Lollywood: Actor Zara Noor Abbas has said Pakistani cinema needs to deliver films audiences want to watch rather than expect support simply because a production is local.
Speaking to The Express Tribune while promoting her film Sheroes, Abbas said the idea that people should watch Pakistani films solely to support the industry was outdated.
“People want entertainment,” she said, arguing that filmmakers have the responsibility to convince audiences that a cinema ticket costing between Rs1500 and Rs2000 is worth paying for.
Her argument reflects a challenge facing Pakistani cinema: audiences have supported local productions when films have generated enough interest to bring people to theatres.
The Legend of Maula Jatt drew audiences in Pakistan and overseas, while films such as Teefa in Trouble and the Jawani Phir Nahi Ani series also performed at the box office. Their reception suggests that support for Pakistani cinema is not necessarily absent, but depends on what audiences believe they are getting in return for the ticket price.
That calculation has become more relevant as households deal with inflation and viewers have access to films and television through Netflix and other streaming platforms without travelling to a cinema or paying separately for each title.
For filmmakers, this means a cinema outing now competes not only with other films but also with home entertainment and the wider cost of going out. A request to “support Pakistani cinema” may therefore carry less weight when viewers are deciding whether a film justifies the money and time involved.
Abbas pointed to franchises such as Spider Man as an example of how films can build an audience that returns for subsequent releases. She said Pakistan also needs to develop franchises and establish enough confidence among viewers that they know what to expect when buying a ticket.
The actor stopped short of making that promise about Sheroes, instead asking audiences to give the film a chance.
Sheroes is an anthology comprising three stories centred on women. Abbas leads the segment Gear Up, playing a police officer specialising in bomb disposal, while Kinza Hashmi and Ushna Shah lead the other two segments, Artist and Punch.
Sheroes is a project of the Sindh Information Department's Sindh Films initiative, made in collaboration with Geo Films. Imran Hussain produced the anthology, and Saqib Khan and Badar Mehmood directed it, with stories written by Mohsin Ali, Hashim Nadeem, and Amna Mufti. It stars Zara Noor Abbas, Kinza Hashmi and Ushna Shah in three standalone segments. Tamasha Films is presenting the project, while Orient Distribution is handling its theatrical release.
For Pakistani cinema, Abbas's point shifts the question from whether audiences should support local films to whether local films are giving audiences enough reason to leave home and pay for the experience.
