Film Industry

The chequered history of Pakistan film industry is interspersed with many vicissitudes. Starting almost from a scratch soon after the political division of the Sub-continent, it gradually progressed to achieve self-reliance and prosperity, and a time came when it could proudly and successfully compete with quality films made across the border in India, matching them in all departments of cinematography.
The golden era of Pakistan cinema was the period which spanned the decades of the 60s and 70s, although a number of good movies had already been produced in Lahore studios during the second half of the 50s. A large number of dedicated workers and movie-makers, who had made names during their stay in Mumbai, like producer-directors Nazir, Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and W Z Ahmad (and their actress-wives Swaran Lata, Nur Jehan and Neena); directors Nazir Ajmeri, Luqman, S Fazli and Masud Parvez; and play-actors of the calibre of Shah Nawaz, Shakir, Alauddin, Charlie, Ghauri, Himaliyawala, Sadiq Ali, Shameem, Najma and Ragni contributed to the evolution of Pakistan film industry during the formative years of the new state.
The factors which contributed to the decline of Pakistan film industry were: the loss of East Pakistan territory; the inception of television; and the infiltration of non-artistic financiers, who had no or little background, either in the arts, or business. Consequently, senior film-makers (directors and composers including) went into voluntary exile and the industry was taken over by those rich people who invested money for purposes other than artistic ends...