Mehreen Jabbar A True Young Icon!
FROM THE VERY beginning, Mehreen was different from the usual crowd of young directors of the private productions. It’s my assessment, which could be wrong, that she was inspired by the Indian art cinema of the Eighties. The reason I am saying this is that she did not treat subjects that were usually dealt in the PTV Longplays of the Eighties. Her plays also did not have the typical philosophical content of the MNH or Yawar Hayat drama. Nor did she ape Hasina Moin and Fatima Suraiyya, which was the trend then. Her woman was not from the cushy atmosphere of the middleclass, who was seen so often in the serials of the above-mentioned writers. In fact, she was more the woman of the stage plays of Tehreek-e-Niswan, or Dastak, or so many such street plays of India’s greatest martyr of theatre, Safdar Hashmi. But, her main goal, if you have seen her TV plays, obviously looked the art cinema. And with the release, and immense appreciation of her first movie, Ramchand Pakistani, she has proven herself as a director, who has not just tackled a burning topic of the new Global World, but has also impressed with her cinematic sensibility, the lack of which has gobbled up many a famous director in the past!
It’s no mean achievement for a TV director to present a successful, as well as a theme-wise and treatment-wise powerful film on the Pakistani screen. This is a first for Mehreen, because none of the superstar names of PTV and private productions could do either, in so many years. For a young film director, Mehreen has definitely become an icon. Having been her strongest critic in the past in the context of some aspects of her work, I still feel that continuous struggle, and an indomitable spirit, aside from some major cinematic courses, has made Mehreen see things in, what the technical people call the Master Shot. She has come to view things on an overall basis. The moment you realize that after two lengthy scenes, the drama could drag, and may not recover till the end, you are blessed with an overall view. If you end all shots on climactic lines, then your climax may never be a climax, which is what is happening to the most Indian soaps these days. Mehreen has conquered all these aspects at a relatively young age. You can see that in simple scenes, for instance the scene, where Ramchand is brought before Maria Wasti, the jail warden, and she questions him regarding his Dalit identity. It’s a poignant scene, and one which sets the mood for the coming scenes.
Rashid Qureishi has shown in Ramchand Pakistani that he has surely come of age as an actor. His gestures have reached that scale, where an actor forgets himself, and becomes the character. Nandita is, already, a superb actress, and I truly feel that she hasn’t been given her status in the Indian cinema, yet. Here, she delivers the goods, as a Thar woman, whose life becomes a terrible struggle. Shafqat Amanat’s song, Phir wohi rastey is the highlight of the film.
In the end, I read a review by some Indian critic somewhere that he feels the heroine has been given too many gaudy clothes, and that a sad, forlorn woman would not be decked up in such finery. I think either the chap hadn’t been to his own side of Rajisthan, or doesn’t know the traditions of the Thar women. These clothes are their identification, and emotions have nothing to do with them.
SIGNS & COUNTERSIGNS
So Much of Weird Contradiction?
SOME CHRONIC skeptic once refused to sign a blank cheque by reasoning that if I have to add so much to this script, then it must be tricky business! But, the graffiti one espies on our city’s walls and billboards is definitely a script that several people have contributed to, with immense innovative zeal. And they are intent upon leaving no blank space on this open cheque book!
Why the cheque book? Well, simply because the painters of the billboards mean to earn their multi-penny through their ads. And as for walls, the chaps involved there want to earn their own elusive rupiyah by calling the crowds to join them in the falaan parking lot under the guiding torch of the highly gifted Maulvi Shershah Rohela. But, some of the mixed fare is quite amusing, I must say!
It’s really mixed plate, when you see that the moment a mobile ad or a beverage poster is put on the local pillar or institute wall, you have some very ingenious chap of the generation gap delivering his pulverizing punch by adding his own masalah to the signpost that has been so painstakingly devised by some highly-trained UTAH University copywriter. But, then there are other such antics in this business of grafitti-upon-grafitti literature, too!
Last week, I was passing through the Mehran Hotel Signal, near Kashif Centre, when I saw the sign that says, ‘No Left Turn On Red Light’, and then adds under it, ‘Sponsored by Candyland’. It looks like a typical sign imported from US, which warns the Leftists that Capitalists don’t want them to lean too far left at all, otherwise….!
