Naseer's up in arms

Has bone to pick with fundamental elements. Plays a mullah in next film

Naseeruddin Shah is a very angry man just ahead of the release of Khuda Ke Liye, the first Pakistani film to be released in India. Shah plays a liberal mullah in the film.Wrong focusThe actor blasts conservative elements for attacking Sania Mirza and Shah Rukh Khan. Says Naseer, “I don’t think the majority of people in any community should be identified with the views expressed by a handful of religious fundamentalists. Look at poor little Sania. Why focus on her skirt when she’s doing our country proud? Why not concentrate on real issues like women’s education?” He continues, “Some guy in Chattisgarh pulls up Shah Rukh for smoking. Some people decide that listening to music is haraam…. Who gives them the right to decide?”ImportantAt 59, Shah continues to be as outspoken as ever. Says he, “A film like Khuda Ke Liye is brave and must be watched in the smaller cities like Aligarh and Surat. So I hope the distributors aren’t planning a metro-centric release. I’m surprised to know it’s being released in India. It’s the first Pakistani film to be released in India, and that makes it even more important. It was well received in Pakistan. I wonder how it will be received in our country!”Naseer’s roleNaseer plays a rational clergyman who’s summoned to interpret the Quran when a young girl is accused of moral misconduct. “My role in KKL is only a cameo. I come into the picture two hours into the story. The film belongs to the young Pakistani actor Shaan, who plays a rock star. He’s the SRK of Pakistan. And hats off to him for playing such a role and being in a film that’s not about entertainment.”

Pakistani film on Islam in a rare India screening

By Tony Tharakan
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A Pakistani film about Muslims in a post 9/11 world is slated to open in India next month, a rare event considering political rivalry has limited cultural interaction between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
"Khuda Kay Liye" (In The Name of God) deals with the rift between radical and liberal Islam, an issue that confronts India's 140 million Muslims as well while they fight charges that the community provides recruits for militant groups.
Director Shoaib Mansoor hopes the Urdu film will engage audiences in Hindu-majority India when it opens in theatres on March 28.
"It is the first Pakistani film (in India) after several decades so people should have a natural interest in it," the Lahore-based filmmaker told Reuters in an email interview.
"India has a very big Muslim population which should naturally be interested. And the non-Muslims (would want) to know what real Islam is."
"Khuda Kay Liye" weaves together three stories -- of a pop singer who comes under the influence of Islamic extremists, a Briton of Pakistani origin who is forcibly married to her cousin and a man illegally detained in the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The film also features Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah in a cameo as a Muslim scholar clarifying the tenets of Islam during a court case.
Pakistan's film industry has been starved of a natural audience in India due to political differences and the dominance of Bollywood.
But the success of "Khuda Kay Liye" since its release in Pakistan in July last year may be a sign Pakistani cinema is finally emerging from the doldrums.
The film that opened to a standing ovation at the International Film Festival of India last year has premieres planned in New Delhi and Mumbai.
"After many years, 'Khuda Kay Liye' saw packed theatres in Pakistan," said filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar, whose film "Ramchand Pakistani" was screened at the Berlin Film Festival this month.
"It got people talking about the revival of cinema (in Pakistan) and opened doors to other filmmakers to start thinking again about the possibility of making quality feature films."
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Pakistan blocks access to YouTube

Pakistani officials have announced that the government has blocked all access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube because there have been a few anti-Islamic videos posted on the site.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) notified all 70 Pakistani ISPs that access to the site is to be blocked indefinitely.

The PTA revealed that the ban was mainly due to a "trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Quran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals." Governement officials would not elaborate further.

The group also urged YouTube fans to write to the site and request the removal of all "objectionable movies" saying that the government would unblock the site once the movies were taken down.

The banning follows recent decisions by Turkey and Morocco to block access to the video sharing site, both for similar reasons as Pakistan.

