30 August 2012 :::: Showbiz news from Today's NewsPaper

Showbiz news from

Today's NewsPaper

30 August 2012

Shafqat Cheema: Pakistan’s favourite villain

LAHORE: 

While some actors make it big as majestic heroes in popular films, others rise to fame by donning more negative roles. An example of such an actor is Shafqat Cheema, now best known for the antagonist he played in the 2011 film Bol. Cheema has made his career by bringing to life the characters of pimps, gangsters and villains.

In conversation with The Expresss Tribune, he gestures to his eyes and says that he takes pride in staring down some of the greatest ‘heroes’ in the subcontinent.

Cheema graduated from the Jamia Naeemia religious school in 1974, and says that he stumbled into acting when he walked into the Shahnoor Studio by chance and decided on a whim that he wanted to be an actor. He struggled for nearly 12 years before being offered a lead role in the 1989 film Kalka, which also starred Sultan Rahi.

Today, he prides himself in his ability to reinvent any role. “No matter how redundant the role is I am able to reinvent it and bring something new to it,” says Cheema. “All that I have achieved has come after a 20-year journey. I would take a 25 mile tanga ride to studios, but when my first film came out, I never looked back,” he adds.

Elaborating on his acting career in negative roles, Cheema states, “The art of being a villain lies in maturity and the willingness to immerse yourself in a role, so that the hero can feel your presence.” He further elaborates that when a writer provides him a role, his goal is to immerse himself in it. His mentors always told him that no one would make him a ‘hero’ but if he worked on several small roles then directors may give him a lead negative role.

“When I started negative roles, my mentor showed me clips of an Anthony Quinn film, and I learnt that the trick was to focus on the eyes,” says Cheema who has about 80 films to his credit. Talking about an on-set experience, Cheema proudly reminisces, “I looked into the eyes of Sultan Rahi, and he told the director to take me out of the scene because he was afraid of my eyes.”

Film-making today

Turning to the issues faced by the film industry today, he says that directors and producers are timid and bound by conflicting interests. There is also lobbying in the film industry, which as a result restricts the freedom of directors and on the acting front, limits key roles only to certain actors.

“It’s really no one’s fault, it’s actually a mindset,” says Cheema. Elaborating on the restrictions faced by directors he further states, “Producers seem to have become gods because they say they have invested their money in the film, which was never the case in the past. It used to be a more collaborative process in which the director would have discussions with the producer— but now the producer comes with a story ready from home.”

Along with the directors, Cheema explains that actors also face a hard a time. For instance, if a producer comes up with another Gujjar film, most of the times actors are left without any options.

“Look at Shaan, he is the hero of our industry, but he is pushed into a corner where he is forced to be a Gujjar Da Kharak,” says Cheema. “These same producers cursed at Shoaib Mansoor, who really pushed for a new sort of film-making,” he adds.

Cheema has several projects lined up for the near future. He will have a key role in Humayun Saeed’s Boom Boom, the lead in Muhammad Hamza’s Kambakht and also star in Chameli, directed by Salman Jilani.

Celeb anecdotes and Eid conversations

KARACHI: Shehzad Roy

Musician

Shehzad Roy sheds light on what his first day of Eid looks like: “After saying my Eid prayers, I join my family for Eid celebrations. By the evening, I take time out for some friends and hang out with them,” says Shehzad. As far as Eidi is concerned, Shehzad says “Jo milti hai wo agey de dey ta hun (Whatever I receive, I pass it on to someone else).”

“Eid used to be amazing back in the day — someone would take me for namaz, I’d play around in the Eidgah for a while and then someone would eventually come pick me up,” says Roy, reminiscing about how simple Eid is for children. “There is this sense of freedom,” he recalls fondly.

Bilal Khan

Musician

Bilal Khan, on the other hand, feels Eid “is filled with calories and hugs — and a lot of ‘kurta-wrinkling’ as you sit up and down on couches.” When asked about Eidi, he said “My top score is Rs5,000 and the most I have ever given out is Rs1,000. Every Eid, it increases by an exponential amount of -1/2x,” he adds humourously.

When Khan sits down with his family for an Eid feast, they normally discuss random things like “how much over-eating took place” or “how hot it was during the Eid prayers” with the sun right on top of their heads. He further elaborates that as a child, he misses how Eid would usually be in the winter school holidays.

Khalid Malik

Radio Jockey

“On the first day, I go for namaz and then head out to the studio to do my breakfast show, ” says Khalid. “Then I come home for a nap — the rest of the day is then dedicated to my family and friends.” The second day is normally spent with relatives. Commenting on how much Eidi he receives and gives away, he says: “I hardly get any Eidi anymore. But I do hand out Eidi to 10 children in the family.” As far as discussions on the dining table are concerned, he said the topic remains family politics.

