http://indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=27576
Indian hand sends Pak film to no-man’s land
Pak minister Kasuri’s nephew hired Indian technicians for his maiden film
Pranab Dhal Samanta
Lahore, July 13: For two hostile neighbours, resumption of the Delhi-Lahore bus service may be a major step. But human aspirations move much faster than that bus and for many the small distance is proving to be too difficult to bridge.
Mubasher Lucman is one of them. He is Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s nephew and has no qualms in admitting that he is the ‘‘black sheep’’ in the family. He complains that his career as a filmmaker is being held hostage to the strained relations between the two countries.
BOLLYWOOD, HERE I COME: A still from Pehla Pehla Pyar
After building for himself a good reputation in the TV industry — which includes a quiz show that has been aired in three continents (Asia, Europe and Australia) and serials like Parchhai and Mohabbatein — Lucman has run out of luck. His maiden film venture, Pehla Pehla Pyar, has got jeopardised because of one mistake — he ‘‘hired a crew of Indian technical assistants.’’
The film has got delayed by over four months and Lucman completed shooting just last week. ‘‘But that was because I had to change locations from Pakistan. Our government did not give me the permission to bring in Indian technical assistants and cameramen to Pakistan. I made rounds of seven ministries but still could not get the clearances,’’ he lamented.
He even approached Uncle Kasuri who advised him not to ruffle too many feathers and to wait for matters between the two countries to improve. ‘‘I had recruited the entire technical crew of the Indian film Hero. My choreographer is Jojo who is now working in a Ram Gopal Verma film,’’ he told The Indian Express.
A dejected Lucman decided to shell out more and shoot in plush locations in Dubai and Thailand. But that was not the end of his woes. This time his encounter was with the Indian government. ‘‘I wanted to edit my film at Adlabs, Mumbai. But your government did not allow me to take my negatives to Mumbai. The customs read out this whole list of Indian export-import regulations applicable to Pak filmmaker,’’ he said.
He tried hard but was forced to go in for a more expensive alternative. ‘‘I ended up spending $40,000 to take my negatives to Cine Colour Labs in Singapore. Doesn’t your government understand that I was bringing business to India? Mumbai is a good 30 years ahead of us…but! For that matter, even our government is least cooperative in promoting such ties,’’ he says.
Lucman may just manage to sort out these issues but it is the release of his film that’s worrying him. If he relases the film in Pakistan, he says, the Indians in his team cannot be given credit.‘‘The censor here is sure to object to Indians being included in the list and I cannot release the film in India as I don’t know whether I will then be given the credit there.’’
Even if he manages to release the film in India, he may not be allowed to screen it here. ‘‘At least Indian films cannot be screened here. The same may apply to me given that I have been criticized in Pakistani media for knocking on the doors of Bollywood,’’ he says, pointing out ‘‘no wonder there are so many pirated CDs here. Bollywood loses $17 billion annually on account of piracy. Pakistan also loses — from 941 cinemas at one time, there are just 317 today because we don’t show Hindi movies.’’