Analysis: A shot-in-the-foot Eid

Analysis: A shot-in-the-foot Eid

Filmmaking in Pakistan is in its initial stages, no matter what filmmakers say about the revival of film industry in the country. Apart from a few knowledgeable people in the country, others have no idea about how the business of films works in this part of the world. That’s one of the main reasons why this Eid is all set to be the worst in recent years as people with no knowledge were trusted with making films, and they failed to deliver.

One must quote the director of Yalghar Dr Hassan Waqas Rana who declared that his film would stand against any venture from abroad and that’s the spirit we need to admire. He didn’t have any issues with the release of Tubelight as he had complete faith in his own product, something others don’t. The decision to not release Tubelight in Pakistan has damaged the business and the over-patriotic people should be blamed for this ill-thought suggestion. Let me explain why.

Two years back when Bin Roye and Wrong No. were released, they had to face stiff competition from Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijan. Thankfully, Bajrangi Bhaijan became a huge hit all over the world and people thronged to watch Sallu bhai in action. Those who didn’t get the ticket stayed back and watched either Bin Roye or Wrong No. as none of the cast members of both films (excluding may be Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed) had the ‘pull-factor’ of Salman Khan. All three films were declared winners and everyone went home a happy man. The cinema industry also got a boost due to this sudden rise in business, which continued till the cinema owners decided to ban Indian films because of Uri attack.

Fast forward to 2017 when the cinema industry is in its worst phase due to that self-imposed ban as well as bad quality films produced in the first five months. Some highly intelligent people met before Ramazan and decided to ban Salman Khan’s Tubelight because in their minds, if the film got released, it will cut down the business of Yalghar and/or Mehrunisa V Lub U. What they didn’t anticipate was the fact that a Pakistani film can pull just a few people on Eid day whereas a Salman Khan film – no matter how bad – pulls every Salman Khan fan. The statement by Yalghar-star Shaan regarding the length of his role didn’t go down well with the audience – hence the advance booking was at its all-time low.

Mehrunisa V Lub U also failed to attract audience because all pre-release reviews (except one) bashed the film for its vulgar script, nonsensical dialogues and below average acting. Yes there was a message but that came very late in the film, when half of the audience would have left or would be sleeping. It’s only for the frontbenchers that too at single screen cinemas because the kind of ‘stage humour’ in the film is the reason no one goes to theatre anymore.

The English films are there too but one of them – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tells No Tales – was declared a flop when it was released a month back internationally. Same is the case with the fifth installment of Transformers that hasn’t done well at the Box Office. Baby Driver, the film with the most impressive trailer, would be released on Wednesday while the release of Cars 3 has been pushed forward as well. Kids will throng the cinemas for Despicable Me 3 and may be Wonder Woman that was the highest-grossing film in Ramazan. Tom Cruise will greet the audience with The Mummy, which is possibly his worst film ever but as he says, ‘Desperate Times, Desperate Measures’. The moral of the story is that one shouldn’t play God even if it means for cinema business because you never know which film might hit, or might miss at the box office....