Icon awaits PM Gilanis funding for film industry

LAHORE - Renowned Lollywood star and PPP Punjabs Cultural Wing President Mustafa Qureshi has said that Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has promised with the artist community that the government will provide funding for the revival of the Pakistan film industry. In a telephonic conversation with this scribe on Sunday, Qureshi said the Prime Minister had made this promise with the senior artists in a meeting held in Islamabad. In a telephonic conversation with this scribe on Sunday, Mustafa Qureshi said, the Prime Minister had made this promise with the senior artistes in a meeting held in Islamabad few days back. Qureshi said the meeting also took note of the plight of the artiste community. PM Gilani said he would make an announcement in his address to the nation on Aug 14 for the welfare of the poor, senior and needy artistes. Qureshi said he was very thankful to the PM that he himself had called the artiste community for a meeting and had listened them with keen interest. Now I am very optimistic that the PM will solve our all problems. Qureshi said that Shaheed Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto had made him PPP Punjab Cultural Wing President. When Mohtrama had made me Cultural Wing President, I had asked Mohtrama that 'I would make cultural wing 90 per cent cultural and 10 per cent political, because intellectual, poets and writers should be included in the cultural wing. Besides, if we had such type of big personalities in our cultural wing, then the worth of our wing would be elevated and if we would make it mere political then we would not be benefited from the wisdom of these intellectual persons. Mohtarama had agreed with me, Qureshi declared. When I asked Mohtarama that through this cultural wing we would make a 'think tank, in which the poets and intellectuals would talk and discuss every problem, then Mohtarama had endorsed my suggestion and had said that she had also wanted this and had expressed her happiness and satisfaction. Then in Mohtarams regime I had organised many programmes under this wing, in which big intellectual personalities participated, Qureshi recalled. But now due to worsening situation facing the country, lack of funds and due to terrorism in the country we have not been so active for the last some times. As the President and the Prime Minister were facing the terrorism we the artistes community should assist them and cooperate with them to tackle the terrorism. Quoting the meeting with PM, Qureshi said that he asked the PM that today there were only 200 cinemas out of 900 and the artiste community had been neglected severely as there was no Minister of Culture also, Qureshi maintained. He said there was a time when more than 100 to 150 films had been made yearly in the country and now only 8 to 10 films were being made. Our films have a history of its own, while the film technicians were also jobless and free. He asked that movies can be used to show a positive image of the country abroad and the PM had agreed with me. Qureshi confessed that he was against the exhibition of the Indian movies in Pakistani cinemas and the Indian movies which were being exhibited in countrys cinemas were not coming under any law, cinema owners were importing them from Dubai and London under some imported goods rule. He said cinema owners had there own problems, after all they have to run their cinemas otherwise they would be forced to destroy their cinemas and build shopping plazas. Qureshi said that he had requested the PM that National Film Development Corporation (NAFDEC) should also be revived because our leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had established it, whereas, the awards should also be given to the artistes to encourage them. There should be a check on the use of Indian content in Pakistani advertisements and plays and I am sorry to say that Pakistani channels used to telecast Indian actors news that Rekha had now become 55 years old and Amitabh Bachan had a pain in his abdomen, but when the Pakistani artiste died then they telecast a so brief news about his death, Qureshi deplored. Qureshi said that he also asked for the governments assistance in importing modern equipment and a laboratory for film processing, so that the producers and directors would not feel any botherness for the processing of their films in Bangkok or India. On the other hand the Pakistani exchequer will not go outside the country.