The New Wave of Pakistani
Cinema: 2013 and Onwards
Shoaib Mansoor's Bol led to the phrase 'Revival of Pakistani Cinema', the year
2013 brought with it seven Pakistani films that were theatrically released in
Pakistan, and led commentators to ponder whether it was time to announce the
heralding of a 'new wave' of Pakistani cinema. Since 2011 from the digital scene
two films have stood out with box office success as highest grossing Pakistani
films; Waar followed by Main Hoon Shahid Afridi. However, as some commentators
cautioned, declaring a film a 'hit' or a 'flop' is determined by the
relationship of the budget spent and box office returns of a film and therefore
several of the top grossing films of Pakistan were technically not a 'hit'.
Nonetheless, the lack of box office returns of a Pakistani film has less to do
with the film itself but more to do with the severely limited number of screens
in Pakistan. Another film, Zinda Bhaag (Run for your Life, 2013) has been
critically acclaimed with reviewers calling it 'the best film to have come out
of modern day Pakistani cinema' and a "new metaphor for Pakistani cinema" that "bode(d)
well for the possibility of noteworthy Pakistani imports in years to come".
Zinda Bhaag went on to be Pakistan's official submission to the Oscars (Foreign
Film Category), the first after a gap of fifty years but did not make the final
shortlist nominees.
The resurgence of new Pakistani film productions centers around the use of
digital equipment and makes use of cheaper distribution with DCP compliant
cinemas which started to convert around 2011, increasing rapidly to 2014 with
around 30 cinemas nationwide.
Pakistan's first Cineplex:
As a city, Karachi began to grow at a fast pace in the late 60's, and the price
of the property shot up significantly. At the peak of Pakistani cinema industry
in the mid-1970s, Karachi alone had more than 100 cinema halls and more than 200
films were produced and released each year. Now, fewer than ten of these houses
remain. The same happened a little later in Lahore as well. This caused the film
industry to lose a lot of revenue, making the industry even less attractive for
investment. Many professional financiers left the cinema industry of Pakistan.
The Universal Multiplex in Karachi opened in 2002. The future viability of
film-making business in Pakistan is evidenced by the fact that now many global
companies are interested in investing in the theater business in the countr.
Cinepax is the first dedicated cineplex company in Pakistan. They are building
the country’s first nationally branded cineplex chain. The firm says that it is
dedicated to introduce a world-class, film-going experience to the people of
Pakistan by building state-of-the-art film theaters in the urban areas. Cinepax
will have multiple cinemas in each location and is committed to screening
premium content in a family-friendly environment. Eventually, they intend to
bring families back into the theaters by providing a quality experience, and
assert that the multiplex culture can only help.