Dying Cinemas: A Victim Of Commercialization In KP
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 30, 2024 | 10:10 AM
Gohar Khan Yousafzai, manager Sabrina Cinema Peshawar told the news agency that prior of Ramazan he screened two shows daily of a Pashto movie by charging only Rs250 per ticket, adding there are hardly 50 people in the cinema hall which is highly discouraging. He said the rising monthly electricity and gas bills, salaries of staff and property taxes have added to financial difficulties of cinema owners in KP.
Shahid Khan, an eminent Pashto film director, producer and artist said that one of the reasons of dying cinemas was its poor stories content and outdated cinematography, wrong presentation of Pashto culture and vulgarity. He said that a quality film requires around Rs 10 million investment while most of film producers were being asked for production of a Pashto movie at Rs two million cost which was insufficient to produce a quality Pashto movie.
He said Pashto films have high profit potential due to vast viewership in Pakistan mostly in KP, Karachi and Afghanistan. He recalled that when a Pashto film was finally released in the city in the past, thousands of film lovers with beat drums gathered outside the cinema houses and cheered in favour of their favourite hero that was now hardly seen today in Peshawar. "Our cultural values and minimal wages discourage new talent from joining the film industry."
Despite affected by terrorism, he said local film producers and cinema owners remained resilient and kept cinema houses functional even in most difficult times and provided entertainment to people. He urged the KP government to support those who believed in quality work and provide financial incentives inevitable to revive film industry in KP.
“We urged the provincial government to exempt cinemas from excessive taxation and provide better wages to the artist community enabling them to produce quality films like Orbal, Khana Badosh, Alzam and Deedan imperative for knowledge based society,†he said.
Renowned psychiatrist and former principal of Khyber Medical College, Professor Dr Khalid Mufti said one of the reasons for the rising trend of intolerance and violence in the society was dying cinemas culture.
 Terming cinema as an effective tool for nation building and expanding the country’s soft image globally, he said that quality films have the widest impact among all art forms including dramas, stage and theaters.
Pride of performance and pasto ghazals maestro Khayal Muhammad said that revival of cinemas was imperative to promote entertainment industry besides protecting youth from wrong hands.
He admitted that social media have also adversely affected cinemas culture and demanded construction of new cinemas and exemption of taxes and customs duties on films equipment besides jobs security to films makers, producers and artists for sustainable promotion of performing arts in Pakistan.
APP/fam/taj (APP Feature Service)
