The Directors’ Cut

nadeem,

your writing style is a lot like a rapid edit music video too...considering the subject you tackle in this piece for once i think it doesn`t work. mehreem jabbar, shamoon i agree with, but am not sure if ahsan rahim, asim raza etc should be in the piece at all, i cant think of any teleplay, drama or film they have directed, lots of video`s and commercials i know but where`s the long passionate involvement in the medium that is the hallmark of the people you mentioned earlier? of course, i might just be ignorant of their efforts in that respect, do let me know if i am. yasser akhtar was very good with tapal cinema, and i think jawad bashir and the vj team were fantastic in those days. jawad bashir seems to have lost it lately, that or he`s getting married and needs to make lots of money to have a lavish wedding, what other reason could there be for the plethora of videos he`s churning out now. incidentally, do you know who alf is? have seen an alf credit on a video i liked...didn`t know who he was. also, doesn`t ahsan rahim work in partnership with amna khan?

shandana

A very informative article ...Nadeem..
Pakistan sure is changing very fast and at time it`s hard to keep
pace with the develoupment specially if you are someone who lives
abroad.As rightly pointed out by the writer that 7o`s was the golden era
for Pakistani cultural scene,we had our movies (lollywood style) been shown
in Iron Curtain (Russia) and Red Russia,our tele-plays were shown and even liked
by some Arabs.Teleplays and PTV has always been the part of our lifes from awesome
plays like khuda-ke-baste to alpha-bravo charlie...and we had our tele-theatre too...
remembering 5o-5o makes us smile and makes us proud to be Pakistanis..change is
always welcome and the new channel boom is quite remarkable (thanks to the
liberal-democratic-dictator whatever that is) Pres.Mushraff we got to see a whole
new set of programmes.Some people who helped television and tried to make it as
liberal as ever even at the days of Zia were Anwar Maqsood,Moin Akhter,Qazi Wajid,
Talat Hussein etc.. (our National Heros).
I am not much of a writer but as they say `we rock`

Excellent site for writing, e-mailing, and posting in URDU.

www.apniurdu.com

tamaam CHOWK valON ko Urdu mubarak

Ghazal in urdu

very nice and extensive work Nadeem, certainly u hav discussed Paki directors and their work in detail...just a note on facts:

++++++Shahzad Khalil: Although the late SK had already established himself as a keen PTV producer, his claim to fame didn`t arrive until 1982-83 when he was given the (jack-pot)-job of serializing a Hasina Moin soap, Ankah i. It didn`t only turn out to be Moin`s usual hit, but rather, it remains to be her biggest and the best as well, as both she and Khalil (along with newcomer, actress Shahnaz Shaikh), ++++++++

ANKAHI was directed by Late Mohsin Ali(whose name shouldnt be miss in above list) and birliant Shoaib Mansoor...Hasina and Shezad`s joint venture was ``Tanhaiyan`` which was also a memorable play...in addition to this Shezad have created great play like ``Panah``, Rashid Minhas Shaheed`` AiK Haqeeqar Aik Afsana`` Teesra Kinara`` etc.

Interesting.

I`ve been told that the tele drama programs are quite good. Another thing that the PTV might think about (to add to a pernicious list!) is how they could set up satellite stations in North America so that South Asians abroad might see them. There are about 4-5 Indian programs that I can immediately think of on the East Coast-and unfortunately the majority of them focus on Bollywood.

What would a rigorous Pakistani/Indian or South Asian America news program look like? The closest such media program I know about is the formidable Asia Pacific Forum on Pacifica radio, but tv-nothing. Has anyone ventured in this area?

Ankahi rotated between Mohsin Ali & SK. But most of the episodes were ultimatly directed by the later.