Today, while rushing for my copy, I noticed a very queer combination. There was an offending green banner flying in the air, which boldly said, Jashn-e-Azadi Mubarak, meaning to go where no banner had ventured before. Then, you may notice, immediately under it, a call from a political group, in black: “Imtiaz Khattak ko Riha Karo!” This, of course, put a great damper on the whole thing!
An Urdu newspaper, concerned much about the religious side of it all, flashed a massive headline that said, “Amreeki eema par Afghanistan main bambari band kee jaey!” Immediately under it, a smaller headline accompanied a smiling face of Reema, as if the sentence above was Amreeki Reema par Afghanistan main…..!
At the petrol pump opposite a demolished Metropole Hotel, a sign claimed: “24 Hours No Parking!” Just under it, a police van was parked. That’s no big deal, because that happens all the time. But it had a sign that said, “24/7 Service for citizens!” Another wall chalking was overwritten with graffiti, claiming: “Jami’at Perfume Chowk!” That was quite confusing, because if Jami’at has inaugurated some new cologne brand of its own, then it should be ‘Arq-e-banafsha’ or something!
Shaan, Momy, Saud…
How Heroes Fare
in Lollywood?
THE MORE LOLLYWOOD changes, the more it remains the same. According to Nigar Weekly, a most quoted film document in Pakistan, suddenly, Saud is being showered with many new title roles ahead of Shaan, while Momy Rana has also replaced Shaan in Reema’s new venture, Kitni Haseen Hai Zindagi. So, once again, Reema and Shaan will not be able to appear together in a Pakistani film. This is for the umpteenth time that the two top stars of the film industry would not be able to work together. Can you fathom it? What is behind this lack of co-ordination between these two artistes?
More on that later in the item. Saud, on the other hand, is said to be much more time-conscious, and completes his work diligently. These days, he is in Dubai, completing his work for the serial, Yeh Zindagi 
Hai, which is on air. He and his wife, Javeria, are both being seen on television regularly, both, in serials, and talk shows. Saud, Momy and Babar Ali are shooting lesser films these days, while they literally hogged all the limelight during the last ten years, from 1998 to 2008. But, now, after the film-makers are making a beeline for Saud, he could be on a signing spree, once again.
But for the moment, I am concerned with the fact that Shaan seems to have gone back to his irresponsible ways. But, some of the incidents that have been quoted do not shed light on his headstrong behaviour. For instance, a news was circulated last week that Shaan left for Dubai or some other place, without any notice to the local producer, to shoot for his own film, Zill-e-Shah, which is to appear on Eid. It’s a fact that he was not getting any dates till this period, and the moment he got them, he availed it, and left for abroad to complete the delayed movie. I don’t see anything wrong with one’s own commitment to oneself, especially with the schedule so tight before Ramadan. As for prior notice, it is right, but once again, after twenty months of complying with the producers and directors of Lollywood, I am sure once in a while anybody would like to break the schedule.
But, yes, the news that is alarming is Shaan’s sudden exit from Reema’s film, KHHZ. According to sources, Shaan had to travel to Azerbaijan, with Reema’s unit on 15th August, but went back from the airport, at the last possible minute, saying his mother, Neelo has suddenly fallen seriously ill. Of course, everybody was livid, but said that such things cannot be criticized because it can happen to anybody. Later, when insiders told Reema that Shaan shot a high-profile commercial that very day, she felt bad about it. It was also known that Shaan had signed the contract of that commercial for that same day, and if he had gone on the trip instead, he would have to return Rs 40 lakh to the company. So, he forego the trip to Azerbaijan. That is definitely irresponsible behaviour, and Reema has now replaced him with Momy Rana. Momy is, of course, her trusted friend, and he co-operated well with her during her very first film, Koi Tujh Sa Kahan.
By the way, if I remember rightly, during the first phase of Reema’s first film as producer-director, her heroine, Sophia Mirza also made a u-turn from the airport, saying she wanted her boyfriend and family to go with her too. This put Reema in a tight situation. Now, it’s Shaan, who has had this avian influenza. So, is there some ‘first-flight hoodoo’ attached to Reema’s production or what?
