Bollywood cinema is appreciated and followed all over the world. There’s no doubt about it. What is also obvious is that Pakistanis also Hindi songs produced for Bollywood movies, as much as Indians and the rest of the world do. In the Indian subcontinent, it’s also known that India does not share friendly border politically speaking. Ever since Jinnah created the Partition of India for Muslims, ther have been several wars (both covert as well as open) between the two countries in order to gain prominence in the South Asian region. But that’s just politics for you, where power and money play a large role in the scheme of things. Yet in the arena of art, Indian movies and music are unrivalled (much to the chagrin of many a Pakistani) ever since the first Bollywood movie was made (pre-Partition India) in 1913. But why do Pakistanis prefer Hindi songs to their compositions from Lollywood? For one, quality of content is a major factor. In the opinion of many a Pakistani, Lollywood makes movies that are remakes of Bollywood cinema and music. In some cases, the Pakistani production are equated to C-Grade movies in Indian cinema and so the decreasing popularity of Pakistani cinema amongst its own. Here’s an example of a song from a Pakistani movie starring Resham: And then, let’s compare it to a similar song from Bollywood, with Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar from so long ago: There’s hardly any difference here in terms of the picturization except for the fact that the Hindi songs in the latter were very popular regardless of the eye-candy involved! Secondly, the interference of politics and religion in the field of film-making has not made it any easier for Pakistanis to produce movies that encourage free thinking in terms of sexuality and violence. Now, this is something that is not only prevalent in Pakistan but in Islamic states, but thanks to the recent relaxation of laws toward free press… the situation has improved. Thirdly, most Pakistani artists prefer Bollywood because it pays better and provides a sturdy platform to improve and hone one’s skills in front of an audience that spans the globe. Bollywood, through its movies and music, allows for its artists to experiment with new sounds and styles that will not be possible in a rigid and closed environment such as Pakistan. If these three reasons are not enough, here’s one more to the list. When Indian movies and music were banned in Pakistan due to the wars, Pakistanis were bitten by the ‘forbidden fruit’ syndrome. What I mean is that until the times of the war, people enjoyed Bollywood movies but when it was taken away from them… a greater longing to watch these movies grew on them during the phase of the ban imposed. What is noteworthy is that Lollywood and Bollywood use similar languages in their songs namely Urdu and Hindi including the styles of music as well, so there’s not so much of a difference between the two really. To an outside observer, most of these movies produced would come across as one and the same, like twins perhaps separated at birth… and longing to reunite! Interestingly, one reason for these so-called copies of Bollywood music can be traced back what the public finds cool or enjoyable. And one can only conclude from the results so far, that the Pakistani people like Hindi songs made for Bollywood movies.