Less is more for acting legend Daniel Day-Lewis

HOLLYWOOD (AFP) — Quality not quantity has been the dominant theme for Daniel Day-Lewis during a career that has seen him carve out a reputation as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Day-Lewis, who won the best actor Oscar Sunday for playing a tyrannical oil prospector in "There Will Be Blood," is renowned for the selectiveness and intense research with which approaches each of his roles.
The 50-year-old actor has made only eight films in the nearly 20 years since he gained international stardom for his astonishing Oscar-winning performance as a man born with cerebral palsy in "My Left Foot."
Without exception, however, Day-Lewis has immersed himself in each of his film roles to a degree that has become legendary.
Often during films Day-Lewis chooses to remain in character off-set, living and breathing the part of his on-screen persona 24 hours a day.
For 1989's "My Left Foot" he insisted on staying in his character's wheelchair during the shoot to the consternation of crew members forced to carry him above or around camera cables and lighting.
In 1992's historical epic "Last of the Mohicans", Day-Lewis buffed up and learnt to live off the land as his character had done.
For Martin Scorsese's period drama "The Age of Innocence," Day-Lewis reportedly donned 1870s garb and spent several weeks wandering around New York to get into character.
Also in 1993, Day-Lewis shed several pounds to play an Irishman wrongfully convicted of an IRA pub bombing in "In The Name of the Father."
Day-Lewis ordered crew members to verbally abuse him and throw cold water over him during the making of the film.
Day-Lewis, who rarely gives interviews and generally eschews the trappings of celebrity, is reluctant to talk about the madness in his method.
"Considering the way that I work very often, I do feel I've been soundly misrepresented so many times that there's almost no point in even talking about it," he said in a recent interview.
"But people tend to focus on the details of the preparation -- the practical details in this clinic or that prison and so on and so forth.
"For me, as much as that work is a vital part of it and always fuel to one's fascination, one's curiosity, the principal work is always in the imagination."
During the making of his next film, 1996's adaptation of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", Day-Lewis met his wife, Rebecca Miller, the daughter of the legendary late American playwright.
Day-Lewis was to make one more film -- 1997's "The Boxer" -- before retreating into a mysterious five-year break from acting that has been the subject of intense speculation.
The most widely reported version of events is that Day-Lewis spent part of the period living in Italy learning to become shoemaker in exchange for teaching a cobbler how to act. Whatever the truth, Day-Lewis has studiously avoided talking about the period.
Once asked what he had done during those years, Day-Lewis replied: "Different things. Some of which I've resolutely chosen not to speak about."
Day-Lewis returned with a vengeance in 2002, teaming with Scorsese once again to play the murderous Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting in "Gangs of New York," a role that earned him his third Oscar nomination.
A further appearance in the drama "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" in which he was directed by his wife, came in 2005, before Day-Lewis re-emerged to link with director Paul Thomas Anderson in "There Will Be Blood."
Day-Lewis was born in 1957 to Cecil Day-Lewis, then Britain's poet laureate, and Jill Balcon, an actress whose father Sir Michael Balcon ran London's legendary Ealing film studios.
He dropped out of school at 13 for his first film, an uncredited bit part in "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," then began to seriously hone his acting skills -- first at the Bristol Old Vic, then with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1982 he reappeared on the silver screen in the epic "Gandhi," but he really made his name three years later in two very different films: "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "A Room with a View."
In the low-budget "Laundrette," he played a gay punk in Thatcher-era south London who goes into the coin-wash business with his Pakistani boyfriend.
In the Merchant-Ivory "A Room with a View," he portrayed a hopelessly proper fiance in early 20th century Edwardian England.
In 1987 he clinched his first starring role opposite French actress Juliette Binoche in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," director Philip Kaufman's adaptation of the Milan Kundera novel.

Syed Noor

Syed Noor (Urdu: سید نور) is a Pakistani film director based in Lahore. He has to his credit some of Lollywood's biggest hits like Choorian, Jeeva and Deewane Tere Pyar Ke. Noor is often credited with re-vitalizing the Lollywood industry during the mid-90s, a period during which he directed hits such as Jeeva, Chor Machaye Shor and Ghoongat. In recent years Noor has often faced criticism for his casting choices and his reliance on outdated technology. Noor countered his critics with his last flick Larki Panjaban where he used supposedly some of the best gadgets to make the film. His latest Punjabi release Majajan is reportedly doing very well at the box office. According to a news report on Geo TV Pakistan, Syed Noor has been married to film actress Saima since 2005, but kept it private. This would be Noor's second marriage. He is also married to Rukhsana Noor, who is a journalist and a published poet. She has also written and produced numerous films and some television shows. Among the most successful directors today, he has completed a full circle to reach where he once was as a filmi writer - treading the beaten track as hardly as one could - though his first film as a writer, Society Girl, was no mean achievement.

Potter’ star to appear on London stage

This photo, supplied by Peter Thompson Associates, is a recent but undated photo of Daniel Radcliffe, the boy wizard from ‘Harry Potter’ movies, who opens on the London stage in the Tony Award-winning drama ‘Equus’ on Feb. 27, 2007, poses with Joanna Christie. Previews begin on Feb. 16. The 17-year-old will perform nude in one scene. Radcliffe has ignited a bit of a media firestorm by posing for racy promotional photos. (AP Photo/Peter Thompson Associates, Uli Weber) .

