“Main Shah Rukh Khan Hoon” and what Lollywood fails to understand
Why Lollywood fails to understand that its content does not impress audiences.
The poster for the upcoming Mohsin Abbas Haider movie titled “Main Shah Rukh Khan Hoon” was revealed.
The movie sees Mohsin Abbas Haider play five different roles. According to sources, the film is inspired after the Bollywood icon himself Shah Rukh Khan.
Despite the revelation of the poster, there has not been much discussion about the upcoming film. In fact, if one checks social media, no one ever talks about movies from the Pakistani film industry.
The five recently released movies by the Pakistani film industry failed to do wonders on the box office. This again ties to my earlier point about a lack of interest towards Pakistani movies.
The hard reality is that people seemingly do not care about the Pakistani film industry. Though truth be told, why would they?
Lack of quality from the Pakistani film industry
The hard honest truth is that the Pakistani film industry lacks quality.
Many of the movies that are produced by the industry are extremely lackluster. Many of these films focus on the same issues and use the same tropes as shown in dramas on tv.
There is not much that separates movies from tv. What makes the matter worse is that the same people we see on television also appear in these films.
Thus, its no wonder why people don’t feel like watching any movie produced by the Pakistani film industry.
I mean think about it. Why would people watch movies that are almost similar to what they watch daily on TV.
The Pakistani film industry and its obsession with Bollywood
Another issue that really needs to be addressed is the Pakistani film industry and its obsession with Bollywood.
Many of our films follow the similar rom-com storylines that we usually see in Bollywood films. Many of our songs and dance are heavily inspired by dance numbers in Bollywood films.
Even our recent films try to emulate modern day Bollywood films. Case in point: the recently released film “Parde Mein Rehne Do”.
It is no different from the Ayushman Khurrana film “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan”. Both films are based on the same social issue of infertility. They both also happen to be filmed in rural areas.
Even the poster of the recently released film “Rishtay” was heavily inspired from the poster of the Bollywood classic “Khabi Khushi Khabi Gham”.
In fact just from its trailer alone, one can tell it looks like a bad rendition of a generic Bollywood film.
The Pakistani film industry and its demand for greater support
Recently the Pakistani film industry showed their displeasure with the release of “Doctor Strange”.
Many felt that cinemas should have helped promote Pakistani films by releasing the Marvel movie two weeks later.
They believe that such a step would have been necessary to help promote the local film industry. However, such a proposal will not benefit the Pakistani film industry.
In fact, it will only hurt local cinemas who are trying to revive their businesses. Hence, they will do what is best for their business to flourish. Which in this case, is to show films that will generate profits for them. Unfortunately, for the Pakistani film industry, their movies do not help cinemas profit.
For Pakistani films to be profitable, they have to be crowd pullers. In order for them to do that, they must start producing content that is more relatable. They need to make content that is more engaging.
Films of the past such as “Khuda Ke Liye”, “Bol” and “Waar” have shown that Pakistani films can be entertaining. They can also prove to be box office success and possible money grabbers for cinemas.
However, if the Pakistani film industry continue to make movies that are similar to tv dramas, then not much will help them in the long run. If they continue to seek inspiration from Bollywood and not find their own groove, then the local industry will suffer.
Simply do not just blame the audience for choosing better content, try to make your own content better.
Final thoughts about the Pakistani film industry
While we wait to see the trailer for “Main Shah Rukh Khan Hoon”, we are hopeful that Lollywood delivers us something good.
Although based off what we have seen so far from them, its hard to keep high expectations for this upcoming movie.
We really hope that the Pakistani film industry ups its game and produce high quality content. Otherwise it will continue to get overshadowed by movies from Hollywood and beyond.
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