Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

Entertainment Showbiz Pakistan , Bollywood & World Entertainment
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Serious and joint efforts are needed to revive the dying film industry of the country.

This was said by popular film heroine of yore days Zeba while addressing a reception in her honor at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Saturday. The program was organised by the Culture Committee of Karachi Press Club, and participated by eminent TV and cinema celebrities.

Zeba said that their Ali-Zeb film production house would soon restart functioning for making quality films in Pakistan. She said that she was ready to render her services for reviving the ruined film industry of Pakistan. “I am ready to take active part for the betterment of the industry and in this regard the closed Ali Zeb Production House would soon start working in Karachi.”

She urged upon the government to send abroad Pakistani technicians for learning modern techniques of filmmaking so that international standards of cinema could be met in the country.

The government should allocate substantial amount in budget as the announced grant of Rs50 million for reviving the Pakistani film industry was just peanuts.

Recalling her memories, she said that Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah had inaugurated her first film “Charagh Jalata Raha”, adding, her husband Mohammed Ali had to strive hard for making his place in the film industry.

She informed that Ali Zaib Foundation has been functioning in various small cities of the country for the rehabilitation of thallasemia patients.

Mustafa Qureshi, a popular film star of the past, paid rich tributes to late Mohammed Ali and “living legend Zeba Begum”. He said that there was a dire need to make joint efforts for regaining the lost glory of Pakistan’s film industry.

”Despite passage of 65 years we still lag behind in cinema and film-making technology and we could produce films of international standard by using modern technology,” he added.

Star comedian Umer Sharif asked the government to increase the budget for cultural activities, especially for film industry.

President KPC Imtiaz Khan Faran, General Secretary A H Khanzada and others also spoke on the occasion.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

sounds good.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

PLEASE get the young, hip and educated into film making. Its important that these oldies with their outdated primitive mindsets are kicked out, including all the Lahore industry trash. Film making from Karachi would be awesome, but they'll have to prove that they can really make sensible cinema and not the kind of crap being churned out for the last 60 years. Mehreen Jabbar, Shoaib Mansoor and ad-film makers from the advertising circuit in Karachi can definitely pave the way for that to happen.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

I think she's capable - she's educated, got experience, passion and a production house ready. Whoever makes an effort should be encouraged.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

I highly doubt her capabilities. Cinema has moved eons away from the kind of stuff that was made in the 50s and 60s. That's the time when she worked in films and probably gets a lot of her influences from that era.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

"some people" on this forum have nothing positive to contribute. they're suffering from a mental block calling people 'oldie' 'primitive' goes to show how backward and lame they're. They've nothing positive to contribute except for criticizing pakistan with their retarded comments. their statements are so illogical. in any field of work the most important thing is experience but "these people" are still in high school mode it seems with no exposure to the real world.
In film industries around the film, the most sucessful film directors are mature people with decades of work experience. But in our country, we just keep on disrespecting our senior artists who actually know the job. Seriosuly, people with limited knowledge and biases should refrain from commenting here.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

^^ Since you possess such amazing all-round knowledge about film making, please EDUCATE me on the kind of crap that has been turned out established veterans of the film industry like Shamim Ara, Sangeeta, and even Syed Noor (excluding his few films from 95/96). Senior artistes? More like laughing stock of the entire media industry in Pakistan. They tried and they failed. Pakistan doesn't have a decent crop of respected seniors in the film industry, so we'll have to start from scratch by working with the young in the hope that they will break the mould in creating something new and vibrant unlike what their respected, lazy "seniors" have done. With time they would become senior enough to gain respect and to be followed by a future generation of film making professionals.

PS: Personal attacks are really lame. So follow your own mantra and grow up.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

Can't mature, experienced film-makers coexist with young vibrant film-makers? Everyone has the right to express their talent and vision through film, let the critics and box office reports decide who lacks talent. Age and location isn't relevant b/c creativity has no boundaries.

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Before they can coexist, such film makers actually need to exist. They don't hence the garbage you and I have been seeing for the major part of the last 20 years. I wouldn't call that mature film making from experienced professionals. More like trash produced by amoral hacks.

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

The biggest problem is that the lack of funds and also the lack of digital labs.
Currently, there is no digital lab in Pakistan. Film producers either go to India or to Bangkok to complete the production work of their films.

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Really? Can labs somehow magically transform bad storylines, terrible acting and bad camerawork, not to mention the banal doalogue? I’m not sure I’d want to watch Jeevay Gujjar in DTS with digital color enhancement and snazzy sound effects.

It’s the people who really need to change. The people making these awful films.

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But with no funds or technology how do you expect people to make good movies? You magically expect people to make a movie? Making a movie isn't easy and if the post production isn't done properly then even the best of movies can become crap. And for post production you need digital labs.

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I'm sorry, post production and technology do not make films. Scripts do. Ideas do. They need to come up with better ideas and provide some evidence that they can actually put the technology to good use before it's given to them. If I were the in the government, I'd never invest any amount of tax money on such useless people given the kind of stuff they're making.

I dare all of you to sit through 3 hours of Baaji Sangeeta's Humayun Gujjar. It's a stunningly mind altering film. And its on youtube. I shudder to think what they will do with the technology if its handed to them.

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Stalker i second your comment! But why is it that the Music directors don't step into the film arena? Why is it that everyone is there to criticize the films from Pakistan but when it comes to actually making a movie only a few rise up to the challenge?

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Zeba herself doesnot ABC of good acting..look her acting in Past movies....I think she should now stay away from Film industry...

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I don't quite see your point.

Lack of self belief, lack of able professionals and as of now, a relatively small market. They're so overwhelmed by bollywood that they lack the initiative and confidence needed to make something original and creative that will cater to their own audiences. Also you need an insane drive to build something from scratch given the lack of film making infrastructure in Pakistan. The censors aren't helping anyone either, though t hey have no qualms passing bollywood through.

A few people DID try to do something different than Lahore industry stuff during the 2000-2005 period-- Rauf Khalid, the guy who's dad directed "Armaan", Fahim Burney etc. -- but all of these were sucky films which evidenced BAD film making skills rather than lack of audience interest. Since desi film makers are superstitious and tend to believe in the herd, no one has since launched something promising, though really these films which failed were pathetic films and deserved to bomb.

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Of course scripts are the main part of the movie, without a scrip you can't make a movie but again without the correct post production material you can easily screw up a good movie. The editing needs to be spot on, the effects and just Pakistani filmmakers need better cameras. I don't think they film their movies on 35mm cameras and the sound is very awful.
These Gujjar movies are another reason why movies cannot be made in Lahore anymore.

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The point i am trying to make is that why dont we see Asim Raza, Jami, Saqib Malik and Ahsan Rahim making films. They are very good music directors and probably have enough money to make a cheap but good movie(story wise).

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Re: Zeba offers services for reviving film industry

^ b/c they are waiting for some super-generous producer to come along and offer infinite amounts of money to finance their film. Lack of self-confidence is another reason.

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While the music video directors like Jami, Saqib Malik, Asim Reza etc are absolutely great, there's no rule that they would make good film directors, just as good film directors do not necessarily make good video directors. Making movies is a different ball game. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see what stuff these folks come up with -- if they ever make films (a remote possibility given the amount of money they make from making ad films).