimentation that we are seeing in Indian mainstream films today is an offshoot of the great works done in the past.”

Talking about his major film that I enjoyed he explained that “In this movie, we had song sequences to establish that the main characters were singers. According to me a film’s story along with its narrative and screen play are very important. Other ingredients can wait.”

Taking about his film the director pointed out that Khuda Kay Liye has paved the way for more meaningful commercial cinema. This movie has created an unbelievable change for audiences and filmmakers who have been fed on typical potboiler movies filled with unnecessary song and dance sequences. We had a story which dealt with the lives of all of us and depicted our harsh realities. I do not believe in discriminating movies on the basis of commercial or parallel cinema, as both can be merged to make meaningful cinema.”

Going on the basis of the above observation I as a Thamilian film critic enjoy some outstanding Thamilnadu Thamil films too. But they are far and far between. Directors like Cheran, Bala, Sasikumar and others indeed have made enjoyable movies. But unfortunately they are not uniform ally sustainable for the simple reason that the producers would like to get back their investment in production through bringing in ingredients that the uneducated want in the name of escapist entertainment.

Serious film criticism appear only spasmodically in selected highbrow literary magazines in Thamilnadu, but in Lanka in the name of film criticism what had been written about the films in Thamilnadu media is shamelessly reproduced and those are just publicity hacks without understanding the medium. Occasionally writers Dr M K Muruganandam and S.Muruganantham write about good films in critical perspectives. That’s the scene here at present.

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