10 Best Movies from Pakistan to Watch First

10 Essential Films from Pakistan

Ranked native cinema in Pakistan’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. Dajjal The Slayer and His Followers

   2019

   In a fictional near-future of proxy wars and shifting world powers, forces of faith and evil clash over the rise of a global ruler. A Pakistani action-fantasy drawing on end-times prophecy.

2. 

   2. Jiban Thekey Neya

   জীবন থেকে নেয়া · 1970

   A tyrannical woman rules over one household in East Pakistan, her domestic despotism standing in as a pointed metaphor for the political dictatorship crushing the country. A landmark Bengali political satire made on the eve of Bangladesh's liberation.

3. 

   3. Maula Jatt

   مَولا جٹ · 1979

   A fearsome rural warrior is locked in a savage blood feud with a brutal local strongman, and their rivalry escalates into legendary, gory combat. A wildly influential Punjabi action classic that spawned a whole genre.

4. 

   4. Aina

   1977

   A self-assured young man from a poor background and the pampered daughter of a business tycoon fall in love across the gulf of class that divides them. A beloved Pakistani romance and one of the country's biggest box-office hits.

5. 

   5. Chakori

   چکوری · 1967

   A romantic melodrama following two lovers whose devotion is tested by circumstance and society. A popular film of Pakistan's classic era.

6. 

   6. Choorian

   چوڑیاں · 1998

   A young man weary of the tangled life of the city retreats to a peaceful village, where he finds contentment and unexpected love. An award-winning Punjabi romance.

7. 

   7. Love Mein Ghum

   لو میں گم · 2011

   After a failed suicide attempt, a heartbroken man and a gentle librarian meet and fall in love in a rehabilitation center, watched over by a kindly doctor. A lavish Pakistani romantic melodrama.

8. 

   8. Bulandi

   بلندی · 1990

   Childhood friends separated when their families fall into bitter enmity reunite years later as adults, their rekindled love running headlong into the old feud. A Pakistani romantic drama.

9. 

   9. Do Ansoo

   1950

   One of the first Pakistani films to win major acclaim, this musical drama traces love and heartbreak among its characters. An early classic of the national cinema.

10. 

    10. Ghazi Shaheed

    1998

    This war drama dramatizes the mysterious loss of the Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi off the Indian coast during the 1971 war, honoring the sailors who went down with her. A patriotic naval film.