Mawara Tahir
Pakistani film industry faced many ups and downs since the beginning of the century. It had a major fall back in the 2000’s in Lahore, as there was a gradual shift of actors, directors, producers and filmmakers from Lahore to Karachi. By 2007, Pakistan’s struggling film industry started to recuperate and Karachi had established itself as the hub of Pakistani film industry. This was the time when a new generation of actors and directors emerged and ventured into the business. Short movies with quality story line and new ideas were introduced in the Pakistani films. Many believe this was the reason behind the “resurgence of Pakistani cinema”. Lately, Pakistani movies have started pulling in a solid fan following.
With Pakistani film industry flourishin many actors rose to prominence. Besides the commercial movies, Pakistani art movies were also highly appreciated and some have also been nominated in renowned film festivals.
This year, a Pakistani movie has made to the Venice International Film Festival while another one got nominated for the Oscars 2020 besides being nominated in 92nd Academy Awards.
Movie “Darling” was recently premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. Directed by Saim Sadiq the movie was selected as the Best Short Film at the film festival. The role of Alina in ‘Darling’ is played by Alina Khan, a real transgirl from Lahore who made her acting debut in the film. Last year another short film by Sadiq: ‘Nice Talking to You’ had won the Best Director Award at the Columbia University Film Festival.
Laal Kabootar is a 2019 Pakistani action film produced by Hania Cheema and Kamil Cheema, written by Ali Abbas Naqvi and directed by Kamal Khan. Laal Kabootar did the TV Premier on 31 August 2019. It also made to Pakistan’s official entry for 92nd Academy Awards, which are to be held in 2020.
Pakistan has selected Laal Kabootar as its submission for the 2020 Oscars international feature film category.Laal Kabootar made its way to the Oscars for its commendable plot and performances. Pakistan has also received two Oscars in the documentary category previously- both by renowned film producer Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. She first won an Oscar with co-executive Daniel Junge for movie “Saving Face” in 2012, trailed by another success in 2016 in the short documentry “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”.
After making it to the Oscars, ‘Laal Kabootar’ has bagged yet another achievement. Action hero, Ahmed Ali Akbar makes Pakistan proud after winning the best actor male for Laal Kabootar in Washington DC South Asian Film Festival.
Pakistani film industry no doubt is flourishing and making great progress at present!
