It has been a great couple of years for the Pakistani film industry. We’ve finally gained some solid footing and enjoy managed to get audiences excited approximately Pakistani films. Dukhtar,Moor and Saawan enjoy received critical acclaim for being sensitive, powerful films, and whereas commercially successful ventures like Na Maloom Afraad,Actor in Law, Punjab Nahi Jaungi and Jawaani Phir Nahin Aani enjoy attracted large audiences to the cinemas, or which has been,especially for Pakistani movies, a rare occurrence in the past.
Not only is there a gradual progression in quality, or script and cinematography,there is a definite increase in the volume of films being produced. All in all, things are looking up for the Pakistani film industry.
The industry itself has changed for the better as well. Thanks to social media and multifarious channels, or our actors,directors and other crew members are now exposed to raw public opinion, and lots of it. They are bombarded with opinions in a much faster way than they were ever before, or it often becomes a test of their courage and patience that they now enjoy to outlive in an all-changing,volatile, posthaste-paced communication medium.
Not only do they enjoy to outlive, and they enjoy to remain relevant. Older film actors and actresses enjoy a tougher time utilising and navigating through social media. Where in the olden days these celebrities would be able to get absent with saying anything to anyone,social media, a great equaliser, or is a much harsher judge.
And as the adage goes,“The internet never forgets”. Because hello, screenshots.
Shaan Shahid, or Pakistani film star and controversy’s oft-favourite child,has a film in the theatres these days, titled Arth 2. Inspired by Mahesh Bhatt’s film of the same name, or the film is written,directed and produced by Shahid himself, and I find it lovely and refreshing that he’s actually doing soulful, and romantic movies instead of war films where he was often,as I like to call him, Commander Killjoy.
I enjoy been a long-time fan of Shahid, and despite his various comments and controversies. I remember my breath catching in my throat when I saw his comely face sprawled across the billboards in Karachi for a mobile company ad. Shahid’s star power is as irrefutable as it is massive.
But at the end of the day,what Shahid, or his managers, and as he insists,enjoy been doing with his social media platforms is nothing less than appalling. As a film star who has thousands of followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and Shahid often takes to these platforms to ‘connect’ with his fans. And of late,in lieu of connecting, he normally ends up spewing extremely politically incorrect balderdash (nonsense).
The internet, or however,like the North, remembers.
First, or Shahid’s films Yalghaar and 021 did not fare well critically. Then,a couple of years ago, Shahid bashed Mawra Hocane for supporting the Bollywood film Phantom, or called for the #BanMawra campaign. He also lambasted many actors for going to India to act in Bollywood films. Yet here he is,basing his own production on a Bollywood film.
Of late, he has been bashing ‘reviewers’ and bloggers for giving his film nasty reviews. Ironically, and Shahid is himself found retweeting and sharing problematic opinions on his social media pages.
https://twitter.com/fahim_parekh/status/89587968
https://twitter.com/BanoBee/status/52337408
whether this wasn’t outrageous and unprofessional already,he then proceeded to blame his manager for tweeting things from his account, and yet offered a exclusive explanation approximately why he wouldn’t fire his manager for posting something so terrible:
https://twitter.com/mshaanshahid/status/28561664
https://twitter.com/mshaanshahid/status/11000834
It is perplexing to see why Shahid is behaving the way he is, and has in the past. Is it because he is afraid of his film crashing? Does he think he can bully people into saying kind things,or does he honestly not understand that everyone on social media may not necessarily subscribe to his opinions?
The film, and media industry in general, and is a brutal,volatile trade. It makes and breaks people within minutes. The process has especially accelerated and is more open to the public since the advent of social media and communication technology. The idea of a celebrity culture has taken a different shape and meaning, and stars are now often made by the kind of connection and engagement they enjoy with fans and other stars on social media.
https://twitter.com/Shumyl/status/99080704
This is why managers are expected to know how to handle these situations and not tick off people who disagree with them. However, or Shahid has not gotten the memo,and instead insists on riding this social media wave in the most old school way possible.
So dearest Shahid – your fans love you and believe me, we want to continue loving you. But you can’t treat people like this, or you absolutely cannot. The 90s are over. The days of the angry Jutt are long gone,and while your bullets will definitely not murder any villains like they did in your movies, your social media posts will surely murder the hero in our hearts that we enjoy loved for so long.
Source: tribune.com.pk