Cinema of Pakistan
The film industry of Pakistan, consisting of motion pictures, has had a large effect on Pakistani society and culture since the nation's independence. Pakistani cinema is made up of various sub-industries, including Lollywood, which makes motion pictures in Urdu and Punjabi. Lollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the country.
Pakistani cinema includes films made in various Pakistani languages, which reflect the linguistic diversity of the country itself. The largest language-based film industries in the country include Punjabi, Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi, and Balochi cinema.
Pakistani cinema has played an important part in the country's culture. In recent years, it has begun flourishing again after years of decline, catering to audiences in Pakistan and expatriates abroad. Several film industries are based in Pakistan, which tend to be regional and niche in nature.
Between 1947 and 2007, Pakistani cinema was predominantly based in Lahore, home to the nation's largest film industry. Pakistani films during this period attracted large audiences and had a strong cult following. They were a part of the mainstream culture, and were widely available and imitated by the masses. During the early 1970s, Pakistan was the world's fourth-largest producer of feature films.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the film industry went through several periods of ups and downs, a reflection of its dependency on state funding and incentives. By 2000, the film industry in Lahore had collapsed and saw a gradual shift of Pakistani actors, actresses, producers and filmmakers from Lahore to Karachi.
By 2007, the wounds of Pakistan's collapsed film industry began to heal and Karachi had cemented itself as the new center of Pakistani cinema. Over the subsequent years, a new generation of producers entered the industry, bringing developments such as novel storylines, shorter films, and new technology. This led to the popularity of an alternative form of Pakistani cinema. The shift has been seen by many as the leading cause for what has been referred to as the "resurgence of Pakistani cinema". Despite the crisis starting in the mid-1970s, Pakistani films have retained much of their distinctive identity, and since the shift to Karachi, they have regained their following.
In 2022, Joyland became the first Pakistani film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected as the nation's entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards and was shortlisted for the award.
Statistics
Over 14,000 Urdu feature films have been produced in Pakistan since 1948, as well as over 10,000 in Punjabi, over 8,000 in Pashto, over 4,000 in Sindhi, and 1,000 in Balochi. The first film ever produced in Pakistan was Husn Ka Daku in 1929, directed by Abdur Rashid Kardar in Lahore. The first ever Pakistani-film produced was Teri Yaad, directed by Daud Chand in 1948.Pakistan Film Magazine, established in 1999, is the most extensive online database dedicated to Pakistani cinema; as of 2013, it had catalogued over 4,000 films, approximately 4,500 film artists, and around 6,500 film songs.
As of 2025, there were an estimated 6,000 performing artists and 9,000 production crew members from various sectors in the country.
History
Silent Era (1929–1946)
The history of cinema in Pakistan began in 1929, when Abdur Rashid Kardar set up a studio and production company under the name of United Players Corporation, which would become the foundation stone for the Lahore film industry. After scouting for locations, he settled for their offices to be established at Ravi Road. The dimly-lit area presented difficulties as shootings were only possible in daylight, but nevertheless, the area had some very important landmarks like the Ravi Forest and the tombs of Mughal emperor Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan. It is reported that the team working at the studios would commute on tangas and even lost equipment once while traveling on the bumpy roads on the horse-drawn carriage.However basic and crude their working conditions were, Kardar believed in his work and in 1929 he produced the first silent film in Lahore under his studio's banner, Husn Ka Daku. The film was only mildly successful at cinemas, but it managed to establish Lahore as a functioning center of a film industry. Kardar then decided to focus on direction, not acting. Immediately afterwards, the studio released the film Sarfarosh in 1930; in 1931, the films Farebi Daku and ''Khooni Katar '' were released. All three of these starred Gul Hamid in the lead role, and had similar supporting casts. None of the films was able to stir much noise about the Lahore film industry; in the 1930s, as the nascent Urdu-language industry was forming, many Hindi and Punjabi language films were also being screened in the area.
Another early producer was Roop K. Shorey, who, upon hearing of Lahore's growing film industry, returned to his hometown and produced Qismat Ke Haer Pher in 1932. In 1946, Sajjad Gul's father Agha G. A. Gul set up Evernew Studios on Multan Road. The following year, Eveready Pictures was established by J.C. Anand, which would go on to become the largest film production and distribution company in Pakistan.
