Rug Pundits » Cinema http://rugpundits.com From the other side of the fence Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:54:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 heer ranjha or terror, taliban and totay – where is Pakistan’s cinema? http://rugpundits.com/2009/12/28/heer-e-ranjha-or-terrortalibantotay-where-is-pakistans-cinema/ http://rugpundits.com/2009/12/28/heer-e-ranjha-or-terrortalibantotay-where-is-pakistans-cinema/#comments Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:40:41 +0000 Jakob Steiner http://pakchronicle.com/?p=337 I just returned from the cinema watching Boz Salkyn, a Kyrgyz movie – a simple story about bride-kidnapping, love and the Kyrgyz people. It has some Heer Ranja aspects. It’s emotional, completely a-political without the aim to critizice society, the state or question religion. Central Asian states, although in similar troubles as Pakistan when it comes to political turmoil, social unrest and religious fundamentalism seem to bring out movies of this type steadily while movies from Pakistan always have to revolve around Religion, it’s history still present, Guns, the “failed state” image or trying to be independent of these popular topics by creating material void of context and storyline or simple splatter. Some film makers have started initiatives, others are producing marvellous work but where can you watch it apart from the DOP’s private hard drive?

Who dares to make a Pakistani movie that does not have to claim to be made “60 miles away from the Taliban” to gain attention? A movie that’s worth watching because it’s simply a good movie without having to associate Pakistan with Terror, Taliban or Totay. A movie that can be shown in Trannum cinema in Androon Sheher and people will leave being touched by the story rather than one that is just screened in a living room in DHA before it immediately leaves to European/US film festivals where people are moved because they associate veiled women with Videos from Swat and bearded men with Videos from as-Sahab.

]]> http://rugpundits.com/2009/12/28/heer-e-ranjha-or-terrortalibantotay-where-is-pakistans-cinema/feed/ 1