Pakistan is trying to recreate its image on the international platform. Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has urged the filmmakers of the country to create original content instead of copying the Indian film industry. PM Khan was speaking at a short film festival in Islamabad. He said, in the initial days, the filmmakers saw Bollywood as a better industry and felt that if they would copy the Indian content, Pakistan’s film industry would flourish. The idea came from the fact that people used to go to Kabul to see Indian films, said Khan.
He said, “So the most important thing I want to say to young filmmakers is that according to my experience of the world, only originality sells — the copy has no value,” He urged the filmmakers to come up with new ideas and techniques. “So my (advice) to young filmmakers is to bring your own original thinking and don’t fear failure. It is my life’s experience that the one who is afraid of defeat can never win,” he added.
Khan said that while the film industry was trying to copy Indian content, the Pakistani television industry created original content, and several series got popular in India. Khan slammed the idea of popularizing the “soft side of Pakistan” and claimed that Pakistan had been wrongly depicted in the war against terrorism. He urged the Pakistani filmmakers to promote “Pakistaniyat” instead of copying Bollywood or Hollywood.
Khan’s attack on the Indian film industry
This is not the first time Imran Khan has attacked the Indian film industry in his speeches. In January 2021, he linked sex crimes in Pakistan to the content coming from Hollywood and Bollywood. He alleged that the content that is being imported from Hollywood to Bollywood to Pakistan is the reason behind sex crimes in Pakistan.
Last year he linked the rise of divorces in Pakistan to Bollywood. In August 2019, Pakistan had imposed a complete ban on drama, films and other Indian content in the country. The decision was taken as a part of several steps Pakistan took after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.