Ashir Azeem, who Pakistani audiences still remember for his thrilling drama serial Dhuwaan, is currently filming Maalik, one of the more promising films of 2015. In an exclusive interview with TFT, Ally Adnan talks to the film's director, Ashir, his wife Bushra ...
Maalik is one of the major films that is set for a release in 2015. Would the film have been made if Pakistani cinema was not undergoing a revival?
Ashir Azeem: I believe the film would have been made, if not now, then in a few years. The activity in the field of cinema made it possible to make it now.
Farhan Ally Agha: I want to say something about the so-called “resurgence” of Pakistani cinema. I do not feel that it is as much a resurgence as it is a complete rebirth. The cinema that was in vogue up until the nineteen eighties was very different from what we have today. The films being made are technically superior and, on the average, of higher artistic, intellectual and creative merit. We are light years ahead of song and dance laden melodramas and covering a very wide range of subjects and themes in our films today.
Ashir Azeem on the set of Maalik
"Things changed when Indian films were allowed release in Pakistan"
How has the rebirth come about?
Hassan Niazi: I think there are two factors at play here. One, technological advances have made filmmaking equipment, processes and techniques accessible and affordable. The studios are no longer the only ones who have access to the equipment; it can be purchased at relatively reasonable costs. The second factor is the return of the middle class to cinemas in Pakistan. The educated middle class of Pakistan had abandoned cinema in the eighties and started seeing films on video cassette recorders. As a result, the movies that were made in the eighties and nineties were targeted towards audiences with a lower level of education and lesser awareness. Things changed when Indian films were allowed release in Pakistan. They brought back the middle class to cinemas. This was followed by the construction of multiplexes all over the country. These allowed for the exhibition of good films from all over the world. The well-educated viewer, and superior exhibition facilities, produced a demand for good Pakistani cinema. Fortunately a lot of very talented and highly educated people rose to the challenge and joined Pakistan’s reborn film industry.
Behind the scenes: On the sets of Maalik
Ashir, you wrote and acted in the highly acclaimed television serial, Dhuwan which aired originally in 1994…
Ashir Azeem: I am essentially a recluse and do not like attention and popularity. The success of Dhuwan resulted in me getting much more attention than I wanted and could handle. I am most comfortable when I don’t get noticed and when I can be just another face in the crowd. I, therefore, stepped out of the limelight and maintained a studied distance from the media for a long time.
What prompted the return to show business?
Ashir Azeem: I think it was the writer in me that could no longer stay suppressed. I had used all the excuses I had – family, finances, career and many others – to delay my return to writing but was no longer able to keep the writer at bay. I had to write again.
Dhuwan was written originally as a novel. This time you bypassed the novel and went straight for the screenplay. Why?
Ashir Azeem: I wrote Dhuwan as a novel because I did not know how to write a script, and then converted the novel to a script that could be made into a television serial. I have more confidence and experience now. There was no need to go through a two-step process. I like to visualize scenes and situations before I write them. This style of writing is more appropriate for cinema than for novels.
A scene from Maalik
Maalik is a full length feature film. Why did you not chose the medium of television, one you have more familiarity with and where you have had success?
Ashir Azeem: When I was doing Dhuwan I was completely unfamiliar with television, acting, or writing, yet I guess I did OK. Maalik is a big project with a huge canvas. The story has multiple tracks and covers a period of more than twenty-five years. It is set in two countries. Film seemed to be the more appropriate medium for Maalik.
Film today is more daring than television in Pakistan. In television there is an excessive focus on ratings and financial success, nobody is willing to take a risk, do something different, this is stifling creativity. I could have used television’s greater reach and higher viewership but did not want to be limited as an artist. My dear friend Hassan Waqas Rana, who directed and produced the very successful Waar, pushed me to venture into films. It was because of his encouragement and the greater artistic freedom of the medium that I decided to make Maalik as a feature film.
Farhan Ally Agha: Television in Pakistan is a mature business. It has it profit and loss requirements and is run like a business enterprise. While a lot of good work is being done in television, it is always done within the confines of strict financial controls and stringent commercial expectations. Cinema is still evolving and we have more mavericks in the industry. One has more creative freedom in cinema.
