Our film industry followed Indian culture instead of upholding Pakistani: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has Saturday addressed the award ceremony of the short film festival organized by Inter-Services Press Relations (ISPR) saying he is glad the country is now on the right path thanks to DR ISPR, ARY News reported.

I am content we have set out on the right trajectory after all and I am grateful for the scholarships being handed out to deserving students, he said while applauding the initiative taken by the armed forces.

The PM lamented the history of the Pakistani art industry saying we invested only in copying the Indian culture instead of endorsing our own and producing original content out of it.

He recalled how his Hollywood celebrity friends attended the Shaukat Khanum Hospital fundraisers and became absolute fans of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan when Khan escorted him there for his ceremonies, due to the fact that how he pursued his unique and original talent instead of copying somebody else.

My other local celebrity friends, too, requested I introduced them to Hollywood people but unfortunately, they had nothing interesting and original to offer, the PM said.

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It is only when we stick by the original value that we can really succeed, he said.

“When I went to England to play cricket with the team, we were told we are not here to win but only to learn… such was the Western complex instilled in us and the impact of colonialism.”

The PM added, only after we were determined to win, we really started winning and inventing new technologies still credited to us. “Our reverse swing and spinning techniques are imitated now the world over.”