LAHORE – Pakistani movies generally evoke negative emotions in audiences due to their long standing conditioning with plump girls dancing around a shawl clad tall, dark and not so handsome guy with his ever famous gandhsa. We are left with no other option but yell, “Help!” Lately, however, several attempts are being made to minimize the negative connotations attached to Pakistani cinema. One such endeavor is the independent motion picture house ‘Talking Filmain’.
It is owned by three visionaries who aim to project the Pakistani culture on the screen and regenerate the television and screen format culture. Nasir Khan (Creative Partner and Director/Producer), Adil Sher (Managing Partner and Director/Producer) and Rizwan Saeed (Operations and Post-Production Head) are working as a team since 2001 and have mesmerized both international and local audiences with their diverse selection of work. “It is a continual learning process that is both difficult and rewarding” says Nasir Khan. Their feature film ‘Kashf’ was previewed at the Berlin and Cannes film festivals.
Their short film, ‘Profile’ was accepted to the Philadelphia, Vancouver and Kara film festival among others. The trio also shot ‘Muslim Gear’ a short film based on Muslim fashion in the west.
The Canadian National Board acknowledged their work and sanctioned a grant to direct and produce a short film called ‘Paid in Full’. The talented trio has also received much appreciation within the country. Their tele film, ’14 Din’ was selected for a local TV channel’s film festival and was nominated in 6 categories, winning 4. Their work includes drama serial’s Bus Yuhin’, ‘Life’, ‘Saath’, ‘Ye Toh Hona Hi Tha’ and their latest documentary is ‘Made in Pakistan’ which focuses on the life of Pakistan’s educated class. This documentary has also been acknowledged globally and has bagged some awards as well. The success story doesn’t end here as the motion picture house has just recently won the ‘Best Drama Serial – Private Production’ award for their serial ‘Na Jaane Kyun’ at the 15th Awards Ceremony of Pakistan Television 2010 in Islamabad. Adil Sher reveals that ’14 Din’ is the closest to his heart as, “it made us believe that we had the ability to overcome any hurdle in life”.
Rizwan Saeed feels that as a producer his victory at the Audience Award for the best documentary at South Asian International Film Festival 2010 in New York for ‘Made In Pakistan’ was the trio’s greatest achievement till date. On a personal level however, he feels that being nominated for best editing at the Santa Fe Film Festival amongst more than 250 international projects was his moment of utmost pride.
With so much to boast on, these young men are striving hard to project a fresh, ‘never seen before’ image of Pakistan to the rest of the world. Apart from admiration, their work has also received criticism. One of these was that the film ‘Made in Pakistan’ shows the life of elite in the country while overlooking the majority which is underprivileged. Rizwan Saeed responds to this allegation by stating,
“the international media often portrays Pakistan as a terrorist state and the stereotype Western audiences associate us with bearded men burning effigies and veiled women confined to the four walls of their homes only. We wanted to break that stereotype and show the world that Pakistan is a truly multi-faceted society. Made In Pakistan tells the world that there is more to us than what your local news channel may lead you to believe.”
