For the recent revival of cinema in Pakistan, it is mostly filmmakers who have garnered the praise of both industry veterans and audiences. But two fraternities, whose contribution to laying the groundwork for the new wave of Pakistani films and film industry at large often goes unnoticed, are cinema owners and distributions.
Amid the nascent film industry, there has been an increase in the number of multiplexes in the country. To take a look at the growth of cinemas and what it augurs for Pakistani films, The Express Tribune talks to film distributor and HKC Entertainment chairman Hammad Chaudhry.
Owner of the only IMAX cinema in Pakistan, Cine Star in Lahore, Chaudhry has earned his spurs by importing international films, such as Queen, The Wolf of Wall Street, Her, American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave to Pakistan. “I have made a conscious effort to bring such films to Pakistan,” he says. “Audiences in Pakistan have become smart about the type of films they want to watch,” he adds.
Chaudhry terms film exhibitors as ‘the kings’ of Pakistani cinema. He feels that despite the upward trend in the industry, filmmakers need to enhance the marketing of their films and utilise PR companies to generate publicity for their products.
He speaks about the events that transpired on Eidul Azha when the Shaan-starrer Operation 021 was taken down by a few single-screen cinema owners, minutes into its screening. “That was sad. They [exhibitors and cinema owners] should sift through the films and not play the ones they don’t wish to play,” he states. But he is hopeful that such instances would not recur as more multiplexes are opening soon, especially smaller ones with 150 to 200 seats. “So, if an exhibitor feels a film doesn’t have the potential to be screened in a 400-seat cinema, he can shift it to his smaller theatre,” he notes.
The cinema mogul holds that audiences only choose to watch “brainless comedies as a form of escapist cinema.” Citing the success of Hollywood releases such as Fury and John Wick in Pakistan, he shares that people are gradually pivoting towards quality films.
Chaudhry, who is set to distribute the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in Pakistan, says that despite the box-office numbers generated by Bollywood films, the country will soon be swept by Hollywood movies. “Families are always inclined towards Bollywood as the language is easily understood across the country, but the box-office numbers of Hollywood films is fast increasing in the country,” he comments.
He feels that college and university-going audiences are candid about the type of films they want to watch, and are well-versed in commercial Hollywood and global cinema in general. “Let’s hope this trend continues to go up,” he says. Of his plans for expanding the IMAX cinema franchise in Pakistan, he says, “We are keen on building IMAX theatres in Karachi and Islamabad. The IMAX movie-watching experience is unparalleled and we can’t wait for the audiences in the two cities to experience it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2014.
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