What makes the revival of Pakistani cinema an uphill task

[Joe Shearer]

Very well said! Before that it used to be Amitabh, Rajesh Khana, Shatrugan Sinha, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra etc.

The UAE has been a cross road of trade for ages, with the sub continent being its biggest trade partners. Most of my fathers generation studied in the Sub continent, since we were a British colony upto 1971, hence no universities.

His generation, the educated ones, can speak fluently, while mine can, to a very great extent, and those who can't speak, understand it at least. The cinema, has played its part in it as well.

If I'm not mistaken, we have about +/- 4.3m from the Subcontinent, out of a total population of 9.5m/10m.

I'm gobsmacked.

I've been dealing with the UAE for years - well, not as much as Kuwait, perhaps - and never suspected this. Other than the shock of meeting our sponsor in Dubai, and finding a polished gentleman who spoke a very pukka British English, and told me stories of his personal encounters with Nehru over tea, served in exquisite china, with paper-thin cucumber sandwiches, a delicious caraway-seed tea cake, and little cupcakes, with another zillion little snacks. Impressed by all these, I tried to make a good impression on him and told him how much I liked the mezzeh they served me in Egypt, and he leant back in his wickerwork chair, smiled indulgently and exclaimed, "Ah! So you like our Arab hor d'ouvres! Splendid, young man. I must have you over for dinner next time you pop across on a visit."

But that so many spoke Urdu I had no idea.

 

[Khafee]

I'm gobsmacked.

I've been dealing with the UAE for years - well, not as much as Kuwait, perhaps - and never suspected this. Other than the shock of meeting our sponsor in Dubai, and finding a polished gentleman who spoke a very pukka British English, and told me stories of his personal encounters with Nehru over tea, served in exquisite china, with paper-thin cucumber sandwiches, a delicious caraway-seed tea cake, and little cupcakes, with another zillion little snacks. Impressed by all these, I tried to make a good impression on him and told him how much I liked the mezzeh they served me in Egypt, and he leant back in his wickerwork chair, smiled indulgently and exclaimed, "Ah! So you like our Arab hor d'ouvres! Splendid, young man. I must have you over for dinner next time you pop across on a visit."

But that so many spoke Urdu I had no idea.

You might wanna be careful when dealing with Arabs, those who don't speak, surely do understand Urdu / Hindi. They act innocent to get the upper hand.

 

[Mage]

Haven't seen any Iranian movies yet any good recommendations?

Allow me to butt in.

My favorite Iranian movie is Baran by Majid Majidi.
I'd also recommend A seperation and About Elly.

As well as this one:

The Taste of Cherry

 

[Joe Shearer]

You might wanna be careful when dealing with Arabs, those who don't speak, surely do understand Urdu / Hindi. They act innocent to get the upper hand.

Mortifying.

To think of the trouble I took to speak simple English (I never spoke Hindi to my colleagues, or Tamil, in the presence of a client), to learn their special likes and dislikes, to bring them the simple gifts that they seemed to like (Trichy twisted cigars for one, traditional attar for another, Mysore coffee for a third), and all the while they were sitting there laughing their heads off at this bozo trying to be nice.

Ah well.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Allow me to butt in.

My favorite Iranian movie is Baran by Majid Majidi.
I'd also recommend A seperation and About Elly.

As well as this one:

Thanks. Once my life is a little less turbulent, I must try and get to these.

 

[Khafee]

Mortifying.

To think of the trouble I took to speak simple English (I never spoke Hindi to my colleagues, or Tamil, in the presence of a client), to learn their special likes and dislikes, to bring them the simple gifts that they seemed to like (Trichy twisted cigars for one, traditional attar for another, Mysore coffee for a third), and all the while they were sitting there laughing their heads off at this bozo trying to be nice.

Ah well.

Well IF I were in their shoes, I'm sure I would appreciate the respect & gesture. SO you be your self, and dont worry about what others think.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Well IF I were in their shoes, I'm sure I would appreciate the respect & gesture. SO you be your self, and dont worry about what others think.

Don't get me wrong; they were always very friendly, and very appreciative. My friend of the cigars always had a little gift for me, fresh Turkish Delight, if he had notice that I was on the way, and since every visit was scheduled at least two weeks ahead, he had notice.

When my dear friend Mohammed Rafi left his job with a very big Kuwaiti organisation, his successor, Mu'awiya, became one of my closest friends, even more cordial than Rafi Sahib. At first, I was a little hesitant and unsure about how to deal with him (for one thing, because of his name, associated in my mind with dark days in history), but he swept us off our feet.

No complaints; and actually, almost all of them were exceedingly good to do business with.

 

[Scorpion]

You might wanna be careful when dealing with Arabs, those who don't speak, surely do understand Urdu / Hindi. They act innocent to get the upper hand.

What about Arabs?

Considering how Hindi, Urdu and Farsi are influenced by Arabic, yes many many words are well understood but the context remain vague.

 

[Scorpion]

Waiting for the Cinema to open its doors in Saudi Arabia. The first movie to be displayed is called Born A King. A very interesting movie depicting the lives of His Royal Highness King Faisal May almighty have mercy on him.

 

[Indus Falcon]

I'm gobsmacked.

I've been dealing with the UAE for years - well, not as much as Kuwait, perhaps - and never suspected this. Other than the shock of meeting our sponsor in Dubai, and finding a polished gentleman who spoke a very pukka British English, and told me stories of his personal encounters with Nehru over tea, served in exquisite china, with paper-thin cucumber sandwiches, a delicious caraway-seed tea cake, and little cupcakes, with another zillion little snacks. Impressed by all these, I tried to make a good impression on him and told him how much I liked the mezzeh they served me in Egypt, and he leant back in his wickerwork chair, smiled indulgently and exclaimed, "Ah! So you like our Arab hor d'ouvres! Splendid, young man. I must have you over for dinner next time you pop across on a visit."

But that so many spoke Urdu I had no idea.

@Khafee can correct me, but from what I understand, pre-1971 80% of the Emiratis that went aboard either went to Karachi or Bombay. The rest went to Cairo, Kuwait or UK. Besides that, marriages from Karachi and Hyderabad also played a role.

So you will find a lot of Emiratis who speak fluent Urdu / Hindi.

 

[Hellhound]

Brilliant article. I wonder if any of you, @H!thchiker, @The Sandman, @Hellhound, got that ironic passing remark about Indian films and their impact.

But this works both ways. What the author did not mention, as not being relevant to his subject, was the desiccation of Indian films by the outlawing of very good actors from Pakistan.

many nationalist will not agree with it but truth is our cinemas needs business and they can't make profit with the amount of films produced locally.so we need to import some. given the language commonality bollywood is the obvious choice for the cinema owners.
plus credit where it is due it was the bollywood which forced our film industry to raise our standards and in turn help us revive dead lollywood.