Innovation: Forgotten Ingredient Haunting Pakistan’s Entertainment Industry

For many Pakistanis, the film and entertainment industry is growing, and it is a passage for many newcomers towards fame, wealth, and stardom. Yet this very same industry is also suffering from uncertainty, like many other industries in Pakistan. What makes things worse is the lack of innovation that exists in the Pakistani film and entertainment industry. This lack of innovation is parallel to the lack of education that exists among the content creators of the industry. For starters, let’s think about the movies and dramas that have become hits beyond Pakistan. Only a handful of names such as “Khuda Kay Liye,” the recent case of “The Legend of Maula Jatt,” and dramas such as “Hum Safar (2011)”. Meanwhile, our neighbors, such as India, have produced countless films and TV series in recent years that have become popular globally. I mean, sure, our dramas are still better than India’s, but when it comes to making modern TV series for streaming services and films, the Bollywood industry is light years ahead. Such a huge difference is now becoming problematic for our film and entertainment industries.

An average person might blame nepotism as the culprit behind the decline of our film and entertainment industry, but I think the reasons behind the decline are a bit more complicated. You see, nepotism even exists in Bollywood, but the current state of the industry is entirely different from our own. As I mentioned earlier, a lack of innovation exists within our film and entertainment industries, which is parallel to the lack of education that exists among many of the content creators who are part of the industry. Another reason is the public perception of the industry. The public is far more interested in the content developed by the veterans of the Bollywood and Hollywood industries, which is becoming a major challenge for our own entertainment sector. The problem also exists with the existence of the conservative environment that is part of the working middle class; for them, the content should focus on domestic matters and traditional love stories with ups and downs.

The public has never gone beyond this genre for years, and from this development, we can see that our entertainment industry is solely producing content focusing on the usual love stories and domestic issues. It is important for the people working in our entertainment sector to understand that they are the trendsetters and that they are the ones that can bring a change to the public taste and choices of the genre. Our industry veterans need to see the necessity of introducing new genres and innovative methods in our film and entertainment industries, and such measures will likely create a scenario where our public will take an interest in new genres and stories. Instead of criticizing the Hollywood and Bollywood industries for taking the interest of our local public away from home-grown entertainment,. It is essential for our film and entertainment veterans to study the success stories of the Bollywood industry and come up with new ways to generate innovative content for the public.