Karachi One can count on one’s fingertips, the number of times an upcoming film was termed as the symbol of ‘Pakistani film industry’s revival.’ Clearly, that hasn’t been the easiest task and there’s a major reason behind it. Could it be that the Pakistani films of today lack the exquisite creativeness and raw appeal of those of the golden era that we have now forgotten? Lollywood enthusiasts such as Guddu Khan do think so.
Karachi
One can count on one’s fingertips, the number of times an upcoming film was termed as the symbol of ‘Pakistani film industry’s revival.’ Clearly, that hasn’t been the easiest task
and there’s a major reason behind it. Could it be that the Pakistani films of today lack the exquisite creativeness and raw appeal of those of the golden era that we have now forgotten? Lollywood enthusiasts such as Guddu Khan do think so.
Guddu Khan, an avid collector of Pakistani film posters, has been collecting them since the age of nine. Inspired by his childhood best friend’s mother, who was an actress, Khan started collecting various newspaper cuttings, photographs and posters and soon became obsessed with the industry.
Now many decades later, it is Khan’s stupendous collection that offers us a surreal time warp to the glorious days of the industry. In collaboration with the Alliance Française Karachi, Guddu Khan showcased his timeless collection of posters and photographs in an exhibit called ‘Filmistan- Janey Kahan Gaye Woh Din’ over the weekend. The exhibit showcased more than a hundred different posters, which ranged from Waheed Murad’s romantic dramas to the fuel-pumped, action-packed Sultan Rahi films. “This is not even twenty percent of my collection!” claimed Guddu Khan while talking to Instep. The event also included a session of live film poster painting by the craft’s local ‘Michelangelo’, Faiz Rahi.
Apart from offering one a vibrant visual experience, the playing of songs like ‘Sun Ve Bilori’ and ‘Koko Korina’ evoked a sense of nostalgia. From the dazzling seventies to the experimental eighties, the posters and photographs narrated the story of Pakistan’s ever-changing society and its subsequent impact on the industry.
Amongst the crowd, one spotted a very excited Mohsin Sayeed. “We have to see Pakistani films through their own context,” said Mohsin Sayeed while gesturing towards a film poster, “From the songs to the dance, all were part of the actual narrative. The films were original and full of new ideas.”
While carefully unwrapping his posters for the exhibit, Khan echoed the thought as he pointed out that the reason why Pakistani films worked earlier was because of originality. “There was no Bollywood influence whatsoever back in the day,” he added.
As the evening turned into night, Talat Hussain arrived amidst the claps of the crowd as the guest of honour and officially opened the exhibition. “It is exciting to see the young people attending and showing interest in the Pakistani film industry,” said Hussain in his opening speech, which he insisted would be in Urdu as it was the language of the industry.
Like most exhibitions one expected this to be yet another ordinary retreat meant for the artsy audience, but instead the crowd left with an enchanting, almost enthralling sense of wonderment. Perhaps, that was the beauty of the golden era of Pakistani film industry, which had the power to make the audience yearn for more.
The exhibition will continue till April 25 at the Alliance Française Karachi.
– Photographs by the author
