Isnt it sad that one lives in India with fame and fortune but is still loyal to Pakistan?
Down a much travelled road
By Aamna Haider Isani
“Life has been a long journey for me. I’ve come a long way from where I started. I look back and see mist, shadows. Those bright young faces are merely illusions now. Sometimes I wonder, did they actually exist or did I just dream them…” says Meher Rizvi.
Remembered as the talented and beautiful young face of the '70s, Meher Rizvi recently visited Karachi after an absence of almost three decades. Known then for her hard work in TV serials like Bajia’s Shama and Mohsin Ali’s Parchayian, plus her dedication to the development of classical dance, she earned a name for herself. Today Meher Rizvi lives in Mumbai, the city of her ancestors, but a second choice as far as she’s concerned. She would have never left Karachi if things had not become so unpleasant for her here. She talks about the migratory path of her life, the ups and downs, and the circumstances that led her to where she is today.
Born in Hyderabad Deccan to Muslim educationist parents, Meher and her family migrated to Pakistan in 1964. After getting married and shifting to Dhaka with her husband she returned to Karachi in 1971 with her four children, traumatized by having experienced the bloodshed and massacres of the 1971 war.
With her husband detained in Bangladesh, things were not easy for her on a personal level but professionally, PTV welcomed her and she made her debut as an actress and classical dancer. Even as a beginner she was lucky enough to work with names like Fatima Surraiya Bajia, Omer Aftab, Ishrat Ansari and Zia Mohyeddin. She also joined Radio Pakistan’s Southeast Asia service.
“The quality of plays then was so much better,” she reminisces. “Storylines were beautiful and the whole nation followed the serials. They were taken really seriously and evening parties and weddings were planned so they wouldn’t clash with the prime time dramas.” That was PTV’s golden age when writers like Haseena Moin, Intezar Hussain and Hameed Kashmiri were at their prime. So what, then, does she feel has caused this plunge in quality?
“Basically, stories have no life now. They’re written a dime a dozen. Secondly, our industry is blindly aping Hindustan, which is a pity as our television has always been stronger and better.”
Inherently sincere to Pakistan, Meher had hoped to settle down to a comfortable life in Karachi but things didn’t turn out as she had planned.
“My husband was detained in East Pakistan and I, as a woman, was an easy target. Men around me were wolves in sheep’s clothing and 90 per cent of them were exploitative opportunists. They didn’t let me live in peace. The media played the worst role of all. There were accusations, scandals - it was terrible. I didnn’t know how to react, to fight back and protect myself. I’ll never forgive those people who soured Karachi for me.”
Meher’s life has been ruled by the pull of showbiz. As a child, she was quick to realize the disinterest she had for studies.
“I wasn’t an enthusiastic student. But I loved dance and started learning Bharatnatyam at the age of six. I got a diploma, then a degree. I even topped in Intercollegiate.” Her passions didn’t stop at dance though.
From drama to radio to television, acting to writing scripts for feature films, Meher experienced it all. And like a well-planned feature film, her journey was marked by all odds: war, scandal and even murder. But even these tragic events did not dissuade her from doing what she loved most.
“From television dramas I turned to dance and choreographed a programme by the name of ‘Hum Rukhs.’ One of my ragas, ‘Tanhai’ was also nominated for a festival.”
Though Meher was a very hard working and sincere artist, she feels she suffered due to the lack of public relationing.
“At the end I joined the National Development Corporation and worked side by side with Faiz Ahmad Faiz. It was good, but soon I realized there was no future for me in Pakistan.”
Disillusioned and disappointed, Meher left Karachi in 1977, working her way through Dubai to settle down in the US. After 16 years in America she suffered the greatest loss imaginable when her son Kamran, attracted by the glitz and glamour of India, moved to Mumbai and was murdered.
“I lost him,” she said, still visibly shattered over the incident. “He joined the film industry at the age of 26 and was stabbed in jealousy. Kamran used to tell me to come to Hindustan but I never did. I didn’t feel comfortable returning to a country we had left for another, but when he died I decided to shift.”
Having close ties in India, settling down was not a problem for Meher. She reconnected with her relatives (Shabana Azmi being her first cousin) and before long was back in business. In '92 she was approached to work on a serial Seher and her work took off from there. Soon her career achieved heights that she had never imagined.
Having detoured from acting to writing, she recently sold her first script, Srinagar se sarhadon tak to iDream Productions (of Monsoon Wedding and Bend it Like Beckham fame). Though she’s unable to disclose the storyline, she hints that it begins with the Kashmiri Pandits in India and travels through time and borders to the club culture of America. It’s a bold film aimed at healing the scarred relations between the Muslims and Hindus of the subcontinent.
Meher is also working on a second script, for Tata Films, which will be based on Indian and Pakistani immigrants in the US. To top it off, Doordarshan and Sony have also shown interest in running her plays.
Today Meher Rizvi has returned to Karachi with a message of peace. On one level it’s a symbolic attempt to resolve Indo-Pak differences through art and culture. On a more personal note, one realizes that she is also here to clear her closet of skeletons and make peace with a city that she claims didn’t treat her too well back in the '70s.
Meher is also looking for a Pakistani team to work with on her film. Though she will be casting the talented Tabu, who also happens to be her niece, she is looking for a young Pakistani girl who will fit the role.
PTV has welcomed Meher warmly, she claims, and she has been made offers for her plays. But she is apprehensive about selling her scripts if she can’t personally supervise their production.
“I can’t compromise, that’s my problem. For example, Indian producers loved my scripts and were willing to take them if only I could convert the main characters from Muslims to Hindus. How could I do that without selling my principles? So I refused and here I am.” She has also been asked to write a soap opera for television, but she has declined the offer, thinking that the Pakistani viewer would never be interested in following an endless storyline.
Loyalty to Pakistan has brought Meher back, though she lacks neither fame nor fortune in India. It’s a path not many artists would risk taking. Time has scarred her instead of healing and she sits here, not the charmer of yesterday, but a woman wizened by the tragedies of life. Her only saviour - her work. One hopes Karachi can return the sincerity and help her come to peace with the city she loves.