Independence and growth (1947–1959)
, after Pakistan was created out of British India, Lahore became the hub of cinema in Pakistan. By 1947 there were around 80 cinemas in East Bengal. In March 1948, when the Governor-General of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah came to visit East Bengal, the radio broadcaster and filmmaker Nazir Ahmed was commissioned to create the informational film In Our Midst with the help of Calcutta-based film technicians. It was the first informational film of the province. Upon independence, there was a shortage of funds and filming equipment, which initially paralysed the film industry. Despite these obstacles, the first Pakistani feature film, Teri Yaad was released on 7 August 1948, and premiered at the Parbat Theatre in Lahore.It was in the 1950s that the industry's fortunes changed. In earlier years, Pakistani films had been met with lukewarm reception and failed to perform well at box offices. This changed with the release of Do Ansoo on 7 April 1950, which became the nation's first film to attain a 25-week viewing and silver jubilee status. Noor Jehan's directorial debut Chanway was released on 29 April 1951, and was also commercially successful. This was the first Pakistani film directed by a woman. In the second half of the decade, higher-budget films began to be made, a trend begun by the producer Syed Faqir Ahmad Shah in 1955 and this trend continued in his second production Jagga in 1958, directed by his son Saqlain Rizvi. The film remained mediocre in the cinema.
As cinema viewership increased, the industry found more success. The 1954 film Sassi, produced by Eveready Pictures, reached golden jubilee status, and the 1959 film Umar Marvi was the first Pakistani film made in Sindhi. The playback singer Ahmed Rushdi's career also began during this period, after singing his first song in Bander Road Se Kemari.
To celebrate the success of these endeavours, film journalist Ilyas Rashidi launched an annual awarding event on 17 July 1957. Named the Nigar Awards, the event has become Pakistan's most prominent awards event for filmmaking.
The Golden Era (1959–1977)
The 1960s is often called the golden era of Pakistani cinema, and it was then that the first generation of Pakistani cinema's legends were introduced. As black and white films became obsolete, colour films such as Munshi Dil's Azra in 1962, Zahir Raihan's Sangam in 1964, and Mala. Also released in 1962 were Shaheed, which introduced the Palestine conflict to Pakistanis in cinemas and became an instant hit, and Charagh Jalta Raha, which marked the debut of the influential Mohammad Ali and was premiered by Fatima Jinnah on 9 March 1962 at Nishat Cinema in Karachi.In September 1965, following the war between Pakistan and India, all Indian films were completely banned. Although a light ban had existed since 1952 in West Pakistan and since 1962 in East Pakistan, this was enforced more strictly in the war's aftermath. Pakistani cinemas did not suffer much from the decision to remove the films and instead received better attendances.
Realising the potential for success in film, Waheed Murad entered the industry then. His persona led people to call him the "chocolate hero." His 1966 film Armaan was one of the most cherished Urdu films to ever be released. The film is said to have given birth to Pakistani pop music, by introducing playback singing legends like composer Sohail Rana and singer Ahmed Rushdi. The film became the first to complete a 75-week screening at cinemas throughout the country, thus attaining a platinum jubilee status. Waheed Murad was picturised in a song for the first time ever in director Saqlain Rizvi's Mamta, released in 1963. Another rising star during this period was Nadeem Baig, who received instant stardom with his debut film Chakori in 1967.
Horror films were introduced with the release of Zinda Laash, making it the first Pakistani film to display an R rating tag on its posters. Meanwhile, Eastern Films Magazine, a tabloid edited by Said Haroon, became a popular magazine for film-lovers in Pakistan. It featured a question and answer section titled "Yours Impishly," for which the sub-editor Asif Noorani took inspiration from I. S. Johar's page in India's Filmfare magazine. Tabloids like these got their first controversial covers with the release of Neela Parbat on 3 January 1969, which became Pakistan's first feature-film with an adults-only tag. It ran for only three-to-four days at the box office. More controversial yet would be the offering of distribution rights in the Middle East to the Palestinian guerrilla organisation, Al Fatah, by the writer, producer, and director Riaz Shahid for his film Zarqa released on 17 October 1969. It depicted the activities of the organisation.
Towards the late 1960s and early 1970s, political turmoil once again returned with the East Pakistan conflict brewing. Amidst concerns, the film Dosti, was released on 7 February 1971 and turned out to be the first indigenous Urdu film to complete 101 weeks of success at the box office, making it the first recipient of a diamond jubilee. As political uncertainty took charge of the entertainment industry, filmmakers were asked to consider the socio-political impacts of their films. For instance, the makers of Tehzeeb, released on 20 November 1971, were asked to change the lyrics of a song that might have proved detrimental to the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Pakistan. So vulnerable was the film industry to the changing political landscape that in 1976, an angry mob set fire to a cinema in Quetta just before the release of the first Balochi film, Hammal O Mahganj.
Javed Jabbar's Beyond the Last Mountain, released on 2 December 1976, was Pakistan's first venture into English film-making. The Urdu version Musafir did not do well at the box office. Signs of trouble slowly began in the cinema industry as VCRs and piracy became an issue.