India's cultural onslaught

[Rebelkid]

http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=46071

Khalida Yasmin Marwat
Sukwinder Singh, a well known Indian singer is going to sing the song "Aey mere watan (India) k logo, zara aankh mein bhar lo pani" on August 15 (the Independence Day of India) in a Star Plus programme "Voice of India". Hundreds of audience hoisting Indian flag in their hands are seen dancing as the background is visualized by showing pictures of Dhyan Chand, Milkha Singh, Prakash Padekone, T Usha, Indian hockey team, Major Raywardnan Singh, Geet Sethi, Kapil Dev, and Mahindra Amarath, the heroes well know in their specific fields. Indian soldiers fighting against Pakistan and Indian cricket team enjoying victory against Pakistan are part of the footage. An 11-year old Ali is sitting in front of the TV, tapping on the song with same enthusiasm. The song changes and the singer starts "Chak De India" and because of the pop-up nature of the song, the little boy starts singing the same song with more patriotic zeal. This is what our traditional rival wishes to. India is much stronger than Pakistan: militarily, politically and economically. It had got many solid opportunities like Mumbai attacks, in the last two decades to attack Pakistan. But it wants to harm Pakistan without any cost and media propaganda is the best choice for this. Since 1947, India never accepted Pakistan as an independent state and tried twice to maintain the status of Akhand Bharat" by merging Pakistan into India once again. Militarily India never succeeded in its aim but it has already launched cultural offensive against Pakistan through its media and diplomacy. It has made an ideological attack on Pakistan and has culturally cloned us. By showing attractive dramas with adorable way of life, it is using such a tool which does not require any pressure or force. Through affective Media propaganda India is indoctrinating us and our carelessness is our hard luck. Cartoons which are source of entertainment for children have become culturally influenced Jay Hanuman Cartoons. Media which carries the status of biggest weapon of mass destruction is highly active and India is making an effective use of it against Pakistan. Through movies it has opened a new field of battle against Pakistan. It is trying to show that all Muslims and especially Pakistanis are terrorists and cause of tension in the world. They are shown as praying before doing anything bad. In the movie "Kurban" Saif Ali Khan, as an Ehsan Khan and all other terrorists are shown to be Muslims whereas the wife of Ehsan who is very innocent and about to expose the activities of her husband is Avantiqa, a Hindu lady. The terrorists in their movies carry one common thing, a Muslim name. Their movies are quite anti-Muslims whose only message is to tell the world that nobody who is a Muslim should be ignored. If you are a Muslim then you must be a fundamentalist. They must be inquired because even a professor is involved in the terrorist plan. Star Plus dramas are destroying our family system. Watching Star Plus drama, the Bahu wearing sari with Indian jewelleries is upset for Ragini, having hatred for her Saas. The sari wearing by Indian ladies in their dramas has made self brand in Pakistan. The clothes which were selling by the name of Gull Ahmad, Vaneeza, etc. are replaced by the names as Sadna, Ragini, Tulsi and many more. Jewelleries are sold by the name of Star Plus jewelleries whereas because of good and continuous marketing on various channels, Indian products are getting priority. Children are adopting Hindi language in their daily conversation and the school girls are impressed by the Indian dramas. Bhai (brother) which youngsters use for their elders in daily life is becoming a joke because of the Indian dramas and movies which are using this word Bhai for a criminal. The singing program "Do Qaumo ki Aik Awaz" released on Star Plus is another contradiction to our ideology and carries the only message that Indians and Pakistanis belong to same culture, same background, one family and one nation. One should ask India that if they want to promote peace and stability through entertainment and joint collaboration then why they rejected Pakistani players in IPL by saying that there is no room for Pakistanis. The tragedy is that this propaganda is targeting those youngsters who are going through mind building process and whose minds are easier to control. But the problem is not with India. Whatever they are doing is their national interest. The problem is with the Pakistan who is just going on to infuse it. In this era of modern technology it will be difficult for the government to control it because if the government bans the Indian channels even then people have the opportunity of Internets. So in order to formulate an affective counter strategy, the government and the citizens must work together. Government should make sure to promote its own cultures by releasing its own dramas based on our own culture and people should make sure the Indian culture free environment. Because this is the era of Media destruction and media has taken the shape of biggest weapon of mass destruction.

