Shan Pays Homage To Legendary Stars by Trending #Letsbringourprideback

Veteran actor Shaan Shahid has never been afraid to speak his heart out and always been vocal about his feelings. He spoke from his heart and never held back without caring about criticism. Film-star is very much active on social media these days and has recently requested everyone from the film industry and sports community to stand together. Shahid feels that arts, sports and culture should come together because they are not provided with the required facilities in the country. Star has also urged everyone to support this cause.

Taking to Twitter, Shaan once again restated his forgive and forget mantra and encouraged people to move on from the Mahira Khan-Firdous Jamal controversy. In the light of this matter, Shaan Shahid has started a Hashtag #letsbringoutprideback and he has been posting about those artists and sportsmen who he feels deserve the love and attention for their endless contribution to their respective fields.

The Hashtag is indeed an applauding effort by Shahid to spread love and positivity as he tries to divert the attention on the people who deserve appreciation and acknowledgment. In one of his tweets, Shaan Shahid has also lent support to Firdous Jamal, who is under hot waters after his remarks against Mahira Khan. At first, the star supports both Mahira Khan and Firdous Jamal correspondingly but now he feels Firdous Jamal deserves respect for his work and contribution to the industry that he has done over the last 45 years.

With producer, Momina Duraid having announced that she would no longer hire Jamal in any of her future productions, a plea from Shaan to forgive and forget might actually help salvage the damage the veteran actor has caused for his prestige and career. Here’s hoping that Firdous Jamal doesn’t make unpleasant comments about junior colleagues in the future and that people actually learn the art of forgiving and forgetting.

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Are things looking up for Lollywood?

At the music launch of Ishq Khuda, film-makers talk about the industry’s comeback.

LAHORE: 

It’s about time film-makers got serious about Pakistani films. The Chairman of Pakistan Producers’ Association, Syed Noor, has been hounded by the question of how to revive Pakistani cinema for years. He is fixated on the idea that the influx of Indian cinema in Pakistan has been the biggest hindrance in the revival of Lollywood.

At the music launch of upcoming film Ishq Khuda, Noor, one of the best directors of Lollywood, embraced a different tone with regards to the country’s film industry. “I have said some harsh things about Amjad Rasheed [chairman of IMGC Global Entertainment],” Noor said. “I have said that he, as distributor, has done nothing but harm to the film industry in Pakistan.” Due to lack of space and support given to Pakistani cinema, veteran directors and advocates of Lollywood have been at odds with distributors and exhibitors. But at the launch, Noor shed light on the two major factors revolving around the film. “A distributor [IMGC] is supporting the film and the manager of PAF cinema [Nadir Minhas] announced that they will play one Pakistani film every week,” he said. “To hear about these developments is definitely a positive sign.”

Directed by Shehzad Rafique, the romantic Sufi-centric film Ishq Khuda stars Ahsan Khan, Meera, Wiam Dhamani, Kinza Malik, and has special appearances by Shaan and Saima. Rafique has always been business savvy to make sure his films receive maximum attention. His previous film, Mohabbtaan Sachiyaan, went to the South Asian film festival and the Muscat International Film Festival.

His new film intrinsically seems to be a Lollywood product, but is said to include better production value. It is produced by Shafquat Chaudhry, Arshad Mehmood and Shehzad Rafique. Saleem Zubairi and Pervaiz Kaleem have written the film.

At the launch, Shaan said a change was taking place within the industry. “We have to look at standing up on our feet first rather than depending on the government for finances,” said the actor. “Instead of begging for money, we must ask the government to make policies that encourage our film industry.”

Shaan added that there are several corporate funded projects in the pipeline, which would benefit and help revive Lollywood. He elaborated by saying that he would be participating in the remake of Aaina, which is being supported by the brand Tarang.

“It’s a form of corporate social responsibility, the way some multi-national companies and private corporations are getting involved with the film industry,” he continued.

Veteran television actor Rashed Mehmood, who has a supporting role in the film, agreed that Lollywood had a negative approach to competitive film-making.

“I think there has been a tendency of the old lot to get intimidated by some of the changes that have taken place,” said Mehmood. “We never really wanted to compete; we just wanted to ban Indian films to help our cause. But we are now looking at a way to compete.” He also said that the film proved there is still a role for existing talent in the new cinema that is being created in Pakistan.

Ishq Khuda will be distributed nationwide and has been supported by several multi-national brands — something which would have been unfathomable a couple of years ago. The film will be released on Eidul Fitr.

Brace yourselves for this Pakistani spy movie

KARACHI: 

It’s obvious that something incredible is cooking when a seasoned actor like Zeba Bakhtiar collaborates with Jamshed Mahmood Ansari (Jami) – one of the finest music directors in Pakistan. Add young Azan Sami Khan to lead the production front and Pakistan-based Australian Summer Nicks as the director, and it will get people talking.

According to Khan, their project, a film which was initially titled The Extortionist, remains untitled. The story revolves around international espionage, set in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Serbia, Egypt and America. It is partly based on real life events that took place in Sangam (Afghanistan), when Nato tankers were bombed a few years back. The film highlights the role of a Norwegian mining company that is after lithium reserves in Afghanistan; it also touches on the life of Cash Siddiqui (Shaan), a decommissioned CIA agent who is all set to rescue his family.

At the set of this untitled project, The Express Tribune meets Nicks — writer of the international award-winning Seedlings, for an insight into the film. He compares his new directorial venture to Seedlings and says: “This is another baby of mine; it’s almost in the ending phase and is turning out to be something really amazing.”

Nicks says it’s important to consider the type of audience the film will have. “In terms of the story and treatment, the film is a cross between Syriana and the Bourne series,” says Nicks. “You have to make films by keeping foreign audiences and foreign films in mind.”

“The film has to be on the same level as that of the Bourne series or any other mainstream Hollywood film to compete in an international market or else the film won’t work at all,” he adds.

The film stars Shaan as the protagonist and Shamoon Abbasi as Romano Jillani. Aaminah Sheikh has the role of Shaan’s wife and apart from the stunning Iman Ali and the veteran Ayub Khoso, a number of American actors are also part of the cast.

On the sets, the handsome Shaan appears in a pair of cargo pants as a CIA agent. As he aimed a gun into the camera, we caught him with a candid question: how does it feel to play a CIA agent and do action sequences at this point of your career?

“If you’re saying that I am getting old, you’re wrong,” says Shaan, as he glances at Nicks and laughs. “I am certainly not getting old.”

“It’s all a matter of getting the hook of the character,” shares Shaan. “If I am able to do that (in a typical Lollywood film or something like this), the director’s satisfaction is all that matters at the end of the day.”

He was impressed by the way Nicks works and the professionalism that was maintained throughout the shoots. “I have worked with so many people around the word but this guy has a totally different approach to direction altogether,” says Shaan. “There is a fine line between behaving on the set and off the set and he makes sure that the actors are comfortable in both the places.”

The new kid on the block Azan, who hails from a multi-talented family, believes that it is the change in attitude towards the cinema industry that is needed for the rebirth of cinema in Pakistan.

“The main goal was to get specialised people to do their jobs,” says Azan “As my mother says ‘it’s a plague that Pakistanis can do anything’. I completely agree [with her] because everyone in Pakistan wants to become a director; no one wants to do anything else. This needs to change and we have tried to accomplish that on our sets.”

For the yet untitled project, CIA headquarters were replicated and Pakistani roads were converted into European roads. From the teaser and talk, the big budget film seems like a high-octane, action-thriller complemented with intellect. Let’s hope it makes it to the cinemas.