Pakistani film star shaan biography of michael

Sunday’s ARY Film Awards will go down in history – not as a milestone where the industry’s major players turned out in their finest for a night dedicated solely to celebrating the best of Pakistani cinema, but as the night when two A-listers host, Shaan and AFA honoree, Ali Zafar had, for lack of (wanting to use) a less sensational term, a ‘catfight’ on stage.

While the grapevine and gossip mongers were having a field day with who-said-what, there were many who were left shaking their heads in resignation, for they recognised the sentiments simmering beneath the surface for what they fundamentally were – an encapsulation of everything that caused cinema in Pakistan to stagger and stagnate over the last 15 years.

For those that weren’t in attendance at the ceremony, and were spared melting in the sweltering heat of the outdoor event, Shaan used his opening monologue to address patriotism, and the lack thereof, in the Pakistani industry. Specifically calling out artists who accept work from across the Indian border, he labeled all those who choose to work outside Pakistan as unpatriotic ‘sell-outs.’

Shaan’s comment was seen as a thinly veiled dig at Ali Zafar, who was set to receive the International Icon Award of Pakistan later that night. Undoubtedly, our biggest export, as far as the entertainment industry in concerned, Ali chose to address the statement in his acceptance speech.

Calling it a disrespectful comment to make, he pointed out that artists the likes of Ghulam Ali, Zeba Bakhtiar, Nusrat and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam are a few of the illustrious names that have worked in the Indian industry. The exchange has divided public sentiment, but it doesn’t come down to simple matters of bitterness, diplomacy or self-promotion. Shaan was right about one thing – it is a question of patriotism. He’s just looking up the wrong definition of the word.

There is nothing patriotic about restricting the immense talent that Pakistan has to a geographical

You’ve made 576 films. How is that possible?

I’ve been working since I was 16. I’m 42 now. If you dissect a film, we shoot scenes about three hours a day so I started working in hours. I could give three hours to three films each day. Sometimes two hours a day to four films. In 2004, we released 45 films. There was a boom then and everyone wanted to work really hard.

Where is Pakistani filmmaking headed?

Pakistani filmmakers are struggling because they don’t have any support from our leaders. There are no banks nor companies that support us. We’ve been doing films and entertaining people on our own for the past 50 years. And that needs to change. They tell their kids to be doctors, not filmmakers. If we don’t have international support, we won’t have the budget to make films.

What can Pakistani films bring to the global world of filmmaking?

We can do for the world's filmmakers what China is doing for America. We can cut your cost. I think Pakistan is the richest country as far as scripts are concerned. Every filmmaker needs a script. Every blockbuster is a Marvel film. That means you don't have a script. You have comic books that you're making films out of. We have got numerous Titanics in Pakistan. What about all the mothers in Pakistan who gave out their sons to the wrong cause? Isn't that a script? Those stories need to be told. After 20 years of war in ­Pakistan, we have so much to say. Bring your cameras. Bring your filmmakers and start shooting in Pakistan.

If Hollywood or Bollywood came calling and asked you to play a villain, would you do it?

I refused India once. When I read the role, I knew that they needed a new terrorist face and I said no. In Pakistan, I live in people’s hearts. That’s a huge responsibility. I cannot let them down. I can’t do that to people who love me. We don’t need a villain. We can all be heroes. Our speech is our films. That’s our tool.

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