Media plays an astronomical role in providing people an awareness regarding the issues and events happening throughout the world. It plays the role of a bridge that connects the general public with the governing people. In fact, media influences the thinking of the audience.
Balochistan mostly goes unnoticed and unheard by national media and its journalists. They fail to highlight the exact problems Balochistan has been facing from for decades. From the 90’s, the Baloch have been burning the midnight oil to give Balochistan a voice through their films. Film industry is an expression or a voice of the social and cultural life of a nation. In their films, the Baloch promote their culture, their tradition, their belief and customs which has prevailed in Balochistan for ages.
The beginning of Balochi film industry was a tragedy. It received less feedback and the films lacked quality. The actors couldn’t perform the characters in a good manner as they were not given proper training and understanding about expressions and dialogue sharing. As a result, the majority of the Baloch audience got weary of watching the films of their own film industry.
Before 2010, there were a number of cinemas across Balochistan, even districts like Turbat had cinemas. However, the cinemas are now closed and turned into shops or shopping malls. Very few cinemas can be found in the present.
In Balochistan, movies against the culture are vastly unaccepted, for example, the very first Balochi film which was produced by Anwar Iqbal, got released in 1976, and couldn’t make to cinemas. It was a love story, which was considered against the Balochi culture.
Undoubtedly, we have a number of talented filmmakers and actors, who are working from dawn to dusk with great passion and enthusiasm for the promotion of Balochi film industry. A few of the prominent names are, Dr. Hanif Shareef and Jaan Albaloushi. The list also includes entertainment actors like Hafeez Baloch and Wakar Baloch who are mostly seen in comic roles.
As a result of the efforts made by the talented people of the Balochi film industry, we can observe an amazing improvement in the recent films. After having walked through rough pathways, and a long time had passed, a film named “Jawaar” was released in 2017. It was awarded with first prize at Bahrain International Youth Creativity Awards. However, the Balochi films were and are released in Gulf countries and in Iran, but not in Pakistan.
Nonetheless, there are still obstacles in the betterment of Balochi films. In most of these films, the roles of the women are played by men. This creates a bad impression on the audience. As mentioned by Jaan Albaloushi who is a filmmaker, “Zaraab” film’s original script was different. They had to cut out the mother’s role, since there were no female actors willing to work in Gwadar. Another obstacle is that the talented people get undiscovered due to the lack of a proper platform. Very few get the chance to showcase their talent. Also, when a women is given the opportunity to work, she refuses, as she is not granted permission by her family members.
The major cause of backwardness of the Balochi film industry is that there is lack of fund from the government for the development and promotion of the film industry. Therefore, less money is spent on the films. The films showcase very common instruments and no expensive objects are used for the beautification of the scenes. Our government should work for the betterment of Balochi film industry as well as provide proper guiding to the people related to the industry through developing theatres, acting and production academies. The talented and aspiring people of Balochistan should be given opportunities to show their talent, their culture, their historical background and tradition to the world.
