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Masala flicks vs films with a message - What does the audience want?
According to Mohsin Yaseen, comedies do better in general, as drama movies with a message have a niche audience
FATIMA NIAZI ABOUT 22 HOURS AGO
Since the past two years, we have seen a boom in the cinema industry with a multitude of Pakistani movies being launched. However, we couldn't help but notice, the excessive amount of entertainment based films being churned out.
Movies like Khuda K liyay, Bol, Moor and Manto made us realize our potential to produce intellectual cinema, and that is what we were expecting from the industry. But then the likes of Jawani Phir Nahin Aney, Karachi se Lahore, Bin Roye, Lahore se Aagey etc started flooding cinema houses; all movies being family entertainers.
Needless to say, the glitz and glamour in these films, exceeded the box office earnings of movies like Manto. This made us wonder, does the audience prefer masala entertainers over movies with a message?
According to Mohsin Yaseen, marketing manager Cinepax, comedies do better in general, as drama movies with a message have a niche audience. "Comedies and masala movies are for the masses," he explained. "On Eid this year, Actor in law, Janaan and Zindagi Kitney Haseen Hai did a business of 50 crores combined. The fact is people prefer to watch entertainers with their families," he shared.
Nadeem Mandviwalla, of Mandviwalla entertainment, is of a similar view. "Khuda k liyay and Bol also did well even though they were based on sensitive issues. However, people come to cinemas for entertainment and overall, comedies do better," he further explained.
If masala entertainers do well financially, does that mean more producers will be joining the bandwagon? Will there be more Fair n lovely ka jalwa's and actresses telling us how 'tutti fruity' they are? Well, at the end of the day, it's all about demand and supply.
Vasay Chaudhry, the writer of JPNA himself is of the view that people like entertainment more than anything else, "It's the box office returns that matter." And according to the box office collections, out of all the movies, JPNA has earned the highest at the box office so far with 42 crore, whereas Manto only managed to earn 5 crore.
However, Chaudhry is also of the view that not all successful movies need to be entertainment flicks. "A bad comedy is as boring as a bad serious movie," said Vasay. He further emphasised his point saying, "The quality of the narrative matters, not the genre."
We do agree the narrative is important, but the box-office statistics show comedy/masala/entertainers doing better business in Pakistan. And since the producers are more concerned with profit, of course, they will focus on producing entertainers.
Does this mean we have to bid farewell to movies that come under the category of Bol, Moor and Manto?
Najaf Bilgrami doesn't think so. "We can't predict which genre will do better and anything can end up working for the audience," he reveals. "You won't find out till you try. We should keep trying and making films instead of jumping to conclusions about what the audience wants."
To be honest, Bilgrami does make a good point, and we can't just lose hope till we give other genres a shot. Even if comedies and masala films are preferred by the masses, our producers should continue making different films in order to develop the audience's taste.
http://www.hipinpakistan.com/news/1...ms-with-a-message-what-does-the-audience-want
@django @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye @Hell hound @The Eagle
According to Mohsin Yaseen, comedies do better in general, as drama movies with a message have a niche audience
FATIMA NIAZI ABOUT 22 HOURS AGO
Since the past two years, we have seen a boom in the cinema industry with a multitude of Pakistani movies being launched. However, we couldn't help but notice, the excessive amount of entertainment based films being churned out.
Movies like Khuda K liyay, Bol, Moor and Manto made us realize our potential to produce intellectual cinema, and that is what we were expecting from the industry. But then the likes of Jawani Phir Nahin Aney, Karachi se Lahore, Bin Roye, Lahore se Aagey etc started flooding cinema houses; all movies being family entertainers.
Needless to say, the glitz and glamour in these films, exceeded the box office earnings of movies like Manto. This made us wonder, does the audience prefer masala entertainers over movies with a message?
According to Mohsin Yaseen, marketing manager Cinepax, comedies do better in general, as drama movies with a message have a niche audience. "Comedies and masala movies are for the masses," he explained. "On Eid this year, Actor in law, Janaan and Zindagi Kitney Haseen Hai did a business of 50 crores combined. The fact is people prefer to watch entertainers with their families," he shared.
Nadeem Mandviwalla, of Mandviwalla entertainment, is of a similar view. "Khuda k liyay and Bol also did well even though they were based on sensitive issues. However, people come to cinemas for entertainment and overall, comedies do better," he further explained.
If masala entertainers do well financially, does that mean more producers will be joining the bandwagon? Will there be more Fair n lovely ka jalwa's and actresses telling us how 'tutti fruity' they are? Well, at the end of the day, it's all about demand and supply.
Vasay Chaudhry, the writer of JPNA himself is of the view that people like entertainment more than anything else, "It's the box office returns that matter." And according to the box office collections, out of all the movies, JPNA has earned the highest at the box office so far with 42 crore, whereas Manto only managed to earn 5 crore.
However, Chaudhry is also of the view that not all successful movies need to be entertainment flicks. "A bad comedy is as boring as a bad serious movie," said Vasay. He further emphasised his point saying, "The quality of the narrative matters, not the genre."
We do agree the narrative is important, but the box-office statistics show comedy/masala/entertainers doing better business in Pakistan. And since the producers are more concerned with profit, of course, they will focus on producing entertainers.
Does this mean we have to bid farewell to movies that come under the category of Bol, Moor and Manto?
Najaf Bilgrami doesn't think so. "We can't predict which genre will do better and anything can end up working for the audience," he reveals. "You won't find out till you try. We should keep trying and making films instead of jumping to conclusions about what the audience wants."
To be honest, Bilgrami does make a good point, and we can't just lose hope till we give other genres a shot. Even if comedies and masala films are preferred by the masses, our producers should continue making different films in order to develop the audience's taste.
http://www.hipinpakistan.com/news/1...ms-with-a-message-what-does-the-audience-want
@django @Moonlight @The Sandman @PaklovesTurkiye @Hell hound @The Eagle
