TV viewers in India and Pakistan are in for a treat this year, with 12 films by six Indian and six Pakistani directors to be screened in both countries as part of the Zeal for Unity cultural initiative. Roshni Nair reports
Come the second half of 2016, National Award winning actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen will mark her first foray as Hindi film director. Her Saari Raat, toplined by Konkona Sen Sharma, Anjan Dutt and Ritwick Chakraborty, is based on a play of the same name by vaunted Bengali playwright Badal Sircar.
It's also the year Pakistani stalwarts Sonia Rehman Qureshi and Marina Khan – who many in India rooted for in cult TV drama Dhoop Kinare – will grace our screens in Mehreen Jabbar's Lala Begum, a tale about the confrontation two sisters have post 20 years of estrangement.
Saari Raat and Lala Begum are just two of the 12 films for Zeal for Unity (ZFU), the cultural exchange initiative by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). The features are helmed by six Indian directors (Aparna Sen, Ketan Mehta, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Tanuja Chandra, Bejoy Nambiar and Nikhil Advani) and six Pakistani directors (Mehreen Jabbar, Sabiha Sumar, Meenu-Farjad, Khalid Ahmed, Siraj Ul Haq and Shahbaz Sumar).
"I wanted a motley group spanning alternative and mainstream cinema," explains Shailja Kejriwal, Chief Creative Officer, Special Projects, ZEEL, when asked how she chose this crop of filmmakers. "These are individuals who are socially and politically aware. We also wanted some variety through regionalism. For example, we chose Siraj Ul Haque because his Mohabbat Ki Aakhri Kahaani is mostly in Sindhi."
It took 18 months for ZFU to take shape, says ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka. "Getting 12 directors from either side of the border was a tall task. But it was heartwarming to see everyone's desire to contribute towards the peace and unity of both countries."
Though not restricted by rules or format, the films have an underlying theme of 'breaking free' – rather, the directors' personal interpretations of freedom. The spectrum, as one may imagine, is as expansive as it comes. If Mohabbat Ki Aakhri Kahaani is about honour killing in Sindh province, Shahbaz Sumar's Khaeme Mein Matt Jhankhain is a surrealist fantasy revolving around a travelling circus. And while Ketan Mehta chose Saadat Hasan Manto's biting Toba Tek Singh (starring Pankaj Kapur and Vinay Pathak, no less), Tigmanshu Dhulia's Baarish Aur Chowmein centres on a Muslim man struggling to find accommodation in Mumbai. Meanwhile, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali's uncle Khalid Ahmed – a veteran actor and director in Pakistan – has made Laloolal.com, about a do-gooder in Tharparkar, Sindh, at a crossroads after an Englishwoman approaches the local council to search for her missing husband.
Since ZFU is the first Indian banner to produce Pakistani films, were there challenges in negotiating satellite or telecast rights in Pakistan? "No, the hassles were more bureaucratic," Kejriwal says. "Sabiha (Sumar) wanted to do some sound work here, but it took six months to get a visa for her."
(Sumar is one of Pakistan's most critically-acclaimed directors – her Kirron Kher-starrer Khamosh Pani bagged five awards at the 2003 Locarno International Film Festival – and spends almost as much time in Delhi as she does in Pakistan. Her daughter studied in India and considers herself an Indian citizen, reveals Kejriwal. So that's really saying something.)
Post-production is still on for some films, and an announcement about telecast dates and which Pakistani channel will air the ZFU package will be made few weeks from now, shares Goenka. The movies will also be released digitally and do the rounds of film festivals.
Both Kejriwal and Goenka are keen to make ZFU an annual or biennial cultural dialogue. "I'd like films written by Indians and directed by Pakistanis, and vice versa. A joint production – where one isn't pushed to make films while talking over Skype – is my dream," says Kejriwal.
The ZFU Package
Other than the seven films mentioned, here's what else to look forward to:
Jeewan Hathi
Director: Meenu-Farjad (Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi)
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Hina Dilpazeer, Fawad Afzal Khan, Adnan Jaffar, Samiya Mumtaz
Synopsis: A black comedy about mainstream media and a morning show hostess' desperate bid to stage a comeback.
Dobaara
Director: Bejoy Nambiar
Cast: Manav Kaul, Parvathy Omanakuttan
Synopsis: A free-spirited girl walks into an arranged marriage and shakes things up – 20 years after.
Chotay Shah
Director: Sabiha Sumar
Cast: Adnan Jaffar, Naveed Shehzad, Tara Mahmood
Synopsis: Grappling with a broken marriage and ailing mother, the descendant of a wealthy landowner family struggles to maintain the last kothi, making rash decisions to keep afloat.
Guddu Ingiineer
Director: Nikhil Advani
Synopsis: What choice will 20-year-old engineering student Guddu make after finding himself at the crossroads between love and hate?
Silvat
Director: Tanuja Chandra
Cast: Kartik Tiwari, Meher Mistry
Synopsis: A much-married Noor falls in love with a younger man, Anwar the tailor. Will she continue playing the part of a devout wife, or break the shackles of her loveless marriage?
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