"The quality of television programming has not gone down"

You are the son of two very well-known personalities of show business. How has this affected your work?

My father, Saleem Shahid, had a very successful career as a broadcaster, first with All India Radio, then with Radio Pakistan and finally with the British Broadcasting Corporation. My mother, Begum Khurshid Shahid, was one of the pioneers in the field of acting in Pakistan. They were both regarded very highly in show business and I was invited to join their world. I would perhaps not have become an actor if my parents had different occupations but, being their son, my choice of career was inevitable.

Your parents separated while you were very young. Did the separation affect your childhood?

Yes, it did. The separation of one’s parents is always traumatic; in my case the trauma was amplified because I was an only child and had no one to share my feelings with. My parents tried very hard – several times – to make things work out but were never successful. That being said, when I look back at my life, I feel that childhood distress notwithstanding, I have had a good life. I have been more fortunate than most people and have had parents who contributed to my success and happiness. It has been a good life and I have no regrets.

You worked in comedy during the start of your career. Was that to hide any pain?

Not really. I learnt how to cope with my parents’ differences early on in life. There really wasn’t a lot of pain to hide.

You were a key player in one of PTV’s finest comedy programs – Such Gup. Please tell us about the program.

I started work on television well before Such Gup and was a member of the team of PTV’s program, Jawan Fikar. I acted in a play that Sarmad Sehbai wrote for the program and worked on many sketches for Jawan Fikar. I was a student at the time and Shoaib Hashmi was one of my teachers. He had seen my work in Jawan Fikar and asked me to join Such Gup when he started the program. Such Gup was an immensely funny and intelligent program. I do not think that television in Pakistan has been able to top it since and it certainly has been the greatest success of my career. I enjoyed doing it. Even after more than three decades, people remember the story with two rhinoceros (do gainday) that I kept trying to tell in the program.

The team of Such Gup seemed to work together very well, as a family, if you will. What made you work together in such a friendly and positive manner?

We certainly did. I think everyone who worked in Such Gup shared a common goal of producing work of very high quality. Shoaib Hashmi had assembled a team of very passionate and dedicated individuals who did not believe in doing anything less than their best. Anything short of excellence was unacceptable. Shoaib Hashmi was very good at promoting camaraderie and his enthusiasm was infectious. The team also worked well because no one was driven by their ego and no one wanted to shine as an individual in the program. Those were the good old days of television.

The good old days of PTV. Are they just a romantic memory or were things really good in the beginning?

No, things were really good in those days. PTV started failing as competition cropped up. After holding a monopoly over television for a very long time, it was unable to handle competition. PTV could not pay as well as the new channels did and lost a lot of talent to them. Bureaucracy and associated vices took their toll. Favoritism was rampant. As an institution of the state, PTV never had a real need to do well commercially and could get away with producing second-rate programs. This ‘luxury’ of being able to do mediocre work and have to face no consequences hurt PTV tremendously. Other channels were run as businesses and had no tolerance for mediocrity, commercial failures, or intellectual complacence; they left PTV far behind.



Pakistan has seen a profusion of TV channels in the last few years. How has this affected the quality of programming?

A lot of people like to say that the affect has been negative. I do not agree necessarily. The world of television has evolved, the audience has expanded and become more diverse, and the financing model is completely new. These factors have changed the content and quality of television programs but not hurt either.

PTV was able to explore philosophical, intellectual and social issues

PTV attracted the Urdu intelligentsia right from the beginning. Ashfaq Ahmed, Bano Qudsia, Munno Bhai and a number of other notable writers of the Urdu language were drawn to PTV. As a result, PTV attracted an audience better educated than the one targeted by Pakistani cinema and became a channel for the Pakistani bourgeoisie. PTV was never driven by commercial success. The corporation did not carry any profit and loss responsibility. PTV was, therefore, able to explore philosophical, intellectual and social issues that would normally not work in productions driven by commercial success. The result was some truly wonderful productions.

Private channels are driven, almost exclusively, by commercial success. They want programs that are popular and marketable. They have to be cognizant of the competition - other television channels, the web and cinema. They have to make sure that they attract the requisite advertising revenue.  As a result there is a reluctance to take risks. The channels dictate the content of the programs they produce, giving writers very little room for creativity, innovation and originality. Yet we see good programs from time to time. Our dramas do very well in India.

