News Desk |
Ali Rehman Khan candidly spoke of gradual transformation in mindsets surrounding entertainment industry in Pakistan and its expanding scope in the country in his latest interview to an international publication in Dubai. He is currently promoting his action-comedy movie ‘Parchi’ that is set to release in UAE this weekend.
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“One thing I’ve noticed about Pakistan recently is that the youth really want to be something and that something is entertainers! Not doctors or engineers or anything conventional! They don’t want to go abroad and find a job – they want to come into the entertainment industry because everyone has some talent, be it singing, acting, or comedy. The field has gotten popular not just with children, but also with parents – at first, they were wary of their kids entering the entertainment industry – they were like, you shouldn’t get in there, it’s not a good industry, but now there is a certain pride about being in the industry.”
Khan also offered an insight into the content and plot of the movie. He says the movie has largely drawn its inspiration from Bollywood movies like ‘Delhi Belly’, ‘Andaaz Apna Apna’, and ‘Hera Pheri’.
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“Parchi is basically a comedy of errors. Its super-funny script was written by the very talented Shafqat Khan. I’m not at liberty to say too much about the film but what I can tell you is that it’s about this conman who somehow cons the mob and goes on the run; he gets his friends involved, and together they encounter some very interesting characters. I guess it’s not so much the script as the situations he lands himself and his friends in – that’s where the comedy is.”
Khan admitted Pakistani entertainment industry is in its growing stage and hence extensively requires talents for its different sectors. He, however, praised his co-actors in the movie including Hareem Farooq, Osman Mukhtar, and Ahmad Ali.
“One of the great and unique things about Parchi is that there are so many talented actors in the film. Some that haven’t been discovered yet. They’re all from theatre backgrounds. Everyone brings their own flavor to the film. When you watch it you’re definitely going to have a favorite!”
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“Considering how Pakistani cinema is still in its infancy and growing, we need the huge amount of talent that we have (in other fields of entertainment) to come into films. What I love about Parchi is that there are all these different characters showcasing different talent – there will be a character that’s just silent throughout the film, but you won’t stop looking at him!”
“The most exciting thing about the film scene in Pakistan is that there is so much yet to do – so many scripts to be written, and so many movies to be made. It’s an industry that hasn’t done a lot yet so there’s room for so much more. In Pakistan we have a huge television drama industry – it’s phenomenal, we even have big stars from across the border in Bollywood, who love watching our dramas.”
“But unfortunately our film industry is now in its revival stage, it’s coming back up. There’s not much going on because we lack the facilities, the technical know-how, and I think those will come with time. Also, there’s not so much money that goes into the industry right now, we don’t have enough multiplexes, and we have to build an audience,” he added.
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In the later part of his interview, Khan acknowledged Pakistani cinema’s dire need to create its distinct identity in the international world instead of following the footprints of Indian film industry.
“We need to have an international audience, just like Bollywood does. Another thing is that we still don’t have our own identity because we have been following Bollywood for so long, that it sometimes tends to overshadow some of the work we do. So some of our commercial cinema tends to go that way. But the exciting part is that in the process, we’re also finding ourselves. Just like Iranian cinema has found itself – it’s one of the best cinemas in the world, it has such an amazing plethora of content.”