:happy_2: :happy_2: :happy_2: :happy_2: :happy_2:

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i know this should have been in the jokes thread..

 

[ajtr]

Pakistanis snap up Satellite dishes for Indian soaps​

Pakistani viewers are snapping up satellite dishes to tune in to Indian soap operas, Bollywood movies and music stations banned from their cable networks.

Lollywood star Sana is scheduled to make an appearance in a Bollywood movie this year Photo: AFP/GETTY

The trend is driven by women desperate for their regular fix of daytime soaps, according to sales assistants selling receivers to harassed menfolk.
Pakistan's Supreme Court banned more than 30 channels in August, but such is the popularity of Indian television that many cable operators have simply ignored the stricture. Where they have not, customers are buying dishes that allow them to receive Indian stations.

Muhammad Rashid, who owns a satellite TV shop in Lahore, said he had sold 300 dishes and receivers in the past month – almost three times what he would normally expect. "It is Pakistani girls who are nagging their husbands and fathers," he said.:happy_2:
"They love the dramas, the soap operas and say they won't cook until they can watch the programmes again.":emot15:
Racy soaps such as Tara, which featured the first on-screen kiss, have proved wildly popular across South Asia.Roshan Khan, a shopper, said he was no fan but his wife and two daughters had been nagging him for days to buy a satellite TV service.
"They are addicted to Indian channels and can no longer think about life without them," he said.

 

[SATISH]

Darn soaps....I have seen LEDs and LCDs flying out of the windows because of that. If the author is male i stand by him.


DEATH TO SOAPS

 

[mayfair]

I am amused though not surprised that the author who singled out Kurbaan as a symbol of anti-muslim bigotry in "Hindu" movies, failed to mention

That the protagonist who foiled the plot was a Muslim-American named Riyaz,
That the central character in Chak de India was Kabir Khan and Pakistan actually won the hockey world cup in that movie,
That Paki entertainment is so crappy that not even flood victims can bear to watch it lest they exacerbate their misery.

Selective amnesia is indeed a delightful thing.

 

[ajtr]

MPAs debate impact of Indian TV, cartoons and music​

A resolution calling for a ban on Indian cartoons was one of the five presented and defeated in the assembly. Law Minister Rana Sanaullah defended the composition of the taskforces working in the province.

MPA Samina Khawar Hayat said that the Indian media were manipulating the minds of the children through Indian cartoons. She said that they were promoting the Hindu culture in Pakistani children, and proposed a resolution banning such programmes.

Deputy speaker Rana Mashood responded that the channels could not be banned and people should take responsibility for their children. "If we bring up our children in a proper way, no such programme can affect them," he said.

Advocate Tayyaba Zameer said that the devastation caused by the Indian dramas was far greater than the devastation brought by the floods or the earthquake.

PPP MPA Sajjida Mir opposed the resolution, saying it would be followed by a resolution demanding the closure of Hindu temples and gurdwaras. Hayat replied that she had moved the resolution for the benefit of the children of Pakistan.

Hassan Murtaza, a PPP MPA, said that the Pakistani society had double standards.

He said that things condemned inside the assembly were openly followed outside it. He said that Khwaja Imran Nazir apparently opposed Indian songs, but listened to them in private. "Yesterday, when I asked Khwaja Imran Nazir for a lift, he was listening to Munni Badnam, an Indian song, in his car," he said. Nazir called Murataza a 'liar.' "I have never given Hassan Murtaza a lift," Nazir said.

 

[ajtr]

A cartoonish lot​

—Reem Wasay

The people of this country have elected this intellectually deficit lot, probably because of our own national embargo on rationality and reason. Now that they are here, it is essential that they implement the will of the people, not defend their own diminished discernment

I have a bone to pick with Ms Samina Khawar Hayat, one I would like to pry out of her fame-hungry jaws of notoriety before she issues any more rabid statements in an assembly a taxpayer such as myself is paying for. Proposing a resolution in the Punjab Assembly seeking to ban Indian cartoons on Pakistan's airwaves, Ms Hayat is beginning to sink to a level lower than can be imagined. Apparently, the PML-Q MPA is of the opinion that the culturally potent nature of the cartoons will impact our children in unimaginably blasphemous ways. Pondering on the many debasements of a Hindu culture setting up shop in the impressionable minds of Pakistani children, Ms Hayat is eager to strip media programming of animation because it is somehow "far greater" than the devastation brought on by the recent floods and the cataclysmic earthquake of 2005. I reckon catastrophes such as those are also nothing in comparison to the catastrophes sitting in our house of representatives.