So, to answer your question, I would say that the focus has shifted from artistic and intellectual excellence to commercial and popular success, but the quality has not gone down.



Do you believe you made a good choice by selecting show business as a career?

Yes, I do. I would have liked to have had more opportunities as a director than as an actor but am satisfied with my career, nonetheless. In 1976, I went to Russia to study film-making. When I returned to Pakistan four years later I wanted to write and direct, but the time was not right. I did not find any real opportunities for writing and directing, only for acting. Things have changed a lot over the years. A lot of opportunities for writing and directing exist for motivated, enthusiastic and well-educated young people. This was not the case in the eighties and nineties. But show business has been good for me. I do not have any regrets.

What have been the high points of your career?

Such Gup was certainly a high point. The program was funny, clever and smart.  I got along famously with everyone in the team and the audience loved the program. I think my serial Seerhiyaan was very good. It was written by Abdul Qadir Junejo and produced by Kazim Pasha. I consider it to be another high point of my career. And I think the films that I have done in India recently – Ishqiya, Dedh Ishqiya, Kabul Express – have been good. After more than thirty-five years in the field, it is great to be getting good roles in major films. Most actors lament having a lack of work at this stage of their careers; however, I am busier than I have ever been and enjoying myself a great deal.

I do want to talk about theater here. I have worked the most for the theater and some of my best performances have ceratinly been on stage; but theater does not have a standing in Pakistan. Had this not been the case, all the high points of my career would have been related to theater.

Have there been any low points in your career?

I don’t think there have been many in my professional life. I have done well as an actor. I continue to get work and a lot of people seem to like what I do.

Pakistani cinema seems to be undergoing a resurgence. What do you think about the future of cinema in Pakistan?

It certainly is undergoing a resurgence and I am glad to be a part of it.

The resurgence owes itself, in large part, to advances in technology. Making a film used to be a formidable task financially. Studios had a monopoly over filmmaking primarily because they were the only ones who had the wherewithal to produce films. Now, we have digital SLR cameras, the RED series, the GoPros and a number of other digital cameras that are affordable and can be used to make high quality films without using film. One no longer has to worry about the cost of equipment and film. Lighting requirements have become less stringent. Films need no longer be shot on sets in studios. Editing is now done digitally. These developments have been a boon for independent filmmakers in Pakistan who are now able to make films with reasonable budgets without having to rely on studios. The field is attracting a lot of people who are educated, well-read, smart, driven and energetic. The results, I believe, will be great. We should see a lot of progress in independent filmmaking in Pakistan in coming years and some really good films. I think the best years of Pakistani cinema are ahead of us.

You have be seen prominently in a number of feature films recently, notable being Na Maloom Afraad. How did this come about?

The films being made in Pakistan are better than those that were produced by the studios in the past. I was never a fan of traditional Pakistani cinema and always stayed away from it. Now that good independent films are being made in the country, there is a need for talented actors who enjoy working in good projects. Moreover, Pakistani actors are now recognized in India and, therefore, have a new set of opportunities available to them. I think that there are three reasons for my recent success in cinema. One, good films are being made in Pakistan. Two, Pakistanis are able to work in India. And three, I am a good actor.

You have worked in a few major Indian films recently. What was the experience like?

Indian filmmakers are very professional. They are dedicated to producing good films and do not seem to care about whatever animosity exists between India and Pakistan. On and off the set, I found them cooperative, gracious and helpful. I was treated very well by Indian filmmakers and enjoyed working in Indian films. The two countries have had strained relationships since partition and I do see some hateful comments on the web every now and then. Both Indians and Pakistanis like to generate some very negative discussions on the web but I never see any hatred, resentment and animosity in real life in India.

You are ranked very highly as an actor by critics. What is your own opinion of your talent?

I am not sure I have any.

I am faithful by nature and tend to stay with the same person for long periods

Tell us about the women in your life?

There have not been many. I am faithful by nature and tend to stay with the same person for long periods. I was married for thirteen years before we parted ways. It was not an easy decision but the end was inevitable. I am still in touch with my ex-wife and involved in raising my daughter.

What do you do when you are not working?

I write stories and screenplays which may or may never be made.