NCSA STUDENT FILM WINS AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

WINSTON-SALEM – A North Carolina School of the Arts student film has won the Audience Choice Award at the Starz First Look Student Film Festival in Denver, Colo. THE TRAGEDY OF GLADY, written and directed by then-School of Filmmaking college senior Karrie Crouse in 2004, was singled out from a field of 70 films screened at the festival, which drew 400 entries. GLADY was also one of three finalists in the Best Narrative category – a category won by a $100,000 musical, titled WEST BANK STORY, from the University of Southern California. Crouse, who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing from the NCSA School of Filmmaking in 2004, grew up in Winston-Salem and, when she was eight, moved to Durham, where she studied still photography at the Durham School of the Arts.
Crouse said that the USC film was “well-made but not really comparable – story wise or budget wise – to GLADY.” Crouse, who now lives in Los Angeles but was flown out to Colorado for the festival, said that she was excited about telling Gladys’ story. “I always start with a character that I both like and dislike,” she said, “and as I started working on Gladys, I realized I was creating a character that I wanted to get to know.” Asked why she used the name “Glady” in the title, Crouse said, “Glady is a nickname for Gladys that her parents use, and that she really doesn’t like.” THE TRAGEDY OF GLADY tells the story of a misunderstood young woman who depends on the acceptance of her best friend, Claire, for support. After the tragic death of Claire’s parents, she and Gladys begin to grow apart. In an attempt to reconnect and empathize with Claire, Gladys begins searching for a tragic event to call her own. Just when Gladys realizes she must change her ways and make amends with Claire … Gladys gets her tragedy. Gladys is portrayed in the film by School of Drama alumna Trieste Dunn, then a student at NCSA Crouse said she has been told that as a prize-winner at the festival, Starz will analyze GLADY for acquisition. Starz is the largest provider of cable and satellite-delivered premium movie channels in the United States. It is based in Englewood, Colo.
This is the first year that NCSA has entered the Starz First Look Festival, which ran April 21-23. “Wade Gardner, one of the festival creators and directors, loved GLADY and was impressed with the quality of our films overall,” said Kate Miller, special assistant to School of Filmmaking Dean Dale Pollock. Now in its fifth year, the Starz First Look Festival is viewed as the premier film festival for university and graduate student filmmakers. It was founded by Gardner and Josh Weinberg, then students at The Colorado Film School, in 2001. The School of Filmmaking is one of five professional schools that make up the North CarolinaSchool of the Arts, a leading conservatory for training talented students for careers in the arts.The School of
Filmmaking offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts and College Arts Diploma in cinematography, directing, editing and sound, producing, production design and screenwriting, and a Master of Fine Arts in film music composition. Among the school’s busy alumni are David Gordon Green (director, ALL THE REAL GIRLS), Tim Orr (cinematographer, DANDELION) and sound designer Will Files (assistant sound designer, THE INCREDIBLES).
For more information, visit the School’s website at www.ncarts.edu.

Institute of Media Sciences

the Institute of Media Sciences (IMS), has established in Islamabad for filling a gap and facilitation of working and potential media professionals with hands-on-training study program.The Institute has the backing of a group of media professionals, including senior journalists, producers and media experts. The Institute aims to create a generation of Media professionals with state of the art knowledge, skills and techniques needed to meet the challenges of globalization and modernity. Our approach in this initiative is to equip entrants with most relevant academic knowledge and technical training.I feel proud to state that we, in the Institute, have arranged a highly qualified and experienced faculty to teach the hands on training on following courses of three month scheduled time.
TV Program Production
Nonlinear Editing
3-D studio Max
Camera work and Lighting
Photography
Television Reporting
The Art of Documentary
We would like to establish some linkages with your prestigious organization. In case of long-term agreement we may offer special fee structure and short duration courses.
Institute of
Media Sciences
12-al Babar Centre 2nd floor
F-8 Markaz Islamabad (051-2854838)0321-5063947

award winning photograph

the color of water

Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth are shooting a new film in Mongolia. After international success with movies like State of dogs and Poets of Mongolia, the new project is called The Colour of Water, and has already been awarded “Best Screenplay” by the Berlin-Brandenburger film fund. A synopsis:
Set in the frozen steppelands of Mongolia, The Colour of Water tells the magical story of Bagi, a 17-year-old herdsboy faced with his destiny to become a shaman.When a plague hits the land, all the animals are killed and the nomads are forcibly relocated to mining towns.Bagi subsequently learns that that the plague was a lie. With the help of a beautiful young coal thief, he provokes a revolution.

