The man behind the camera
By Qasim Abdallah Moini
His is a subtle art. From the gritty, DIY cult look of Karavan’s Pak-rock classic Rakhaas to the hi-fidelity flying supermodel ad campaign for a mobile company, Mirza Jamshed Raza has come a long way. Bred on a steady diet of everything from George Lucas to Satyajit Ray, Jami, as he is better known in the ‘industry,’ channels his rootsy, no-nonsense ethic through his work. His music videos and commercials are surprisingly void of gimmicks such as the token pretty girl or other cheap tactics directors of today throw in to cover up for a complete lack of plot. As a director, he entered the field in 1997 after he had completed his studies in the US, but actually got his first taste of the big time a little earlier.
“In 1995 I got to do some commercials connected to the World Cup as I was interning at an ad agency. I was in Pakistan during my college break and had a blast doing my first shoot. But the unofficial beginning was in 1977 when I first saw Star Wars. That’s when I was infected with the film-making bug. Another turning point in my life was when I watched Satyajit Ray’s Aparajito. At that time I was quite confused as I didn’t know what I’d do in Pakistan if I returned. But watching the film and reading Ray’s book convinced me to return as I concluded Hollywood was not for me.”
He is quite inspired by Ray, the late Bengali maestro, as he raves on about how Ray’s films were not made to make money, but rather to change history. The young director holds a special fondness for masterpieces like Pather Panchali as these cinematic milestones had their origin in this part of the world. But Jami’s growth as a film-maker is not static as even today, he is motivated to explore new vistas and look beyond the Hollywood machine for inspiration.
"The influences keep growing. I’m into stuff by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. Four years ago Chinese cinema entered my life. Maheen Zia introduced me to that. We’ve made a company called Azad Films. We’re planning a feature film, 100 Watt ka bulb. I just pray to God that this film gets made as we’re experiencing a lot of problems with the finances. It has been made in a very Irani style. I don’t know if the big shots are going to want to touch it as it won’t make a lot of money!" He says in a deadpan expression.
Jami feels that the myriad of music videos he has directed have granted him the most creative freedom. “There are some commercials where the client gives you a free hand, but with music videos, I have total freedom,” he says.
He talks nostalgically of when he first stepped into the music video arena in 1997 with Rakh aas.
“It was a very underground type of video. At that time, the trend in Pakistan was to emulate a very Indian-MTV type of look with good make-up, flashy sets, that kind of ‘nice’ stuff. Now this ‘nice’ look costs a lot of money. If you don’t have it, why try and go for it? Why are you trying to make Devdas on a shoestring budget? People here don’t know about guerrilla film-making. They just want perfect skin, perfect costumes. Forget the costumes…where’s your concept? To me, all these things are very secondary. The lyrics to Rakh aas themselves revealed what the concept was going to be. It was a very dark, dirty video. Of course we were kids back then so it was only as dark as the extent of our imaginations allowed it to be.”
**Jami has come full-circle from Rakh aas’s grit to much flashier numbers such as Strings’ Anjaneyor Fuzon’s graphics heavy Akhiyan. What in his body of work, stands out for him as a landmark?
“I really don’t like to praise myself, so please don’t get the wrong idea, but I think that Najam Sheraz’s Pal do pal featuring Iraj was a landmark. When I went to India, it was huge there. A multinational soap company even copied the concept! I followed that up with some real bombs - no names of course. The next watershed video was Duur. I had to treat it like visual poetry. Believe it or not, I wrote the concept on the flight to Gwadar.” **
Considering the controversy that has risen over the ubiquitous branding of music videos with corporate logos, Jami has drawn a clear line of demarcation as to where the bars of soap, mugs of tea and mobile phones can encroach upon, and music videos are definitely off limits.
“I’m at a very good point right now. I used to be naïve, running after companies for more money. Now I have made up my mind that it’s not about the money. If you run after money, the companies are going to give you a package. You’ll have to brand your work, turn it into a commercial. If you want to brand your work, then make commercials, leave music videos out of it. That’s my philosophy. No branding. If you start branding music, you kill the soul of the art. Commercialization will be the death of music videos.”
