Mehreen Jabbar has been directing and producing films for Pakistani television for the past fourteen years.  She started out interning at her parents’ advertising firm in Karachi and then eventually studied at UCLA where she received a certificate in Film, Television and Video.   Her TV serials and dramas often focus around the everyday lives of Pakistani women and contain subtle but thought provoking ideas.  Until now, her work has centered around TV.   Mehreen recently released her first full feature-length film, Ramchand Pakistani that is being shown worldwide and receiving excellent reviews.  Ramchand Pakistani tells the story of a Pakistani Hindu boy who accidentally crosses the border over into India with his father during a time of extreme tension between India and Pakistan and ends up spending five years in an Indian prison while his mother wonders what has happened to them.  I recently spoke to her via phone about her film, her background and the ideals and goals she tries to incorporate into her work. 

Q.  Congratulations on making your first full length feature film, ‘Ramchand Pakistani.’   Have you been pleased with the reviews and responses from crtics and viewers? 

A.  Overall I think the movie has received pretty decent reviews.  Like any film there are so many different opinions.  I am happy to say that in the media we are being represented well.  The Indian Press was very encouraging and so was the American Press when it premiered at Tribeca (The Tribeca Film Festival, USA - 2008).  We got a good mention by the New York Times and the Village Voice, etc.  But we have our feet on the ground.  A lot of people have loved the film.  Some have not liked the film. 

Q.  Is it getting new attention in light of the recent Mumbai attacks and the resulting new tensions between India and Pakistan? 

A.  It is quoted sometimes in articles and news reports but it’s doing a lot of festivals still.  It premiered in Kerala at the Kerala Film Festival in December, after the attacks.  Unfortunately I was not able to attend because it was also playing at the Dubai Film Festival where I was so I couldn’t go there.  I have yet to figure out what the response was.  It is quoted and people are aware of it but I am not aware of a deliberate bringing it up again.

Q.  What are some of the surprises you discovered in making ‘Ramchand Pakistani‘?  What are some of the lessons you learnt? 

A.  Definitely making the movie itself was a huge challenge because I had never done it before.  There was a lot more responsibility because you were dealing with a very big crew and with investors’ money and you knew you were making a film.  So it’s not a television play that would pass by once it had been aired.   What I did learn is that directors must have very strong nerves and nerves of steel because once your film is out there it is very vulnerable.  You get immediate responses to your film which is not like television.  You get to know television responses through people that so and so liked your serial or not.  But in this you were getting almost immediate responses.  It has been premiering at various festivals.  It opened in Pakistan and India…that immediate “we love it, we love it” or “we don’t like it” and how to process all that information about something you worked so hard on.  So that was very interesting to learn and I think it’s been a very good experience to deal with criticism and praise alike.  And also I’ve learnt from all the mistakes I’ve made in the first    film. 

Q.  And what are one or two mistakes you think you made in your first film? 

A.  I think the answer is twofold: in terms of management because it was everyone’s first film on the set as well, we all were learning how to manage such a big film and I think sometimes I got involved in too many of the details of the production which probably I should not do in the next project.  Ultimately you have to get involved because the director is the leader of the pack and has to be responsible for every little thing.  Secondly, I have had to become more aware of the nuances of film script as opposed to a TV play. 

Q.  How was this film financed and how well did it do financially? 

A.  It was financed with a lot of love and devotion.  My mother actually invested the initial amount in the film and then my father who was the producer of the film wrote at least 150 to 200 emails to people he knew and out of those 19 individuals responded including friends of his and associates along with a few of my relatives.  Varying amounts…people gave what they could and after the film was finished we got a sponsorship by Wateen and Peek Freans: the telephone and biscuit companies.  Basically a committee produced the film.

Q.  So a lot of it was through people you knew…a network of people? 

A.  Yes, exactly.  And a lot of them were doing it not to get money back though definitely we want them to make some money out of this.  But primarily their motive was to encourage this kind of cinema and they believed in doing something new for Pakistan. 

