(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Fig. 5 An overview of Pakistani cinema over the decades
Mandviwalla (ca. 2007) divides the growth pattern of Pakistani films into five periods. These periods depict a picture of
inconsistency and high instability due to such factors as government’s negligence to cinema’s needs, price control,
entertainment taxes, lack of funds, smuggling and piracy, East Pakistan separation, and banning of Indian films that caused
loss of bigger markets to construct its decline.
Monopoly years from 1947 to 1966: Pakistani cinema was the only medium of audiovisual entertainment.
Golden era from 1966 to 1977: Following a ban on Indian films, two parallel film industries matured in Lahore and Karachi
that focused on Punjabi and Urdu films respectively. This glory is shaded with deficit pointing to the progression of price
cutting practices that shaped copying trends and a compromise on originality and quality due to the loss of Indian and East
Pakistan markets.
Disaster years from 1977 to 1988: NAFDEC’s monopoly, unchanged ticket prices, heavy taxes, and the induction of VCR
with pirated films for home audience phase gradual shutting down of foreign film cinemas. The big budget English and
Hindi films reached every viewer, causing the failure of low budget Urdu films.
Deregulation and privatization from 1988 to 2001: NAFDEC was deregulated and film imports privatized. However, the
introduction of satellite TV in 1990/1991 facilitated film piracy and eventual collapse of Punjabi cinema because of the
cable TV networks.
Dying years from 2001 through 2010: The pirate market upgraded their facilities by introducing 8CD, VCD and DVD
manufacturing plants. The combination of the inexpensive, unregulated technologies facilitated home viewing of foreign
films, causing 90% downfall of audience attendance at the cinemas.
The Partition slug finally shaped into the composure of cinema during Ayub, Yahya, and Bhutto
regimes. It is perceived as the golden era of Pakistani films that remained the most popular form
of entertainment among youth till Zia imposed martial law in the mid-1970s (Fig. 5). Malik says
the new medium of films … create[d] enduring impact on the minds and lifestyles of the
people … The youth in Lahore spent their holidays in movie theatres to absorb… every
conceivable gesture, line and action and the turns in the plots of the films. They relished
spending the remainder of the week practicing “their repertoires” in the living rooms,
street corners and school and college grounds in the provincial metropolis (Malik, 2003).
During these two decades, film as a medium was equally important for the common and the elite.
Malik says the Pakistani film had a “poignant effect” on
some of the finest minds in Lahore … Poets, writers and intellectuals were sucked into its
enchanting and absorbing vortex … Lahore’s old and new studios … worked round the
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