It is here that I plead for a little restraint in ludicrousy and a quick dabble in cerebral sagacity if ever this land and its legislatures possessed some. Any broadcast, whether local or international, objectionable or functional, kiddy or adult, is subject to the laws of telecast objectivity before being unleashed on the white noise that has become the prime time backdrop of the idiot box. The cartoons in question are ones belonging to a mould of religious mythology, commonly broadcast all over the world targeting children aged anywhere between five and fifteen. Indian cartoons such as those depicting the Mahabharata and the Ramayana belong in the same league as, for example, the Judeo-Christian The Story Keeper series and the Buddhist comic strip series Rahula Leads the Way. All such caricatured attempts at feeding the ever-evolving child's mind aim at one thing only: teaching the child the essence of good. All religions and all their mythological renditions profess only to teach the doctrines of love, struggle, faith and human goodness. The Mahabharata lays down some golden philosophical nuggets that transcend the petty limits that humans have blindly bestowed on themselves in the name of rejectionist ideologies. Using characters of allegorical standing, the tales carried in the Mahabharata speak of benevolent actions, intentions and righteousness (dharma), goals for life and fabled epics of yore. From where I see it, these are not exactly instructions in debauchery imparted to children who are today growing up in a society where the gun and jihad have become mascots in a macabre version of the desi Teletubbies. Instead of looking to wipe out such ideologies, more cultural and religious diversity ought to be introduced on the airwaves so that our children today understand the enrichment of cultural cultivation, where fables and folktales provide them with some sanity and sufferance, and the ethos of tolerance and human virtue. No bad can ever come out of learning about the essence of good, no matter which religious core it belongs to.

However, there are many like Ms Hayat who believe that such myths will amount to nothing except severing our children's cultural jugular from the crescent on the green. If we allow the nation's children to grow up in a world envisioned by Ms Hayat, we would have a youth of amplified proportions sitting on psychiatrist couches all over the country because the fathers of the land would be off making merry with four wives in tow. The recent marriage of a man in Multan to two women at the same time and the stupendous celebrations observed thereafter are jahaliyya practices that gain feverish momentum when political pedestrians such as Ms Hayat endorse them. Ms Hayat's cultural jargon would have it seen to that women, who have fought long and hard to introduce some semblance of egalitarianism in this patriarchal void that disguises itself as a state, not even know when their husbands have decided to do the nasty with someone else. Horribly misleading the illiterate public with her rants and raves about what men can do at the expense of their wives, Ms Hayat is a sorry depiction of all that is wrong with our decision makers. Because most of them cannot utter a word of significance, they waste our time and money with nonsensical issues to garner some ill-gotten acknowledgement.

However, the people of this country have elected this intellectually deficit lot, probably because of our own national embargo on rationality and reason. Now that they are here, it is essential that they implement the will of the people, not defend their own diminished discernment. Citizens such as myself are fuming that in order to disguise their ineptitude, our parliamentarians are sullying the true nature of their calling. We do not want you to override the assemblies with dismal notions of morality and we do not want you to decide for us what to watch and when to watch it. Those parked in our assemblies have absolutely no right to decide how best to impart chaste fabrications to a society where the salt is mined from a blackened earth.

I have a novel idea for Ms Hayat, one that might actually benefit the children she is so keen to protect. Seeing that the practice of attaining power through ill-gotten means is a lesson in vice that every child is taught to abhor, your fake degree is morally repugnant for our future generations. The fact that you attained a Bachelors degree in 2002 from a university that did not offer it until 2009 ought to serve as a lesson in the diversion of ethics for our children. The fact that you endorse public and private humiliation of the mothers of these children by way of paternal profligacy does not place you on any pedestal of moral privilege. If you truly want to save the nation's children Ms Hayat, stay far, far away from any matters related to them.

The writer is an Assistant Editor, Daily Times and participant of the Salzburg Trilogue and an essayist and lecturer on interfaith discourse. She can be reached at [email protected]

 

[Pintu]

Nothing but the sense of 'inferiority complex' mainly born by Pakistani Punjabi Elites , and 'ego' mixed up with 'over cooked conspiracy theory' tabled this sort of pshyco, it's really a pity Pakistan with such a wide pool of talent in cultural , music, can not showcase her jewels.

