Bollywood, Afghan-style

One of the unexpected results of the end of the Taleban was a resurgence in the popularity of cinema in Afghanistan. Now Indian filmmakers are turning up in Kabul to see how they can tailor productions to this loyal audience - and Afghan directors are coming back to provide them with some competition.

Bollywood films never really stopped being popular under the Islamic militia’s rule, even though the cinemas were closed down and television was banned. It just became a lot harder to find the videotapes, and dangerous to watch them. The Taleban’s anti-fun edicts pretty much ruled out the average Bollywood film on all counts – it was foreign, irreligious, full of music and dancing, and featured unveiled actresses.

Afghanistan once had its own cinema industry – but that is in ruins. The ups and downs of the Afghan Film company over the last two days reflect the turbulent changes endured by society as a whole. The last feature it produced was in 1995. A year later, the Taleban took over and banned movie production entirely. In 2001, they ordered the destruction of the country’s film archives - two-thirds of its contents were wiped out. Fortunately, the Afghan Film chief technician saved 2,500 pictures by hiding them behind a false wall.

Cinemas are now reopening and videocassettes are openly on sale, though the profound poverty of most of the population means it’s unlikely Afghanistan will regain its place as a major market for Indian films any time soon. But there is enough of a revival to attract both Indian and Afghan directors.

Some Bollywood directors just want to use the country’s dramatic landscapes as a backdrop for Indian films with an Afghan flavour. But Hashmat Rahimi, a Bollywood actor who is also an Afghan, wants to make proper movies using local actors and tailored to local sensitivities. Better known to Indian cinema buffs by the name Hashmat Khan, he told IWPR that he plans to shoot two films over the summer. Hope of Spring is about a love triangle between a Pashtun, a Tajik and a Hazara, while Screams Not Heard will depict the daily lives of ordinary Afghans.

“My films will be according to our culture and tradition and will be based on Afghan customs,” he told IWPR, ruling out the standard Bollywood fare of actresses cavorting their way through song-and-dance routines.

Hashmat Khan fled from Kandahar province in 1984, during the Soviet occupation, and found work performing supporting roles in Indian films, miming to the music of legendary Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir. Now he has set up his own production company, which he will use to make his two pictures on a budget of 120,000 US dollars.

“Afghan film has been destroyed by 23 years of fighting and no longer has the technical capability to make films, so I will bring a team of 30 Indian technicians to Kabul. But all the actors will be Afghan,” he said.

The head of Afghan Film, Jameel Sarwer, welcomes Hashmat Khan’s initiative, “Our nation should be proud that one of our brothers is returning to produce films in Afghanistan with the help of a private company.”

Officials, too, are keen to see anything that boosts the domestic industry. “Unfortunately, after years of war, the art of filmmaking has been destroyed in our country,” education minister Younus Qanooni said. “But now we can be proud that Afghanistan has artists willing to come back to their country.”

Hashmat Rahimi follows in the footsteps of several other Afghan filmmakers who plan to regenerate the country’s artistic traditions. Earlier this year, Salim Shaheen returned from five years’ exile in Pakistan to complete two pictures he had been working on when the Taleban took over. At the same time, exiled filmmaker, Sidiq Obaidi, showed his new production The Horsemen to enthusiastic audiences of Afghans in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Most notably, Sedigh Barmak’s Osama recently won an award in the first ever appearance of an Afghan film at the Cannes Film Festival.

Shahabudin Terakhil is an IWPR contributor in Kabul