‘We can’t make films’: Syed Mohammed Ahmed calls out Pakistani film industry

Is the Pakistani film industry stuck copying Bollywood? Well, veteran actor and writer Syed Mohammed Ahmed thinks so and has openly talked about the challenges facing the entertainment industry. 

Appearing as a guest on Gup Shab by Vasay Chaudhry, the Sunn Mere Dil actor shared his thoughts on why the local film industry continues to struggle. 

“I think this work is not ours. We can't make films. I only realise this now. There was a lot of hope earlier, but now I don’t think so because it requires passion, training and history. If you compare it to India, they have been making films since the 1930s, and they started by learning from Hollywood,” he said in response to an audience member’s question regarding the shortcomings of the Pakistani film industry. 

“We’ve always tried to copy India. We’ve never tried to train ourselves and make films like Hollywood. We still try to make Bollywood-style films,” he added.

 
The Meray Paas Tum Ho actor also highlighted the repetitive content on television saying, “Right now, on TV, whether it’s this channel or that channel, the same storyline is being played. Either there’s a divorce happening or someone’s falling for their brother-in-law. There’s nothing beyond this.”

  
“If they want to write something big or different, they’ll make the mother-in-law a tyrant and the husband toxic. What else is there? So, where’s the actual drama? This is the same thing you’ve been watching for the past 25–30 years,” he added.

 
When asked by co-host Rabbina Shirjeel if it was true that audiences didn’t connect with something new or meaningful, he said if that was the case, why was ‘Kabli Pulao’ such a huge hit. “It was completely out of the ordinary, a really well-made play with a different subject.”

 
“There was another recent one about Halala, written by Zafar Mairaj. It was an eight-episode drama featuring Bilal Abbas. That too was very different and did really well. I think projects like these, which are experimental, face challenges in marketing,” he added.

 
Syed Mohammed Ahmed is currently starring in Sunn Mere Dil, written by controversial writer Khalil Ur Rehmar Qamar, and directed by Haseeb Hassan.

 
Earlier, in an interview with ‘Hasna Mana Hai’, Ahmed also shared his favorite death scene.
A fan in the audience had asked, “Sir, you appear in almost all Pakistani dramas and coincidentally, you often die in them as well. So, which was your favorite death scene?” 

“The best one was in Sabaat, and the funniest death was in Neeli Zinda Hai. I was hit on the head. The third one, which will be a good death, is coming soon. It's in the drama Sun Mere Dil. I’m going to die in a different way, and the camera angle was different too,” he said.