GLOBALIZATION IN PAKISTANI CINEMA: TRANSFORMATION FROM TRADITIONAL TO FANTASY WORLD

Abstract

This study examines the stylistic, visual and thematic development of Pakistani film through the cultural globalization effect, following the pattern of localized traditional storytelling to globally aligned cinematic productions. This study explores how the local film narrative has been adapted to accommodate international standards in four classic Pakistani films Heer Ranjha (1970), Maula Jut (1979), The Legend of Maula Jatt (2022), and Umro Ayyar: A New Beginning (2024). The study explores the changing patterns in the four basic dimensions of analysis visual aesthetics, costume design, delivery of dialogue, and thematic content. The results suggest that even though the films made in Pakistan were strongly oriented to cultural realism, native aesthetics, and regional dialects, the modern cinema is characterized by a deep cinematographic change comprising of sophisticated CGI, digital art, and fantasy environments with a stylized appearance. Moreover, the traditional narrative tropes based on regional pride and social responsibility have also become hybridized, multiverse-based fantasy structures. This new strategic direction has enabled modern film producers to create a narrative that will attract a global audience and the international diaspora without totally eliminating the cultural identity of the indigenous peoples. Finally, the study indicates that globalization did not destroy the local traditions in Pakistani cinema but, on the contrary, it has created a hybrid cinematic culture that neither kills nor eliminates local traditions but instead offers them as the hybrid cinematic culture that balances the local heritage with the demands of the transnational market.