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Extra February 2005  << Back to Feature Page  Lollywood:
Pakistan's Formulaic Film Industry  Bollywood Online Extra
Photograph by Aamir Qureshi, AFP/Getty Images  Pakistani artists
add finishing touches to billboards announcing a movie in a
Karachi theater.  By Saadia Iqbal  Pakistan's film industry is
often described as hapless. Dubbed "Lollywood" for its base in
the city of Lahore, it doesn't compare with the thriving art,
literature, and music scene of this cultural hot spot in the
heart of Punjab Province. Funds are short, and movies are
painfully formulaic. In fact, if film reflects a culture, then
to outside observers Pakistan's collective psyche would seem to
be fixated on love songs, dancing, and fistfights where good
always defeats evil: something of a simplistic society. But in a
country where poverty, illiteracy, religious fundamentalism, and
population growth are all serious issues, the movie image
circumvents reality. Films remain stric