Regards

 

[maomao]

"Vinash Kale Vipreet Budhi"

"When End is Near, Even Brain Starts Working in Opposite Direction (Towards Further Enhancement of Destruction)"


Instead of Blood; Pakistani dementia, frustration, insecurity and conspiracy theories run in their veins, there is one Pakistan daily (In English, I can't even imagine what Urdu news papers would be writing), this news daily creates its own news and own articles without citing any references, and it constantly tries to shove Delusional Filth and Victim-hood down their readers throats.

 

[Tshering22]

What cultural onslaught? Pakistan and Afghanistan were a part of Indian culture, faith and way of life always. Afghanistan and Pakistan might be seen by West and China as access to Central Asia but are historically our territories and our power bases and this farce won't last long that is going on today. By constantly telling themselves that they're descendants of Arabs and Turks and "ruled over poor and weak Hindoos for 1,000 years" they've forgotten their own limited history, shaky present and doomed future.

 

[navida]

I don't know if it is relevant to this thread. But some of the interesting and important Indian themed public art in San Farncisco, where I live.
First is the Nataraja statue in front of the city's governor building(civic centre). But they have named it Buddha for reason unknown. Second is Gandhi's statue at the Emabrcedero building, the gateway to the city.

 

[Daredevil]

Pakistani are scared of Indian culture because of their own perceived insecurities regarding their artificial identity and culture which is unable to hold their nation together as it should.

 

[mayfair]

Interesting, they are more scared of Indian culture than Western/Chinese influences..perhaps because we are an example of what they could have become without all the pretentiousness, hatred and bigotry running in their veins, and this scares them big time. If their people come to truly realise this, they are in deep shite. Take land reforms for instance- if the landless Haris and other peasants there see the results of those reforms in India and rise up in demand of the same in the land of the pure, the elites may be forced to confront issues which are dismissed as consequences of Allah's will.

The Western culture can be easily explained away as belonging to an entirely different socio-economic-ethnic order...

 

[Pintu]

Pakistani are scared of Indian culture because of their own perceived insecurities regarding their artificial identity and culture which is unable to hold their nation together as it should.

Actually matter is that , what ritesh have pointed out in a different thread, same way I agree with you both that when their leaders have created the country for the people of Islam religion i.e. Pakistan 'Land of Pure', 1/3rd of the population practicing Islam as their religion, chose not to secede with India, and remain with Union of India, thus bearing the very secular character of India, 1/3rd joined them but soon found themselves being discriminated by the majority of those who have first propagated the idea of the separate country, there born the 'identity crisis', thus very identity crisis,that prevailed from the very day of birth of the nation when father of the nation (here M.A. Jinnah) did not get the respect from his own people whom he had gifted a separate land (though that gift came up wrapped in blood), thus from the very first day the nation found itself torn between the 'Cultural Collision' between 'Bengali's ,Punjabi's, Sindhi's' the failure of amalgamation of the peoples who traveled from the parts of India to Pakistan, the Mohajir , مهاجر, by the name they were/are scorned with hatred, thus were another nail in 'Pakistani' identity, those were the failure, for very Pakistani ideology & identity, the movement of recognition of 'Bengali', in East Pakistan, and clash with Bengali-NonBengali identity, saw the secession of 1/3rd who had joined just in 24 years of the birth of a nation, the Baloch-Sindhi-Punjabi cultural clash and growing Baloch resentment over Punjabi elite domination, and their sense of 'deprive of their own resources' gave birth to 'Baluchistan Conflict', so the very existence of 'Pakistan Identity' is on the verge of extinction, not to mention growing resentment of the Kashmiri population in Gilgit , Balitstan i.e. PoK (or , Azad Jammu and Kashmir, as what is being referred آزاد جموں و کشمیر,in the map of that nation[Pakistan]), non existence of Pakistani control of NWFP, so let alone the culture, when very existence of a ideology that gave birth of a nation in jeopardy, then existence of 'culture' really in question, so those who are the propagator of the thought of Pakistan are in the desperate attempt, becomes cynical or tends to cynical at anything 'Indian', and Harping on Anti-Indian sentiment from time to time to hold the thought of nation together in a bid but futile attempt, , thereby ignoring the very fact that these culture (which they scorns)belongs to very Indian sub continent where they born , brought up, drank the same water and felt the purity of air, and its impossible to part those from the heart of common people in core, even from the core from their heart themselves.