Majajan

Producer Saima
Director Syed Noor
Story Rukhsana Noor

Music Director Zulfikar Ali
Year 2006
Language Punjabi
Cast Saima, Shaan, Madiha Shah
Reviewer Raza Shah - Images Dawn, Pakistani Newspaper

Syed Noor’s much awaited Punjabi language film Majajan is finally out. The showman had cancelled the release earlier for almost three times - once due to the October 8 earthquake, then the Pak-India Test series and most recently Eid-ul-Azha - adding to the hype of the film and testing the patience of Pakistani cine-goers. With the all-Pakistan premier of the Sonia Jahan starrer Taj Mahal just around the corner (April 28), Syed Noor had no option but to release Majajan right away and with not much publicity. Although a local TV channel is promoting the film, if done earlier it certainly would have helped get more people to the cinema who still remember Syed Noor and Saima from Choorian - the biggest Punjabi grosser of present times. Majajan is expected to face tough competition from Taj Mahal, but as one who is quite familiar with Syed Noor’s brand of cinema, this writer thinks that we might already have a winner on our hands. If the latter is a monument of a man’s eternal love for a woman, Majajan doesn’t fall short on this count either. Syed Noor has been romantically linked with Saima for years and it is probably the oldest talk around tinsel town that she has been his heroine in more than a dozen films so far. So when Saima decided to launch her first film as a producer, it was all but natural that she chose Noor to direct it. The story is by Rukhsana Noor for who else could write it better than she? Shaan plays Zille Shah, an unhappily married man belonging to the revered Syed clan who falls in love with a courtesan, Taari (Saima), when she performs in his village. His wife (Madiha Shah) and family straightaway condemn the budding relationship, thereby leading to a conflict that keeps the audience entertained for three hours straight. Majajan took almost two years to complete and it was rumored that it was the Punjabi version of Devdas. Zille Shah is shown as a drunkard, dressed in white and looking very much like Devdas’ character. He is a man trapped in the feudal system but who revolts against it to win the love of his life. If Majajan resembles any Indian film, it could only be Silsila which cashed in on the hype of Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha’s love affair when he was married to Jaya Bhaduri as the characters on screen spoke the language that people couldn’t hear off screen. Majajan has not been marketed or presented that way but the characters on screen are rather close to real people. For the film, Syed Noor has not only provided his directorial skills but has also written the screenplay and dialogue. So when Madiha Shah refers to Shaan as Shahji, telling him that she will not accept his affair with Saima, one can guess who’s talking here; also when Shaan turns around and says that falling in love with Saima is his heart’s doing.
And this makes Majajan even more interesting. Shaan, Saima and Madiha Shah fit their characters like the proverbial glove. The film is a comeback movie for Madiha Shah and she lives up to viewers’ expectations. Shaan’s character has different shades and rumor has it that while shooting for the film, he put the production team in a tough spot by causing delays with his disappearing acts and other shenanigans. But everything aside, he has delivered an excellent performance and one must commend Syed Noor (and Saima) for sticking with Shaan and not opting for Moammar Rana who, one feels, would have killed the character.
Saima is one of the finest film actresses we have and since this is a home production with her favorite director, she seems totally at ease and very much in control of her character. She is stunning as Taari, the courtesan who sings and performs in village theatres but lives a very simple life. She is shown to respect her peers and values but speaks her mind out loud and commands respect. Majajan has already proved to be another feather in Saima’s cap and as a producer she has launched a film that is truly entertaining and beautiful. One also feels that she must be appreciated for stepping forward in the revival of good cinema at a time when our Lollywood is struggling hard to survive.
Majajan can be labelled as a musical as Zulfikar Ali, the celebrated music director of the earlier hit, Choorian, is back with a score that’s just as brilliant if not more. All the songs are sung by Azra Jehan coupled with a good melody. Tere Ishq Nachaya by Bullhay Shah is also included in the soundtrack that has 10 other songs, and Syed Noor has filmed them so beautifully that none of them seem out placed except for the last one where it feels like the director has stretched the ending to fit it in.
With a spate of new film directors working on their projects and competition as big and strong as Mughal-i-Azam and the ongoing King Kong on nation-wide cinemas, what the audiences want from Javed Sheikh, Sangeeta and Syed Noor is good clean quality films. Majajan is just what they have been waiting for.