Pakistan film fans prepare for Waar

Moribund industry makes song and dance about violent thriller billed as most anticipated movie in country's history
Film still from Waar
A scene from the Pakistani film Waar, which stars Shaan Shahid and is directed by Bilal Lashari. PR






One major difference with the traditional fare is the lack of song and dance routines. Director Bilal Lashari, who studied film-making in California, says: "There was just no question, even if people were telling me: 'How can you do without them?' For audiences here, it is going to be a complete 180 degree shift. From cinematography to style of acting, it is different from what has gone before."

The Pakistani film industry, which flourished after the country's independence in 1947, has languished for decades.

Cinema owner and distributor Zorraiz Lashari says a combination of booming cable television outlets and competition from India's Bollywood film industry almost finished off the local studios, concentrated in the western city of Lahore and known collectively, if somewhat unoriginally, as Lollywood.

"It costs 20m rupees [£140,000] minimum to make a decent movie and it's very difficult to get your money back. You can buy a Hindi-language film from India for half or a quarter of that price," Lashari says.

From 700 cinemas in 1977, there are now only 175 and the only films to turn a profit have been in languages such as Pashtu or Sindhi, spoken in particular regions of the country, where Indian productions are incomprehensible.

Weak regulation leading to endemic pirating is one major problem. There are even occasional efforts to temporarily ban Indian movies.

"Even if a couple of multiplexes have opened, cinema is still very niche," says Sarah Tareen, a Lahore-based producer. "The main medium is television. Only a fraction of the population go out to watch films."




