The film industry out of Peshawar Pakistan, has been dubbed Pollywood. Pollywood films are generally in the Pashtu language and sometimes Urdu. The film industry of Lahore Pakistan is known as Lollywood and from Karachi is Kariwood.
Bollywood films (from Mumbai - formerly Bombay) are also known as Hindi films, and often very melodramatic, featuring young lovers, often star crossed, angry parents and will often include song and dance numbers. Bollywood is one of amore than a dozen major and prolific film industries of India.
There are at least half a dozen big film industries in Pakistan too, additionally Bollywood is very popular there, Hindi and Urdu being very similar languages.
This photo is of the film advertising over a cinema in Peshawar. As best as I can figure Pollywood films are about big men with big moustaches with big guns. I think the moustache is mandatory. A Pashtun speaking friend does a tremendous and hilarious impression of one of the big stars, and even through I did not understand what he said the impression conveyed it all. He took on the demeanour of the star, standing and brandishing gun in the air, shouting loudly and then leaping on a horse and laughing a huge belly laugh bwahahaha as he rode away. I still laugh just thinking about it.
Your description really brought the whole thing to life!! Funny how 'beauty' takes on different forms in different places - I don't find the big moustache big gun thing makes my heart pitter-patter at all...! Reminds me somehow of the 1920s B&W silent films...
I agree with both Anne and Phil. Your photos are wonderful glimpses into the culture and the descriptions add so much. I am learning something new each day with you posts.
Tremendous shot of something we share, (films) but also something that couldn't be more different: menacing, gun-toting generals as the big draw. (The second from the left puts me in mind of a young Omar Sharif :-D) Thanks for the great photo and fascinating commentary. Hope you are doing well, Les x
Hahaha, that is a funny story. Very interesting commentary--- I knew about Bollywood, but had never heard of Pollywood or the others before. Foreign films are so fascinating to me, seeing different corners of the world and looking at things through different eyes, not to mention all the cultural bits (like humor and big moustaches) that go over our heads. Great shot and wonderful storytelling.
In a way it looks strange, seeing Stalin and Freddy Mercury tooled up, but then when you thtink about it most US films have guns and bombs in the title and in the cover/poster art. I guess men just like to see stuff blown up where ever they're from. That really is Stalin isn't it? His career getting a second leap of life.
I just published a second freecycle post to my local city (previous one was just to my local town) so watch this space. Have you picked the Yashika up? I hear that website appreciates a give and take policy, I'm sure you read the same small print as me, I'm trying to find stuff to give up on there, but I had a CRT TV snapped up and I've just listed a heap of books and stuff. It's a nice philosophy, her I wonder why you don't hear of it more. Who could be against us giving stuff to each other so that we don't have to buy new....mmmm who could possibly be against that?
@chewyteeth I have given away two sofas and a dining table in the past, someone is collecting a mattress overlay from me over the weekend and I'm trying to re-home my 2 CRT tellys. I picked up the camera, is in good nick, the battery indicator light works, but when I depress the shutter nothing happens .... will continue fiddling, once I have seen what other clutter I can find a new home for. Good luck with your freecycling
January 26th, 2012
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