Pakistani legendary actress Shabnam Gosh has said that international boundaries cannot restrain art and she would not mind working anywhere in the world if a captivating script knocks her door.
She said this in a session titled ‘Naya Savera’, which was hosted by writer Sarmad Khoosat at the Lahore Literary Festival 2017 on Saturday. During the session, the Aaina actress took a stroll down the memory lane and talked about her debut in Lollywood and the golden era of Pakistani film industry.
“Waheed Murad was the first person, who offered me a film. I never thought that I would be a star, unaware of the language and culture it was very difficult for me, but I worked hard and audience saw that in my work and rest as you say was history,” she said.
While talking about the golden era of Lollywood she said, “It was a very different time, our producers and directors knew how to make great films with such scarce resources. Even though our counterparts were far ahead from us in technical aspects, but we knew that content was king.” The only instructions the crew got from the producers were make a good film and do not care about the money, she added.
Later when asked about the decay of the film industry, Shabnam replied, “We were never a stable industry in the first place with every film releasing a lot was at stake. Aaina was the film that prolonged the era; otherwise we were always on the edge.” Moreover, the government played a big part in suppressing the industry. It is one of those few industries, which was never subsidized by the government, yet high taxes were imposed that lead to low returns on investments and eventually good filmmakers pulled out leaving a vacuum, which was never filled, she added.
The veteran actress also talked about the Bengali film industry, “I shifted back home in 2000 due to some personal issues, however, the biggest tragedy I feel that the film industry in both east and west suffered from was that our literature was never transformed onto the big screen. Also we had such great themes of suppression, war and independence, which foreigners capitalized on, but we could not. It was sad to see that such hard hitting content was wasted.
Later, on a lighter note, she was asked that whether she preferred Bengali or Punjabi cuisine to which she replied, “During my time in Lahore, I never had the privilege to enjoy the food. I was restricted to fruits and one meal a day because I had to maintain myself. However, now I had the opportunity to enjoy the delicious cuisines and I don’t hesitate in saying that they are at par with Bengali food.”
In conclusion, she said, “I am overwhelmed with the love I got here. I never knew that my work had diffused to the young generation as well and their love for cinema gives me the hope that revival is right around the corner.”