The resurgence of new Pakistani film productions centres around the use of digital equipment and makes use of cheaper distribution with DCP compliant cinemas which started to convert around 2011 , increasing rapidly to 2014 with around 30 cinemas nationwide . Shoaib Mansoor 's '' Khuda Kay Liye '' ( 2007 ) and '' Bol '' ( 2011 ) seemed to have ushered in the '' revival of Pakistani cinema '' . By 2013 , several Pakistani films were theatrically released - the first time in over a decade . It led commentators to speculate whether it was time to announce the heralding of a ' new wave ' of Pakistani cinema . 2013 proved to be a great year for Pakistani cinema . In March , '' Siyaah '' ( meaning '' Pitch black '' ) was the first horror thriller film to be released in Pakistan in over 20 years . Directed by Azfar Jafri and written by Osman Khalid Butt , the film starred Hareem Farooq , Qazi Jabbar , Mahnoor Usman and Ahmed Ali Akbar . The film was about a dissociative personality disorder patient who uses black magic against unsuspecting relatives . The film collected over 2.65 crore ( US$ 260,000 ) at the box office . The following month '' Chambaili '' , an Urdu-language political thriller film directed by Ismail Jilani , was released starring Salmaan Peerzada , Khalid Ahmed , Mohammed Ehteshamuddin , Maira Khan , Shafqat Cheema and Ghulam Mohiuddin also made a special appearance . The film was a political drama exploring the subject of political corruption in Pakistan . Since the flower ' Chambaili ' ( lily flower ) is the national flower of Pakistan , the film-makers ' intentions were to encourage patriotism and nationalism in Pakistan . The film made at the box office . Waar ( ; , meaning " The Strike " ) was the winner of 2013 . The action-thriller film directed by Bilal Lashari and written and produced by Hassan Rana featured Shaan Shahid , Meesha Shafi , Ali Azmat , Shamoon Abbasi , Ayesha Khan and Kamran Lashari . At the time of its release , it became the highest-grossing Pakistani film ever . This was broken by 2015 release of '' Jawani Phir Nahi Ani '' . The film depicts events surrounding the war on terror in Pakistan , including the attack on a Police Academy in Lahore in 2009 . Several other films were also released between April to October including '' Ishq Khuda '' directed by Shahzad Rafique , '' Josh : Independence Through Unity '' directed by Iram Parveen Bilal , '' Main Hoon Shahid Afridi '' directed by Syed Ali Raza Usama , '' Zinda Bhaag '' by Meenu Gaur and '' Seedlings '' by Mansoor Mujahid . '' Main Hoon Shahid Afridi '' was an action-drama film directed by Syed Ali Raza Usama and produced by Humayun Saeed and Shahzad Nasib . The film starred Humayun Saeed , Javed Shaikh and Noman Habib in the lead roles . Nadeem Baig , Shafqat Cheema , Ismail Tara , Ainy Jaffri , Hamza Ali Abbasi and Shehzad Sheikh also played important roles in the film , whilst Shahid Afridi and Ayesha Omar made special appearances . The film earned in its first week of release . However , as some commentators cautioned , declaring a film a ' hit ' or a ' flop ' is determined by the relationship of the budget spent and box office returns of a film and therefore several of the top-grossing films of Pakistan were technically not a ' hit ' . Nonetheless , the lack of box office returns of a Pakistani film has less to do with the film itself but more to do with the severely limited number of screens in Pakistan . Zinda Bhaag ( '' Run For Your Life '' ) has been critically acclaimed with reviewers calling it ' the best film to have come out of modern-day Pakistani cinema ' and a " new metaphor for Pakistani cinema " that " bode ( d ) well for the possibility of noteworthy Pakistani imports in years to come " . Zinda Bhaag went on to be Pakistan 's official submission to the Oscars , the first after a gap of fifty years but did not make the final shortlist nominees . The resurgence of new Pakistani film productions centres around the use of digital equipment and makes use of cheaper distribution with DCP compliant cinemas which started to convert around 2011 , increasing rapidly to 2014 with around 30 cinemas nationwide
attack on a Police Academy
2009 Lahore police academy attacks
Cinema of Pakistan