Lollywood

Lollywood Lahore film industry Punjabi cinema

The Lahore film industry, also known by its sobriquet Lollywood (Urdu: لالی وڈ‎) and Gotham, is the oldest film industry of Pakistani cinema based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Between 1929 to 2007, Lahore was the center of Pakistani cinema, producing films in both Punjabi and Urdu languages. Since 2007 however, Karachi has largely overtaken Lahore in Urdu film productions, while Lollywood today is more oriented towards Punjabi cinema. The word "Lollywood" was first coined in the summer of 1989 in Glamour magazine published from Karachi by gossip columnist Saleem Nasir.

Film operations started out in Lahore in 1920s, now in Pakistan. The first silent film, The Daughters of Today, was released in 1924 in Lahore, the city had nine operational cinema houses. Movies shown at these cinemas were mostly local productions from Bombay and Calcutta, and seldom from Hollywood and London.

The Daughters of Today was a brainchild of G.K. Mehta, a former officer with the North-Western Railways who, much like Bhatavdekar, had imported a camera into the country. Mehta continued to produce newsreel coverage for companies abroad and delved into further film projects but his dedication gave way when he promptly left the film industry for more profitable ventures. But it was to be later in 1929–1930, when Abdur Rashid Kardar's Husn Ka Daku was released that the film industry was established in essence in Lahore's Bhati Gate locality. This would later be called Lollywood, a portmanteau of Lahore and Hollywood. Kardar, a professional calligraphist, was accompanied by his fellow-artist and friend Muhammad Ismail, who would make the posters for his films.

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