Meera in bollywood movie

Meera will soon act in a Bollywood movie; Mahesh Bhatt will write a script for Samina Peerzada's next film; Pooja Bhatt wouldn't mind directing a movie in Pakistan, while Ali Azmat and Usman Peerzada traded sharp exchanges with each other on the state of cinema in Pakistan.

All this and more happened at a seminar held on the sidelines of the recently-concluded KaraFilm Festival. Featuring several Pakistani and Indian film-makers, and a couple of Pakistani musicians, the theme of the seminar was possibilities of cooperation between the film industries of India and Pakistan. The panelists included Mahesh Bhatt (whose movie Zakhm was shown during the festival and who, a day prior to the seminar, had told a press conference of his plans to embark on a joint Pakistan-India production in the near future, and his daughter, actress-turned-director Pooja Bhatt (whose movie Paap had its first ever public screening during the festival - tickets for which, in the words of one organizer, were so hard to come by that people would have to dangle from the roof if they wanted to watch the show). Award-winning film-maker Anand Patwardhan from India also participated (whose movies Raam Kay Naam and Jang aur Aman were shown during the festival), along with film-maker Ilahi Heptulla from Hyderabad, India (whose Teen Dewaarein was part of the festival), Junoon's lead singer Ali Azmat, Usman Peerzada, film actress Meera and former member of the defunct Vital Signs and now a leading studio man Shehzad Hasan (who, along with Faisal Rafi, helped do the background music for Pooja Bhatt's film). The moderator of the seminar, which was organized in a more or less informal discussion fashion with no written speeches, was Hasan Zaidi, the head of the KaraFilm Society.

Mahesh Bhatt, who, it seemed by the end of the seminar, was in love with the sound of his own voice, started off the proceedings by saying that collaboration between Indian and Pakistan film-makers was possible. He said the film industries of both countries had much in common and that he was impressed by the young, vibrant people he had seen during his visit to Karachi. He also said that technology, which was missing in Pakistan, was very useful but not a prerequisite for talent or creativity. "You can have the best technology in the world but that might mean that you end up making a very good-looking bad film."

During the course of the seminar, Bhatt emphasized several times the fact that he was pleasantly surprised by the many young and dynamic people he had seen in Karachi, referring to the 'lovely young girls' who had volunteered to help out at the festival, and said that they were no different, "in fact many were much better," than their counterparts across the border in Mumbai. At times, though, Bhatt sounded a bit patronizing because he seemed to go on and on with such remarks. As for Karachi being full of young and dynamic people, that is surely a good thing. However, the fact is that this is nothing new for Karachi. So, it could be said that Bhatt's 'pleasant' surprise by meeting people during his visit could very well be an indication of the fact that the Indian press does not carry positive stories about Pakistan because had that been the case, even Mahesh Bhatt, an avowed well-wisher of Pakistan, would have known that and would not have been so surprised.

His daughter Pooja, on the other hand, was quite reticent. However, she did say that she was in Karachi not because of the current relatively relaxed atmosphere between India and Pakistan but because she would have come anyway since she knew people here. She said, like her father, that the Indian music industry was almost as good as dead and that the Pakistani music scene was much better and had a lot more talent. She also commented on her own movie, Paap, saying that listening to Rahat Ali Khan, whose voice appears in the film, but who was absent from the seminar, after a long and tiring day was like a Godsend for her. She said the kind of music that was being made in Pakistan was, unfortunately, not being made in India at all, which is perhaps why Pakistani bands and musicians often do so well in India. Ms Bhatt also said that making a movie was an expensive proposition, but that this should not be an obstacle since those who really wanted to make their own film could always go and raise money, like she had done.

A major part of the seminar was devoted to the technological divide that existed between the film industries of both countries as well as the generation gap, which was more of an intra-industry phenomenon. Usman Peerzada made a strong case for the first point saying that many of the young people in the audience and in the panel (he and Shehzad Hasan vigorously disagreed with each other on this) were unaware of the fact that Pakistani film-makers were using technology that was over 70 years old. Shehzad Hasan said that the technology was already here in some cases but what was needed to make better films in Pakistan was creative ideas and talent. Faisal Rafi, a member of the Paap musical team, rose from the front row in the audience and said that frankly speaking, he was tired of the older generation in Pakistan, because they had done nothing to improve the film industry. It was time that they moved on and got out of the way of young people who had the initiative and energy to try out new things.

Film actress Meera was asked (in Urdu, while all the others were asked questions in English) why, in her opinion, Lollywood was seen as being against Indian films. Wearing an off-shoulder top on what was a cold Karachi evening, with dark glasses over her eyes and with chewing gum in her mouth, she said she found the people of Karachi much more polished and sophisticated than those in Lahore. She said that it would be a great thing for Pakistani cinema if the film industry shifted from Lahore to Karachi because people were more professional here. Her comments generated much applause, although all those in the audience who were expecting her to make a gaffe were left disappointed.

Ali Azmat, in keeping with Junoon's tradition of keeping audiences entertained, did exactly just that. In colourful Punjabi, he basically backed what Faisal Rafi had said earlier by pointing out that in Pakistan, whenever any young person wanted to do something creative or artistic, like make a movie or make a career in music, someone or the other (usually someone from the person's family) would always discourage him. Unless this changed, we would not see any change in the kind of films that were being made in Pakistan. He also said that the issue of who would fund and invest in films was a non-starter because the money was there all right, it just wasn't being invested. He said, to much applause from the audience, people could squander a crore on a mujra but were not willing to spend the same amount towards making a good quality film.

Sevy Ali, a London-based producer of Pakistani and Indian dramas and films, who was sitting in the audience, told the panelists that an Indian film with even a bad plot would do reasonably well in Pakistan because of the technical superiority - perhaps a euphemism for the glitziness and skin-baring tactics increasingly employed by Bollywood - it had over its Pakistani counterparts.

ENDNOTE: Such festivals are undoubtedly good for Karachi's film buffs and if projected and publicized properly, this could be excellent for our rather negative image overseas, especially the one according to which Karachi is infested with Al-Qaeda operatives and Taliban remnants. However, one hopes that the festival organizers will pay heed to some suggestions, especially with reference to the organization of some of the major events and screenings of the festival.

The press conference he