Hassan Niazi: I work both in films and on television, and feel that some subjects are better suited for one medium than the other. Maalik is full of sweep, drama and energy. It is a story that needs to be told in one sitting. Ashir made the right choice by selecting film as the medium for Maalik.
Ashir, back in the Dhuwaan days
Has cinema been more fun than television?
Ashir Azeem: Neither is fun. The work is back-breaking. We do not yet have the right facilities, resources and support structure for film making in Pakistan. As a result, the job of producers and directors is significantly harder than it is elsewhere in the world. Fortunately for me, my wife and my children are deeply involved in Maalik and take care of a lot of production work, allowing me to focus on the creative process.
Bushra Ashir: We are a very close-knit family and enjoy doing things together. Maalik is essentially a family project. Film production in Pakistan is not easy but we are enjoying it. The film’s primary theme is patriotism and it is pervasive on set. Whenever we get frustrated with the way things have to be done in Pakistan, we let our patriotism kick in and calm us down. We remind ourselves that we love Pakistan and must, therefore, not dislike the way things are done here. This trick works each time.
What is Maalik about?
Hassan Niazi: It is a movie about the civic responsibility of individual citizens. Pakistan is beset with a large number of problems – serious problems – but most people just discuss and talk about the problems and assign the responsibility of finding solutions to others. The movie points out that finding solutions to the problems facing the country is the individual and collective responsibility of each and every citizen.
"The film is intensely patriotic although, thankfully, not didactic"
Ashir Azeem: I am deeply worried about Pakistan and its future. My country is facing an inordinate number of very serious problems. The land is plagued by illness, violence, crime, overpopulation, poverty, lack of education, poor medical facilities, energy problems, and, most of all, by poor governance. If we do not do something about these problems, the future is certain to be dark and bleak. The Pakistani people seem to be lost. They are confused and they do not know what they need to do. Now is the time for the Pakistani citizen – the Maalik – to rise to take ownership of the problems and recognize his responsibilities as a citizen to fix the problems. If the people won’t take ownership of their land and of each other, who will?
Farhan Ally Agha: The film is intensely patriotic although, thankfully, not didactic. It drives home the point that now is the time for each and every Pakistani to stand up and own his country’s problems and the responsibility of fixing them. It really is a question of now, or never.
What roles are played by Sajid Hasan, Farhan Ally Agha and Hassan Niazi in Maalik?
Sajid Hassan: Plays the Role of a Military officer of Special Forces who retires as a General and enters the business of Private Security with his son Asad.
Farhan Ally Agha: I play the role of Haider who starts his career as a major in the Special Services Group and rise to the position of a General. Haider is loyal to the army and a true patriot. He also embodies the spirit of true camaraderie by supporting his batch mate and friend, Asad, played by Ashir Azeem, though thick and thin.
Hassan Niazi: My role is that of a feudal landlord who is educated but highly corrupt and immoral. He joins politics and becomes a chief minister and crosses all boundaries of decency, morality and ethics.
What character does Ashir play?
Ashir Azeem: I play the role of an Army officer who takes early retirement from the Military and gets into the business of private security. It is the role of a loner who loses his mother as a child and is brought up by his father who is an officer of the Army and retires as a General. Asad is a true soldier and commands the respect and loyalty of his men even after retirement.
Are there any strong female characters in the film?
Bushra Ashir: Of course, there are, as a matter of fact all female roles in Maalik depict strong independent women. Sabreen Baloch plays the role of a working single parent who is raising her son after divorce from a traumatizing marriage. Tatmain ul Qulb plays the role of a swashbuckling tough Black Ops operative who excels in Martial Arts and use of firearms. Erum Azam plays the role of a strong headed, firebrand, politically aware lawyer who is willing to take on any one for her beliefs.
What kind of music is featured in Maalik?
Ashir Azeem: I have not started working on music yet. I am first completing visuals and will start full time on music from March onwards.
Do you expect Maalik to be a cinematic success?
Ashir Azeem: I never speak before time. Let the time come and the world shall speak.
