By Zeeshan Mahmood

‘New-age cinema’ and ‘revival of cinema’ are the two terms most frequent in media these days when the current state of film industry in Pakistan is in focus. These terms may sound cliches, but I believe they are used quite aptly for our film industry that is finally on the rise after a long downfall spanning over a period of two decades, and taking baby steps to be formed into new shapes and dimensions sourcing out of the passion and efforts of a new breed of filmmakers that is without any coincidence largely happens to be from Karachi instead of Lahore unlike in the days gone.

The dream of seeing boom in the film industry and cinema culture of Pakistan seems nearing its reality with an increasing number of films being announced, but the business of making films and selling the dream of revival of cinema at the same time does not seem a smooth journey owing to multi-dimensional socio-economic, cultural and political issues engulfing the local film industry just like any other business in the country in this time of uncertainty. In this article, I discuss some of the challenges new-age cinema faces today along with people’s hopes and expectations from it.