The future of the Pakistani film industry is at the crossroads where every path appears to lead to the lowest pits of despair. Never has there been such a severe crisis, nor has the film industry declined as much as it does today.

Film is a powerful medium, it has benefits all over the world, but we have never paid attention to it. Pakistan's film industry has been moving forward on its own, past governments have done nothing but make a few promises. Since the founding of Pakistan, no significant steps have been taken at official level. That is why the film industry has been suffering from various ups and downs for 74 years.

Nevertheless, whenever the time came for Pakistan, the filmmakers produced brilliant films to awaken the nation. Excellent melodies were included in these films. The incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is thinking of solving the problems of the film industry and it remains to be seen whether the government will be limited to promises or some practical steps will be taken.

As the global coronavirus pandemic has shaken many industries around the world, the world of showbiz, especially cinema, has also been badly affected. The occasions of both Eidul-Fitr and Eidul-Azha have always been very important for Pakistan's film industry as people barely get seats in cinemas these days.

In 2019 during the week of Eidul-Fitr, two Pakistani films 'Wrong No 2' and 'Chhalawa' were screened which, according to the producers, collected Rs120 million and Rs110 million respectively at the box office. During this time, some Hollywood films were also screened, thus the eid week alone caused a revenue of Rs 40-45 crore for Pakistani cinema.

Pakistani films have failed miserably to make their mark. So they were not able to meet the demand for cinema.

At the start of the year 2020, expectations were high for the Pakistani cinema and film industry since it was scheduled to screen the most expensive film in Pakistani history 'The Legend of Mula Jutt' on Eidul-Fitr. On Eidul-Adha, big films like 'Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad', 'London Nahi Jaun Ga' and 'Ghabrana Nahi' were expected to be screened.

Another Saba Qamar-starrer named 'Kamli' is a tragic love story inspired by Punjabi folklore. Produced and directed by critically-acclaimed Sarmad Khoosat, work on the film had begun in December last year and was set to be completed soon. The lockdown, however, placed a question mark on its future.

Meanwhile, 'Chakkar,' produced and directed by Yasir Nawaz – and starring Ahsan Khan and Neelam Muneer and Yasir Nawaz – is a thriller-comedy, the partial shoot for which has also been completed.

The Pakistani award-winning film 'Zindagi Tamasha' was scheduled to be screened in January 2020 but was suspended due to threats. However, the Pakistan-based Oscar-nomination committee, headed by Sharmeen Obaid Chennai, selected the film for an Oscar nomination from Pakistan.

In 2020, only one Pakistani film 'Record' was released in cinemas on February 28, the same date when the first case of coronavirus was reported in Pakistan. The film was made by a few young people and the quality of its production was low.

According to Mirza Saad Baig, General Manager of Cinepax, the company that released the film, it was an experimental film and there were not many expectations with the film. During a week of screening, the film did not do much business to cover the cost of its release.

Baig said that the opening of a cinema depends on what is to be shown in the cinema. The last time the covid-19 cases subsided, the government allowed 50 percent of people to watch a movie in a cinema hall but now a lot of cinemas cannot run their own business because that does not cover the cost.

He further said that the producers of Pakistani films that are ready should not be interested in putting their films at 50% capacity as this would adversely affect their income.

Speaking about the gravity of the current situation, Nadeem Mandviwalla, owner of Mandviwalla Entertainment Cinema, said that most of the cinemas in shopping malls have not rented out shopping malls for a year and the debt burden increases with each passing month. He said that if the business is closed then from where will anyone pay the expenses.

According to him, some shopping malls have even asked the cinema owners to vacate if they want so that the space can be used for some other purpose, and if that happens it will be a big shock to the film industry as screens are already very few.

He further said that 70 to 80 percent of the cinema staff is unemployed, only the most essential staff is still employed but most of them have been told that we will pay you when the cinemas open.

He said that contacts have been made with the government and the government is taking interest in this matter but the problem is that since the coming of this government, four ministers have been changed in the concerned ministry, which has affected our work time and time again.

Nadeem Mandviwalla went on to say that former federal minister for information and broadcasting Syed Shibli Faraz had said that the government would announce a new Film Policy in March 2021 but it has not happened to date. According to the reports, only a preliminary outline of the new Film Policy has been prepared so far and it is unlikely to be approved in the next few months.

He further said that he has sent his suggestions to the government regarding the policy but at this time the government needs to give a bailout.

It is evident that filmmaking in Pakistan needs to be increased and supported from all fronts. The industry cannot afford any further damage.