Apart from sparring with the suits and making snappy videos, Jami is busy shooting a documentary on Sadequain along with Noor Jehan’s ‘official’ documentary. In the modern, so-called liberal media environment where certain quarters have adopted the ‘dare and bare’ philosophy to score points, Jami caused quite an uproar when he said that he didn’t like using women as objects of glamour in his work.
**“When there is no creativity within the director, he uses such gimmicks to save his skin. It is an established fact that sex sells. You don’t need a concept or any planning, just get a bunch of good looking girls to jump up and down on camera and you’re set. That’s what Hollywood and the Indians are doing. There are exceptions, but take any of their hit films and you’ll realize all they are doing is exploiting sex. India is going 99.99 per cent in that direction as well. They are too literal now, leaving nothing to the imagination. Once upon a time emotions were expressed by lyrical imagery, now it is pretty much ‘take off your clothes.’ We’ve almost been infected by that virus as well, but our public knows where to draw the line.” **
Another of his comments that drew criticism was when he stated that creativity and making a profit were incompatible as in one way or the other, the art would be compromised. He held firm to this view and explained why.
“I think it is virtually impossible to balance creativity and art. It can happen, but only if one is completely in charge of the production and direction. As soon as others are involved who want just monetary gains from this art form, it’ll always be difficult to bring balance. There is a very disturbing trend the world over which I call the ‘MBA approach.’ This philosophy dictates that everything has a price, that everything is running on numbers. This is dangerous. This has made extremely talented directors sit at home, turned them into recluses.”
Jami stresses the need for local directors to bring a little depth, a little abstraction into their work, or else they will be swallowed up by the global media juggernaut.
“I’m not saying I’m the world’s best director, but I always try to make my concepts abstract. The themes shouldn’t hit people over the head. The first time they see a video, they should want to see it again so that each time the viewer sees it, he or she uncovers another layer of meaning. If you maintain the same monotony in your work, there’s no chance of survival. The viewer has access to 80 channels on cable. Why should he watch your predictable video? There’s Baywatch on, on the next channel. There’s no dearth of rotten choices. It’s fast food basically. A commercial project is like a burger you get in three minutes, whereas an artistic film is like something your mother prepares in an hour and a half. So take your pick - a quickie burger or motherr’s timatur ka gosht.”
Never short of interesting opinions, he leaves us with a thought-provoking statement that wouldn’t seem out of place at a secret meeting of conspiracy theorists, yet if one thinks about it, it rings devastatingly true.
“I think there’s some kind of CIA conspiracy afoot to pollute our culture through cable and satellite. They don’t need to invade. They’re already in our living rooms. This is the new East India Company. They’re changing our thinking -'the mini-skirt is OK now, vulgarity is OK. Ten years ago, my father would caution me if I was watching something risqué on MTV. Now, whole families are sitting in front of it. Why do you think satellite dishes were banned in Iran? Because they want to stop the onslaught of filth into their culture, they are dubbed as being part of the ‘Axis of Evil.’ We’re called fundamentalists because we want to protect our values, but look at India. Since they have allowed their moral standards to slip, they are the West’s best friends. Empires have fallen because of moral decadence and the pursuit of pleasure. This is a conscious effort. I’m not pro-mullah, but right now, they are talking a lot of sense when they speak of stopping this obscenity from seeping into our homes. What’s wrong with being a fundamentalist? You are going back to the basics. They talk of liberty, but they are hell bent on shutting down Al-Jazeera. Kind of makes you think. Maybe MTV is a covert department of the Pentagon.”
Although whole article can be a topic of discussion but what do you think of the illegal cables and dish channels invading Pakistani media and culture? how can it be stopped or is there anyway to put a permanent ban on these illegal channels?
Jami is very talented. I mean Pal Do Pal and Anjane are one of the best, if not the best, videos of Pak. And his documentary on Noor Jahan will be an absolute bliss.