Last year, Pakistan's film industry resurrected from the ashes and cinema houses finally managed to attract interest from people other than narcotic addicts and stray dogs. The cats had to find new birth grounds as they were replaced by evolved, dancing billis on-screen. Heartbreakingly for him, Ishtehari Gujjar no longer remained the talk of the town. A flickering light coming from a silhouetted candle on Shaan's study table offered a gleam of hope to whatever was left of Lollywood.
If you don't enjoy watching Shaan fight off a gazillion goons in a ketchup-soaked shirt, Lollywood is not for you. If you don't enjoy watching Hollywood rip-offs in Punjabi and Urdu, Lollywood is not for you. If you're a Bollywood fan who is in love with Shahrukh Khan's teeth, Lollywood is most certainly not for you.
In an eventful year for Pakistan's film industry, Pakistanis were treated with films like Waar, Namaloom Afraad and Jalaibee. Pakistani actors too found themselves the object of a tug-of-love between Bollywood and Lollywood – beginning to tire with their life in Pakistan and wanting to leave for pastures new. A certain Disney prince managed to land a role tailor-made for him and a legitimate justification of his cocky attitude and dress sense. Another singer-cum-model-cum-actor-cum-lyricist-cum-painter was privileged enough to act alongside Govinda and two other actors that perfectly fit the definition of mailay. May God bless Imran Abbas with more acting roles alongside Bipasha Basu and other creatures.
Talking about blessings, the golden-boy of Lollywood, Hamza Ali Abbasi is in the news these days for purely sexist reasons. Ostensibly a television actor but capable of playing a varied number of roles, he proved quite the crowd-pleaser after starring in Pyaare Afzal. "I am tremendously proud of myself for refusing to do 50 Shades of Grey despite the numerous pleas of the director and the entire American nation," Abbasi claimed in an exclusive interview with The Male-Nation, while showing-off his collection of toys and swimsuits. "The director even tried to convince me by proposing an item song featuring Jewish models dancing on Banega Naya Pakistan, but I am proud of myself as I didn't give in," he further added.
When it comes to actresses, Pakistan has always been the good-looking neighbour. Do not be surprised the next time you hear that a Pakistani model has received movie offers from the American, Indian, Telugu and Bengali industries. Be surprised when they reject all of those offers to romance with Emraan Hashmi in a cricket-based movie instead. The industry is not short of talent or actresses that can fake a British accent and have the name Sanam. A special shout-out to Mahnoor Baloch for being young and, well, young. An even more special shout-out to Meesha Shafi for being Meesha Shafi.
Apart from substandard banter and lousy jokes, Pakistan's film industry has indeed undergone a renaissance in terms of its content and the entire credit goes to the actors, actresses and a certain Lashari. What differentiates our industry from Bollywood, is our ability to highlight key issues through our movies rather than making cheesy box-office hits. After a successful one-year, Lollywood should try to capitalise on its new fan-base and produce films that depict our culture and spread a positive image of Pakistan all over the globe.
On a side note, Shaan is immortal.
