Pakistani film industry, very unpopularly known as Lollywood after its more popular cousins Bollywood, Hollywood and Tollywood, is not taken very seriously in the global entertainment industry. On one hand, there is Bollywood, the neighboring arch rival, which has even surpassed Hollywood in the number of films produced annually; and on the other there is Lollywood itself which was once producing just two movies annually.
Post the shifting of Pakistan film industry from Lahore to Karachi, the industry started flourishing but it still stands unable to compete with Bollywood, let alone Hollywood due to many reasons. But all the real art lovers very well know that artistic abilities have nothing to do with popularity.
The reasons that restrict the growth and development of Pakistani films and art is nothing but the political landscape and a much stricter censorship laws, due to which the native artists find Bollywood a much safer and suitable platform than their own entertainment industry. Despite this, Pakistani artists and art is better than Indian in many different ways.
Daily Soaps
On one hand, we have the over-stretched Saas-Bahu sagas that make the Indian small screen, on the other hand we have Pakistani serials, which have a realistic approach, beautiful language, and a touch of soulful Ghazals. We have not yet gotten over Fawad Khan Starrer “Humsafar” whose title track still tops our playlists.
Songs
Again, when Bollywood is just recreating and murdering the songs of the Golden era of Bollywood, artists like Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parween, and so on are there to save even Indians from the senseless songs that Bollywood is producing these days.
Here’s a proof:
And then you have this gem:
Literature
Even India holds the festivals like Rekhta who celebrate Pakistani writers and Shayars majorly, while in India no one even cares about Indian writers except few like Premchand and Arundhati Roy (and Roy writes in English). Urdu (and Pakistani) writers are more popular than Indian writers because of their simpler and realistic approach.
The wide range of performative arts like Qawwali are there to steal your heart much effortlessly.
If you are still unacquainted with Pakistani art, its high time you start embracing it.