HE Pashto films have failed to pull crowd. Three Pashto films are being screened in the city despite droopy cultural track. Kalashnikov-wielding hero and villains are opposite to what was shown to a passionate crowed in the past. In the past, Pashto films were based on stories. Once a person watched a film, he would tell and retell it to street friends. It was time when Badar Munir, Yasmin Khan, Surraya Khan, Asif Khan, Nimat Sarhadi, Baidar Bakht, Jamil Babar and others performed in Pashto films. In the wake of dwindling number of cinema houses, vulgarity, weak script and story coupled with booming satellite channels and informationtechnology tools, the local film industry is unlikely to survive. As a matter of nationwide comparison, at least three Pashto films were screened annually. Making of Urdu and Punjabi films has long been stopped. Gone are the days when enthusiasts would flock cinema halls to watch Yousaf Khan Sherbano, Urbal, Meranai Wror, Dehkan, Ganhkap and Ajab Khan Afridi, to name few. Today`s films are totally bereft of action, story and dialogues. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is left with few cinema houses that will also meet the same fate soon.

Text and picture by Ashfaq Yusufzai