From Pakistan with love

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Pakistani filmmaker Iram Parveen Bilal grew up watching Bollywood films: there could not be a greater Indian connection for her than that, apart from the fact that her grandfather fled to Bombay at age 16, dreaming of making it big as an actor in the 1930s.

She received full vindication of her filmi genes recently when her maiden feature film, Josh, was chosen to be the inaugural film at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival, Mumbai, organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) in October 2012. Iram, speaks here about making films in Pakistan, the relationship she shares with Shah Rukh Khan and the late Yashji.

Breaking the barriers in Pakistan:
My family was a big reason why I got into filmmaking. My dad’s side of the family is very artistic. We have grown up watching Bollywood films. I was worried being one of the youngest people on the set and being a girl because I had received snide remarks during the development process, even here in India, it had me thinking if I could direct. In the end, it was a pleasant surprise, they embraced me as their ‘boss’.
Most of Pakistan’s well known filmmakers are women, like Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Sabiha Sumar. Directing a film in Pakistan was a bit too pampering for me, in terms of how well my crew took care of me — compared to LA.

On Josh:
I started writing the script and raising money in 2009. We planned the shoot for October 2011. Josh is inspired by Parveen Saeed’s Khana Ghar and her concept of ‘erase hunger to erase crime’ by serving affordable meals in Karachi’s slums, but the script and story are completely original. It is not really inspired by Mukhtar Mai, the gang rape victim, directly, but since it deals with an act of retribution, she is probably the most well-known in that sphere. At MAMI, people were grateful for a film that offered a window into Pakistan.

Bollywood and Shah rukh khan:
Shah Rukh has magic on screen. When people like him can conquer a nepotistic town like Bollywood, it gives people like us, who are complete orphans in cinema, hope to be able to follow our dreams. As I grew up, I was one of the millions who fell for the ‘Raj’ charm but now that I am a filmmaker, it has turned into a professional desire to direct Shah Rukh at least once. I have written a script for him and I am going to pursue him to work in it, hopefully after he watches Josh.

Yash Ji, the guide:
Yash Chopra and I met for the first time in 2004 when he gave me words of advice as a senior filmmaker. You could pick up the phone and just talk to him; there was no attitude, no façade; there was just genuine generosity of time and energy. He introduced me to Shah Rukh.