Cinema houses enigma

IN Media Practice | 09/02/2005

Editorial in the Statesman, Peshawar, February 4

The cinema houses in Peshawar or elsewhere in the Frontier have fallen on hard days. The educated lot, and the saner element of the society no longer visit them. There are a variety of reasons for it. There was a time when cinegoers, both male and female, comprised gentry who relished two to three hours entertainment on the big screen, which was a mixed bag of high class drama, superb dialogues, excellent poetry, and lilting music garnished with a social message between the lines. Vulgarity was a word unknown. Cinegoers flocked the cinema houses in multitudes in those days. Penetration of VCR and cable into drawing rooms has been responsible for keeping the average cinegoer now away from cinema houses, thus making big inroads into the roaring business which once was the sole preserve of cinema owners but the fact remains that poor quality of Pakistani films too has a lot to do with the decline of cinema business. There is no gainsaying the fact that the best films, which were ever produced by the Pakistan`s, film industry was between 1947 and 1965. Cinegoers still remember, rather nostalgically, movies like Wada, Intezar, Neend, Koil, Kirtar Singh, Anar Kali, Sarfarosh, Gumnam, Qatil, and Jhoomer to mention a few Pakistani films. Producers had to, per force, produce quality films in those days to remain in the reckoning and compete with Indian films which used to be screen up to 1965 in Pakistan without any let and hindrance. Come 1965 and in the wake of Indo-Pak war, a complete ban was imposed by the government on the screening of Indian films. When that element of competition was gone, following the ban in question the quality of our movies plummeted by the day. Cheap dialogues, vulgar poetry, and naked dances started to pockmark Pakistani films. When as a result of it attendance of the cingoers dropped the cinema owners resorted to screening pieces of blue films in order to remain in the business and reckoning. Still, some of the cinema houses have closed down and many others are in the process of closing their business. Should that happen it will be a sad day for our film industry which had proved its mettle in the past. Given the right direction and tax concessions by the government it has the potentialities to deliver again. Sometimes back the government had undertaken an extensive exercise for diagnosis the malaise that ails the cinema houses? business as well as Pakistani film industry as cinema houses? business is interminably linked with the production of quality films. A retired army general had been assigned the task also. At one point in time it looked as if powers-that-be want to take some concrete steps for resuscitating the dying cinema house culture. A spurt of activity was witnessed but then it was followed by a lull. What happened to translate into reality of the avowed intention of the government to put the cinema houses business on an even keel is not known to us. The tragedy with our way of working is that how pious an intention might be and how swift our action might be, with the passage of time, we tend to leave it in the mid and don`t take it to its logical conclusion. It will be not be out of context to mention here that Frontier province, particularly, Peshawar has played a significant role in the promotion of arts, literature and cinema on the sub-continent. Bombay, now Mumbai used to be the sole hub of artistic activities before partition. It naturally attracted men of letters, actors, painters and sculptors from every nook and cranny of the undivided India. Even a cursory glance over the list of celebrities who made big time in the domain of art would reveal that a majority of them who ruled the roost belonged to the Frontier, in one way or the other. Who can forget the debonair Gul Hameed of Pir Piai, Nowshera, the Indian film hero of early talkies. But for his untimely, early death, he would have gone places. Another Frontierman Zia Sarhadi, left tremendous impact on the world of celluloid as a director. Cinegoers still remember his classics like Humlog and Footpath, to mention a few films. Zikriya Khan whom the cinegoers know as gaint and his equally talented son Amjad Khan who at one point in time were the most sought-after villains of Indian film screen, were also sons of this soil. The redoubtable Prithviraj Kapoor and his sons Shami Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor down below to the latest find of Indian cinema, Kareena Kapoor all belong to the dynasty which traces its origin to Peshawar. Vinod Khanna, Anil Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan too have their origins rooted in Peshawar. The list cannot be complete without mentioning the name of the one and only legend of all times, thespian Dilip Kumar. The like of his is yet to be seen. Noted painter and sculptor Guljee also belong to Peshawar. And so are renowned writer Patras Bokhari and his equally talented broadcaster brother ZA Bokhari. Both were born and bred at Peshawar. Versatile romantic poet Qateel Shifaee belongs to Haripur. One can continue writing names of men of letters associated with the Frontier. Ink will dry up but list will remain incomplete. Civilised, cultured and great nations honour their sons of soil who make their mark in different walks of life by naming a street, a road or a park after them. What have we done in this respect? It is a point to ponder. Our city fathers as well as our Culture Department may do some soul-searching on it. May one remind custodian of our culture that the Irish government had bought the house of illustrious Hollywood star Bob Hope and has declared it as a national heritage as a token of appreciation of his performance on the Hollywood`s celluloid. The said house is located in Ireland where he was born and which he had left 60 years ago when he had gone to Hollywood in search of greener pastures. Can`t our culture department and city fathers buy small houses located in Peshawar city where legendary Dilip Kumar and Guljee were born and bred and declare them as a national heritage?