I think may here lies the answer.

Regards

 

[ajtr]

What exactly is Pakistan's 'cultural heritage'?​

Although the peaceful times we live in must leave the Punjab government with plenty of free time on its hands, their recent action of banning a Hindu cartoon shows well their sense of priorities. Of all the inane things to do, a government-sanctioned committee spent six weeks deciding whether or not to ban the one Hindu cartoon that airs on a TV channel — this amidst the plethora of absolute nonsense which we bear on our television screens.
I was a bit confused when I first heard that one programme on TV could supposedly corrupt our children's Muslim morals, go against our Pakistani culture and encourage citizens to fraternise with the enemy. Apparently, the Punjab government mandarins think that watching an animated Ganesh or Hanuman for 30 minutes a week can brainwash our impressionable youth into believing they should renounce Islam, cross the border, double-cross the ISI, sell their souls, etcetera. After all, we have already observed how Dora the Explorer has duped our kids into believing that they are Hispanic and Sesame Street into forcing us all to think we are hairy muppets and should refer to ourselves in the third person. The fact that their faith in Islam or definition of 'Pakistani culture' is quite so delicate that it requires censorship to maintain, is of course irrelevant. To each his own, but at the rate our MPAs are going, I'm afraid they might need more saving than children who watch animated shows about mythology.
As for the issue of what exactly is Pakistan's 'cultural heritage', it is worth pointing out that those who get into such a debate should at the very least get their facts right. The fact is that we didn't actually inherit our culture from an alien land. Partition did not unfortunately erase about a millenia of heritage that we got from being — don't shoot me — Indian. Surely our governments — provincial as well as federal — know that some people across the border (the Hindu kind) actually speak the same language as us, not to mention that they have several other equally unfortunate similarities.
Denying that India plays a part in our pure Pakistani culture would require that we stop eating biryani. Immediately. From now on, we might want to consider a ban on all food that doesn't originate from the holy land, because after all, we are not Indian. If anything has to be banned at all on television, I suggest that the censoring authorities start with banning a man who has incited others on his show to kill Ahmadis. Also, how about acting against shows where reporters barge into tents of flood survivors — many of them women observing purdah — and terrifying them into sharing their stories; because misery sells. Maybe when they're done with all that, they can spare a glance for a Hindu cartoon.

 

[ajtr]

Indian films corrupting minds of young: Pak lawmakers​

Pakistani lawmakers have complained that Indian films have "flooded" the local markets and are "corrupting the minds of the younger generation" but the government has said that the country's film culture would die if it barred the screening of Bollywood productions.
The parliamentarians raised the issue in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament on Wednesday and told the Speaker that the government should take steps to address their concerns.

"Children are now incorporating Indian words and terminologies in normal conversation," complained lawmaker Tahira Aurangzeb of the main opposition PML-N party.

She asked Culture Minister Pir Aftab Hussain ShahJilani if Pakistani films too were being screened in a big way in Indian markets.

The lawmakers also objected to illegally imported foreign films "overflowing" the Pakistani markets.

Jilani, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People's Party, admitted that Pakistani films did not enjoy the same liking in Indian markets. "The gesture is not reciprocated," he said."But if foreign films and especially Indian movies are discontinued, the struggling cinema culture will completely die. The idea is to keep the cinema houses going, that would otherwise have been turned into marriage halls and other business ventures," Jilani said.

The screening of foreign films and an increase in cinema halls will trigger competition and encourage local producers to make better movies, he argued.

"We realise that illegally imported films have flooded markets and are damaging Pakistan`s local productions but that is the subject of the Ministry of Information," Jilani said.

Responding to a question, he said his ministry had no role to play in helping Pakistani artists in working with foreign filmmakers.

Films like the Salman starrer Dabangg, which had earlier been banned in the country, turned superhits, attracting massive footfalls in Pakistan cinema halls. Some reports even suggested seventy to eighty per cent occupancy for the film which was released worldwide on Eid this year.

