Islamabad, June 18: The raging wave of suicide bombings and attacks, some in reprisal for the military operations against local Taliban, are casting their shadow over cultural, film and showbiz activities in the country.
Lahore, the cultural capital and the center of Pakistan’s film industry, which is locally known as Lollywood, is the hardest hit. “Producers and actors are shattered. They have lost their confidence,” Khalid Farshori, a senior cultural reporter, told.
“Many of them have personally told me that they are thinking of joining other professions to earn their livelihood.”
Pakistan Future (Special page) He believes that the situation is worst in Lahore as only a very few films are being produced nowadays. “Theater has totally collapsed due to repeated bomb attacks on the theater and drama centers during the past few months.”
Farshori cited bomb attacks by suspected Taliban at Al-Hamra art and cultural center, the countrys largest performing arts institution in the midst of Lahore.
“Not only actors and producers, but audiences are also scared, and are not thronging the cinemas and theaters compounding the hardships of producers and actors who have been reeling from financial crunch.”
Even the government’s recent decision to lift a long-running ban on screening Indian films in local cinemas failed to attract the audiences.
The film industry in Lahore, known as Lollywood, a portmanteau of the city’s initial with Hollywood, started in 1929.
After the partition, Lahore was the only film production centre in the newly-found Pakistan.
Since then, film production centers have been opened in the cities of Karachi and Peshawar.
Changing Careers
Farshori, the senior cultural reporter, said some in the showbiz industry, including actors, are changing careers. “Many of them have personally told me that they are thinking of joining other professions to earn their livelihood.”
Alamzeb Mujahid, who until three months ago was one of the most famous Pushtu comedians with several dramas and theater shows in his credit, is one of them.
“He was kept under detention (by Taliban) for 15 to 20 days, and was released after he promised that he would give up acting,” Sardar Khan, a senior poet of Pushtu films and a close friend of Mujahid, told.
“He was a good actor who enthralled the audiences for over a decade by his performance.”
But now Mujahid, who was known as the comedy King of Pushtu, is teaching at a primary school located in the suburbs of Peshawar, the capital of the restive North Western Frontier Province (NWFP).
He is not the only one.
“Eight other colleagues have left the showbiz industry due to threats from Taliban,” said Khan.
“Various others have shifted to either Islamabad or other parts of the country to save their lives.”
Khan, who has been associated with the showbiz industry for 32 years and wrote songs for 32 Pushtu films and scores of audio albums, has also left the industry.
Though many believe this came under threats from Taliban, he insists otherwise.
“It was actually a command from my mother, who is seriously ill, and was never happy over my association with showbiz industry,” he told.
“I don’t want to get my mother angry, that’s why I have left the industry.”
But Khan still remembers the good old days.
“I miss those days. They were the best.”
-Agencies