- nfp :)

Can`t wait to get a feast of all these offerings on local channels. I agree about Yasir Akhter`s singing abilities. But his production abilities also leave much to be desired.

most of the new directors dont seem to have neither the inclination nor the temaperament for the long play or a serial as a quality play takes too much time and effort with little financial returns as compared to directing an ad for e.g. or even a music vdo which is heavily sponsored these days and are no less than an advertisement of the sponsoring brand. in both cases the shoot is over in 2-3 days and within a week or ten days u have a ready to air product with big money coming in.

only one director out the new lot, saqib malik, i here is venturing into cinema which is a bold and much needed initiative as all this new talent has the potential to give new life to pakistani movies or plays but are keeping there hands off it.

i agree. new pkistani directors have a lot to work for. but then indian tv too is nothing so great.

hey NFP,

i completely agree with Shandana(interact #1). reading this artilce was like blazing thru an expressway. it did little more than confirm my impressions of the paki idiot box industry. In fact this is exactly what it seems like... your impressions.

perhaphs you should tackle one director at a time, or give a general history on the evolution of television industry in pak. this `rapid edit` is a lot like the `quantity over quality` value that most artists are suffering from today (bear in mind, i`m only criting this article of yours, most others i find brilliant:D )

As per the inclusion of Ahsan Rahim(makha) and Asim Reza... altho ahsan`s credits include `agent x`, which you mentioned already, he doesnt deserve to be in this list. however, he is someone to watch out for as he has proved himself in the music videos, but then, so has Jami.

And the same goes for Asim Reza, a man, despite being a truly talented plus also professionally educated director from the states (please correct me if i`m wrong here, as this is what i know from don`t know where... since, in these times who can remember which bit of trivia came from where?) has never, professionally done any work which would distinuish him as one, atleast in this particular list.

a man/team to really look out for is Farjad Nabi and his gang aka `mateela`. watch `dus goongi filmain`. dont believe theyre available in any retail store tho.(www.matteela.com)

as far as i know of this indusrty, its EITHER sell out to become a corporate cog(make ads and music vidoes, pop(corn) quizes, sleazy sitcoms and what not) OR die bhooka nunga

As far as i can see, in the pakistani market of today only those (broadcast) productions are adequatley financed which are corporate backed... prime e.g. music videos the likes of `tapal` *ungh*. the rest of the productions? just switch to IM an see any one of Jawad Bashir`s dozen(no exaggeration) videos.

Really! what is with this guy! i mean, he an his gang were side splittingly funny! and now he is making videos with grown-ups playing `i-sent-a-letter...` or sumink like that!(fariha pervez`s folk song) to top it all, this is perhaps the best production of joday`s(JB) recent lot.

most ironic of all, i believe his best post-vj music video is probably his cheapest as well... the one on the train track with the violin guy!

Infact... NFP, your artcle `cable uncable` shows EXACTLY what our shows are like today.

anyways, my 2(000) cents :)

p.s.just one more thing (and this has got nothing to do with asim reza... cross my heart and all that... well... maybe just a lil` ;)

Do you thing production value alone alone can make a director qualify as a `good` director?

Never thought that NFP would not get his facts right. The episodes of Anakahi rotated between late Mohsin Ali and Shoaib Mansoor.
Take it from someone who actually grew up on Ankahi and has watched it more than 100 times.

I READ NADEEM PARACHA ARITICLE ON DIRECTORS. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL ARTICLE WHAT IMPRESS ME, IT CONTAINS SOME FORGOTTEN NAMES OF PTV LIKE TAHIRA NAQVI AND ROOHI BANO. THIS SHOWS WRITER VISION OF PAST WITH RESPECT TO PRESENT. I REQUEST ANY ONE WHO READ THIS TO PROVIDE ME YEAR OF DEATH OF LATE THIRA NAQVI OR TWO TO THREE LINES ABOUT HER LIFE AND HER FAMOUS PLAYS.. MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS tariq8016@hotmail.com

hi nfp

film enthusiast here....thanks for the article on pak directors.

your article on pakistani directors is almost 2 and half years old now, and i was wondering if there been any progress in the pak scene in terms of new directors? have you seen any good projects lately or do you look forward to any projects in the future by certain people? who would you say are innovative, entertaining or exciting people who may grace the audience with something to interesting watch?

what are your thoughts on film in general? any favorite movies, directors, genres?

and finally, do you have any interests in script writing (tv, movies, theatre, radio)?

thanks.
yasser puri