Islamabad
Director-Screenwriter: Riaz Shahid
Music: Rashid Attrey-Wajahat Attrey
Lyrics: Habib Jalib
Cast: Neelo, Ejaz, Talish, Allauddin, Aslam Pervaiz
Lok Virsa Film Club Mandwa screened Director-Screenwriter Riaz Shahid's 1969 epic ‘Zerqa’ on Saturday.
Film trade in 1969 was in bloom. Colour in films was the new fad for everyone. ‘Sangam’ (1964) from Dhaka and ‘Naila’ (1965) from Lahore , had been huge hits nationwide. 1969 saw more colours in ‘Tumhey Ho Mahboob Merey’ and ‘Andaleeb’. There were other biggies in Black and White as well: Qamar Zaidi Salgirah, Raza Mir's Anila and, Ehtesham Anari. And then came rebellious screenwriter, Riaz Shahid's ‘Zerqa’. Riaz Shahid had earlier carved out a place for himself as screenwriter with ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Farangi’, under daring direction of Khalil Qaiser. True, Riaz Shahid had directed other films earlier but ‘Zerqa’ was a challenge. It was his first big budget colour film on a subject never brought on screen before-liberation of Palestine. Could a Pakistani director do justice to that subject.
The film takes us back to 1948 in flashbacks and revolves around the conflict which still has not been resolved after seventy years. How would one review ‘Zerqa’ after nearly fifty years!. This was a huge production in terms of sets, effects, wardrobe, locations and production values. No in 2017, it has to be seen under the circumstances prevailing in film trade fifty years back. Ironically, just a couple of extremely poor films have been made since then on this subject. One has to salute Riaz Shahid for this daring attempt and he was certainly ahead of his time. Do not judge the sets, wardrobe and blasting effects of ‘Zerqa’ from 2017 computer generated era.
Neelo, Ejaz, Talish and Allaudin remain the four pillars of acting here. Riaz Shahid's script and dialogue still seem unbeatable.
Habib Jalib's revolutionary poem ‘Raqs zanjeer pehan ker bhi kia jata hai’ rendered by no other than Mehdi Hassan is the highlight. The choreography does seem over-done and gaudy. One of my favourites ‘Hamey yaqeen hai dhaley ki eik din sitam ki ye sham aye Palestine’ which comes towards the final credits is emotional raising goose pimples. ‘Zerqa’ has been hanged for treason by the British and the song has been filmed on Allaudin across the bleeding barbed wire.
‘Zerqa’ won several awards for Best Film, Director, Script, Actress, Lyricist, Singer and Art Direction.
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