Filmworld
Cinema in Pakistan revived due to Bollywood: Mahesh Bhatt
By
By Sandeep SharmaNew Delhi, April 5
Veteran filmmaker Mahesh
Bhatt, who calls himself a facilitator of the cultural dialogue between
India and Pakistan, says Bollywood is responsible for reviving the
interest in cinema in the neighbouring country, where a play based on
his 1989 film "Daddy" was recently staged.
In a tete-a-tete with
IANS, the 66-year-old, who was in the capital to promote his forthcoming
production venture “Mr. Xâ€, said that with the Pakistani film industry
“almost non-existentâ€, the popularity of Bollywood films and stars is
what has motivated them to revive their own exhibition industry.
“Pakistani
people have Indian actors figuring in their lives like in India... when
you walk on the streets of Karachi, you have advertisements of Priyanka
Chopra or Shah Rukh Khan endorsing some product or the other adorning
the walls there,†Bhatt said.
“Their movie halls exhibit films
starring Indian actors... because their own film industry is almost
non-existent. Their film exhibition industry has been revived because of
Bollywood offerings. They live with it... people there have got a new
lease of life because of Bollywood,†the National Award-winner added.
Indian
movies were banned in Pakistan in 1968 and as a result the film
industry across the border suffered recession. While the ban was eased
in 2006, most theatres in the country couldn't survive the self-imposed
drought. In fact, just earlier this year, the 66-year-old Taj Mahal
cinema in the country's Abbottabad city was shut down due to lack of
clientele.
That said, there are filmmakers who have come up in
recent times, and got noticed for their work. Be it Sharmeen
Obaid-Chinoy, who won the first Oscar for her country with "Saving
Face", or names like Mehreen Jabbar ("Ramchand Pakistani") and Shoaib
Mansoor ("Khuda Kay Liye") -- their differentiated filmmaking has struck
a chord with global audiences.
In India also, there is a
heightened interest in Pakistani works ever since movies from the other
side of the border have started releasing here. Then, there is also
accessibility to TV content from Pakistan -- courtesy Zindagi channel.
Bhatt
sampled Pakistan's love for Indian art and culture when he was there to
present "Daddy", which was staged at the International Theatre Film
Festival 2015, organised by Karachi's National Academy of Performing
Arts.
All three shows went houseful and "people really gave it a very powerful response", he said.
“I
was personally happy that it touched a lot of hearts and people were
very happy to have us amidst them but it was more triumph for the
director (Danish Iqbal) and Imran (lead actor Imran Zahid). I went there
since the material was sourced from my film and I am a facilitator in
the cultural process between India and Pakistan,†he added.
Bhatt is currently busy promoting his nephew Emraan Hashmi's new 3D sci-fi thriller “Mr. Xâ€.
(Sandeep Sharma can be [email protected])