(L-R) Nadeem Baig, Shabnam, Asif Raza Mir and Indian journalist Priyanka Jha participated in a session titled ‘Cinema Across the Borders’ which was moderated by journalist Umber Khairi.
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The veteran actress, who lives in Bangladesh, made her presence felt at the eighth edition of the Karachi Literature Festival.
Karachi: Veteran film actress Shabnam graced the eighth edition of the Karachi Literature Festival that was held at the Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi this past weekend. Invited to participate in two separate sessions on separate days, her presence drew the crowd from near and far.
In the one-on-one session, the superstar of yesteryears – who resides in Bangladesh – took the audience down memory lane by talking nostalgically about her return to Pakistan and the love she had received from people, who continue to enjoy her films to this day.
On the second day of the festival, Bushra Ansari was originally supposed to converse with Shabnam about her films in a 60-minute session titled ‘Phool Aur Shabnam’ but the session was cut short due to the guest arriving late as a result of traffic jams. The audience only got half an hour with the legendary actress.
However, once the show reel of Shabnam was screened at the venue, it was enough to mesmerize the attendees who were seen clapping and humming songs of the ’60s, ’70s and the ’80s. After Shabnam’s arrival, the mood changed as she talked about several things including this being her first trip in 50 years without her recently departed husband Robin Ghosh. She also spoke about the robbery at her home in 1978 that left her only son traumatized, her decision to retire gracefully in the late ’80s and her astonishment on the development in Karachi, the city where Aaina and many other films were shot.
No one could have anchored the proceedings better than Bushra Ansari, who is herself a wonderful actress. Ansari kept the audience entertained in Shabnam’s absence and even after her arrival as she asked well-researched questions and made to-the-point interruptions.
The most interesting part of the discussion was when Shabnam declared Suroor Barabankvi’s Aakhri Station as her best work (instead of Aaina or Bandish) terming the role of a pagli as the finest of her career. She also went on to say that in the entire film, she had just one dialogue and it was the game of expressions that kept her character engaged with the plot.
On the final day of the three-day event, Shabnam reunited with Nadeem Baig, her leading man of 50 films, during a session called ‘Cinema Across the Borders’. The panel also featured actor Asif Raza Mir, Indian journalist Priyanka Jha and veteran actor Mustafa Qureshi who joined in the discussion later on.
During this session, some opposing viewpoints emerged on the horizon. For instance, while Nadeem Baig was of the view that Pakistan needs to devise a ‘barter system’ with India so that our films can be screened there, Mustafa Qureshi felt that Indian films shouldn’t be screened in Pakistan at all.
His comments left the audience and the panelists including the guest from India stunned and ended, what was until then a perfect session, on a sour note. The administrators must screen participants more carefully because in my opinion, having Javed Sheikh on stage would have been better, since he has been working in India and Pakistan for a long time.
Veteran TV actor Asif Raza Mir narrated the incident of his debut film, Playboy, with Nadeem Baig where the latter was driving a convertible with four beautiful women (as part of the story) and he was travelling in a van behind on the streets of London. He also talked the language of someone who belongs to the current era rather than the ’60s or the ’70s. He said that Bollywood must be credited for helping Pakistan develop a cinema industry and we must also realize their importance as the last few months have proven that not screening Bollywood films across cinemas in Pakistan dented the film industry in more ways than one.
Indian journalist Priyanka Jha mentioned an incident regarding the popularity of Fawad Khan in India. She recalled how girls from an entire building were standing outside a studio to get a glimpse of the Pakistani actor - such is his fan following in India.
She also stated that like Hollywood, India has a penchant to embrace other cultures as it will help them grow. It was at this moment Nadeem and Shabnam added that Pakistan and India must move forward like United States and Canada and filmmakers in the country should also interact with actors from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who are good at their work and will give a new perspective to films.
Asif Raza Mir and Nadeem didn’t get the time to talk about their cross-border assignments from the ’80s; the former worked in a Pak-China long play called Paiman-e-Wafa whereas the latter worked in an Indo-Canadian and Bangladeshi co-production called Gehri Chot aka Doordesh.
It certainly would’ve benefited the houseful audience who were present to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars. Had there been more time, this sensible discussion would have solved many problems our film industry currently faces, such as shortage of institutes where youngsters are trained for films. Such sessions should be part of our cultural vernacular and shouldn’t be limited to the occasion of Karachi Literature Festival alone but should also be staged at other events in Pakistan so we can improve and raise our standards efficiently and internationally.
–Omair Alavi is a freelance broadcast journalist and
can be contacted at omair78gmail.com