 

[ajtr]

Local filmmakers dream of post-Taliban renaissance​

AFP
November 15, 2010 (5 days ago)

Pakistani men watch a local film in a cinema in Peshawar, Pakistan. – AP (File Photo)
LAHORE: Spinning tales of love and revenge packed with testosterone, filmmakers from Pakistan's Taliban-hit northwest dream of stamping out militancy and restoring their culture to a bygone era.

Coming from an area known as a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold infamous for religious seminaries that recuit young men into "holy war", Pashtun actors say they are promoting the benign side of their heritage.

Clad in traditional white shalwar kameez and topi prayer cap, director Ajab Gul says he uses cinema to promote pride in his warrior culture and provide an outlet for young men at risk of being lured by militant mullahs.

"The young generation is illiterate and unemployed and having a lot of problems. They need to be involved," says the 45-year-old former actor.

"If you do not entertain and pay attention to the youth they will end up into terrorism."

Filmmakers brush aside fears of Islamist attacks, but working with ageing equipment and desperate to keep their loss-hit industry alive, they admit the sector is in financial crisis. But it was not always that way.

The first Pashto film, made in India in the 1930s, was an adaptation of the Sufi love story, "Laila Majnu" and preceded the industry's 1970s heyday when a series of classical cultural tales were adapted for the big screen.

But in the 1980s a new type of Pashto film was born that Gul and his actors say damaged the industry with its sexed-up love scenes — heavy on dancing and light on plot, in poor imitation of Bollywood cinema.

In one such trailer a woman in heavy make-up and a figure-hugging dress clutches the vest of her beefy beau and gazes beseechingly at the sky, while he, his hairy chest on display, stares moodily into the camera.

The scene switches to a fast action sequence in which men with fake beards and moustaches wage battle, throwing scarcely believable punches and firing pistols as their enemies are covered in splashes of red paint.

The new style offended cultural mores in an increasingly conservative Muslim society and their poor quality turned a generation of Pashtun moviegoers off films made in their own language.

"1980-1998 were very bad years for the Pashtun film industry, with very bad movies that weren't suitable to our culture," said Gul.

Pakistan has suffered increasing Islamisation, economic malaise and cultural marginalisation, but so great is suspicion of India it is perhaps unsurprising that filmmakers blame their rivals for conspiring in their decline.

"The main reason was RAW (Indian intelligence) trying to kill us off because they couldn't compete with Pashtun culture and language," says Gul.

His team, who work in Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore because of a lack of studios in the northwest, say they are trying to return Pashto film to its chaste roots while giving their own take on the community's social problems.

Actress Rahila Agha, 39, who has worked in the industry for 11 years, plays a mother in Gul's latest film, in which her two sons – one a police officer and another a traffic cop — are fighting.

"It's about Pashtun traditions and rivalries," says Gul.

Agha, who is not Pashtun but comes from the traditionally more moderate province of Punjab, says film plays a vital role in the Pashtun community.

"I've worked with many heroes," says the buxom 39-year-old, fluttering her heavily made-up eyelashes. "People like me, that's the reason I'm here."

But the cinema refuses to tackle religious or cultural taboos head on.

"We cannot because of security," says Gul.

"That's our restriction, we can't touch taboos"¦ because we represent almost two million people, we have to live in that culture."

Another convention unchallenged is male dominance in a society in which women often keep purdah, meaning that they are kept out of sight of men, and in which they are subject to arranged marriage, frequently as teenagers.

"In these movies women also have desires, but they accept the man's supremacy," says Gul. "This is the culture and this should be."

But the industry is in dire straits, with only a dozen movies now made each year, down from 40 in its heyday. Gul says he often expects a 50 percent loss on each film distributed.

A lead actor in one of Gul's movies now commands a fee of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees (2,332 dollars).

Gul blames security fears among would-be moviegoers and poor equipment affecting production values, which contrast miserably with the big-budget and wildly popular Bollywood smash hits that play in cinemas across Pakistan.

Militants have launched attacks on music stores and other cultural institutions in the northwest, although cinemas have been largely untouched so far, residents say because of the films' waning popularity.

Gul Akbar Khan Afridi, 70, chairman of the Pashtun film association, says a safer environment could turn the industry's fortunes around.

"Because of the security situation people are not coming to the cinemas. If the situation improves, the film industry will be better," he says, hopefully. – AFP