Remembering his childhood, Malik says, “I remember how there would be an open house at our place, ‘The Malik House’, and it would be filled with halla gulla.”

Atiqa Odho

Actor

“Eid is a very festive occasion in our household,” says Atiqa. “On the first day, my sisters and their families all get together at my mother’s place for lunch where we celebrate and bond.” On the second day, she adds, “We usually spend time with close friends.” Being a public figure, she makes it a point to attend at least one charitable organisation’s event as “it’s important for me to help the underprivileged and see them happy.” As far as Eidi is concerned, she doesn’t collect any but gives it to the children in the family and “as a family we do distribute Eidi and gifts to some charity as well.

Recalling her times as a child, she says “For children, Eid is a very special occasion as you are spoilt and collect a lot of Eidi. For adults, it is an important occasion to bring children together and ensure they develop special memories to grow up with.”

Faizan Haque

Video Jockey

“I’m sleepy from the night before [Chand Raat] but I still make it to my aunt’s for lunch,” he says with pride. As far as Eidi is concerned, he says, “I used to collect Eidi before but now I only give it to others. 15 days prior to Eid, it’s funny how peons and guards start working on their greetings — this tells me who is expecting Eidi, so I end up pleasing quite a few.”

“One of my favourite things that I would do as a kid would be to offer my little sister three Rs10 notes in exchange for her Rs100 note — letting her believe that she is getting more by making this exchange. And it worked a number of times!” laughs Haque. Talking about Eid memories from his childhood, he adds “Eid was beautiful — I’d wake up excited surrounded by my uncles, aunts and grandparents. I would go and buy cricket bats wondering why Eid is always on such a hot day. It was soporific.”

Lollywood Movies Releasing on This Eid

Four Punjabi and five Pashto movies are scheduled to Release on This Eid-ul-Fittar on August 20, 2012.

Punjabi film Shareeka on Shabistan cinema Lahore by Syed Noor, Punjabi film Gujar da Kharak at Prince cinema Lahore by Arshad Khan, Punjabi film Sher Dil by Iqbal Kashmiri, Punjabi film Dil dian lagian.

Pashto film Toofan by Inayat Ullah Khan, Pashto film Qasm by Arbaz Khan, Pashto film Har dam khair by Arshad Khan, Pashto film Bad-Amla by Haji Nadir, Pashto film Ghadar by Ali.

Seedlings wins two awards at New York film festival

Seedlings, the Pakistani film that was screened at the New York City International Film Festival has won two major awards at the opening ceremony.

The film, produced by Bodhicitta Works, won the People’s Choice Award for Best Film and actor Aamina Sheikh won the award for Best Actress in a Lead Role.

Also known as Lamha, the film was nominated in seven categories.Seedlings was nominated for Best Film, Best Director (Mansoor Mujahid), Best Actress in a Lead Role (Aamina Sheikh), Best Actor in a Lead Role (Mohib Mirza), Best Actor in a supporting Role (Gohar Rasheed) and Best Original Screenplay (Summer Nicks).

Seedlings is a Pakistani feature film starring Aamina Sheikh, Mohib Mirza and Gohar Rasheed. The film, which completed production in Karachi in June 2012, was directed by newcomer Mansoor Mujahid and revolves around the lives of three individuals bound together by a devastating accident. An intricately woven story of loss, forgiveness and redemption, the film explores the terrifying prospects of piecing together a broken life.

We are proud of team Seedlings

Bodhicitta Film Works’ Seedlings (Lamha) did us proud by bagging two awards at the New York City International Film Festival (NYCIFF). After being nominated in seven categories, the film won awards for Best Actress (Aamina Sheikh) and People’s Choice Award for Best Film on Friday morning.

Winners:

Pakistani film-makers are making waves! First it was Aamina’s husband Mohib Mirza (also on team Seedlings), who was awarded Best Supporting Actor for InshAllah at the International Filmmakers Festival in Kent in 2008. This time, it’s Aamina who has made Pakistan proud by bagging an award and giving us something to celebrate this Eid. The excited actor began posting on her Twitter account well before the event began: “NYCIFF concludes tonight with its awards ceremony! Seven nominations for Seedlings! Grateful, blessed!” tweeted the young star.

As soon as the awards were announced the social networking websites were flooded with encouraging messages from fans, such as “Congratulations you guys! Pakistani is so proud of you all! The cup belongs to Pakistan.”

A big congratulations to the team from us – you guys deserve it!