Q.  So how did it do financially? 

A.  It is very difficult if you look at any model of films whether it be in India or Pakistan or America.  Any film, unless it is a blockbuster, covers its money over a period of time.  It gets sold through various territories and you make money through TV rights and DVDs.  So it’s still in that process.  It just got released about two months ago in India.  We are hoping to get other releases in different countries.  We are showing it on channel four in the UK next year.  It’s a long process.  In fact I was just reading today about Yash Raj -- Yash Chopra -- how most of their films, except the two last year, were absolute flops at the Box Office.  It’s a very difficult theatrical market. 

Q.  Yes, and like you said you are doing this to bring out a different aspect of cinema in Pakistan. 

A.  Yes we are doing this to make good films as well.  I really believe Pakistan needs to have alternative kinds of cinema as well, aside from the Lollywood thing. 

Q.  Did you enjoy making a full length feature film?  Do you think you would make more of these in the future or will you go back to directing TV movies and dramas?  Or perhaps you want to do all of the above?   

A.  Definitely it was an unforgettable experience.  Because of this film I have had the opportunity to travel with the film and the places I’ve shown the film and the responses I’ve gotten have been very helpful to me as an artist and it has been delightful to show the film in various parts of America and the world and to see how it appeals or does not appeal to audiences.  So it has been quite something and has definitely put me on another level because I’ve been making television plays for the last fourteen years but no one outside of Pakistan really knew me.  This has given me international exposure which is very exciting because opportunities can develop then. 

Q.  Do you think you would want to do more of these kinds of films in the future?   

A.  I would.  If all remains well I definitely want to.  I am back to doing television again which is what I call my day job.  So I’ll keep doing that.  But in the meantime I am thinking about what my new story will be and how to go about financing that, etc. 

Q.  How did you get interested in wanting to direct/produce movies?  I see that you studied Film from UCLA.  Had you gone to college knowing that you wanted to specialize in making films?   

A.  I think I always knew, growing up, that I wanted to do something in the media.  I grew up in a family that was involved in the media.  My parents had an advertising agency which I used to intern with after college.  I really did not know how to do anything else.  Pahlay say I knew this was the field I was going to go into and I started out with advertising at MNJ.  But advertising was not my cup of tea at all.  I did not want to sell products and cater to clients whims, etc.  I then applied for this course at UCLA.  My parents were very encouraging.  I went there and continued to be in MNJ but started slowly directing my tele-films.  Initially, in the first few years, I did one tele-film a year and they were very well received and that is how I got encouraged and the rest is history.

A.  My first tele-film ‘Nivala’ (morsel) didn’t get aired right away.  I think everyone knows it was Ismat Chugtai‘s story.  It was aired much later because it was banned at that time.  In my second tele-film, I had the good luck of working with Khalida Riasat.  That turned out to be her last play and it had Sanya Saeed and Humayun Saeed - it was one of his first plays as well.  It was based on a short story by the well known Urdu writer Khatija Mastoor and it just resonated, for some reason, with everyone.  And it got good reviews in the Press.  Of course there were only two TV channels at the time so your television plays could be seen and not be lost.  And after that I did something called ‘Faraar’ which also was very well received.  It had Marina Khan who was well known at the time.  That’s how I think a couple of decent first three, four projects helped me.  It’s been fourteen years since I started working for channels as a free-lancer.  These productions I produced myself.

Q.  What advice do you have for other Pakistanis or American-Pakistanis who want to enter into the world of film making?  

A.  The only advice I could give is to definitely go back to the roots of Pakistani television and Pakistani plays.  I would suggest that for all upcoming directors.  For the most part, Pakistani and Indian television has become very crass and trite and stupid, especially dramas.  There are some very good directors out there.  But unfortunately the channels’ demands are such that that talent gets lost in the stupid quotes of people who want this and that and people want to see women made up and sleeping.  The Pakistani audience is craving something original and honest.  So that would be my advice-- to go back to past things which was the history of ‘Tanhaiya’ , ‘Ankahi’ and ‘Fifty-Fifty.’  Excellent writing, performances, you didn’t need big houses to tell a good story.  

Q.  What can we expect to see from you in the next year? 

A.  This next year I am going to do two television serials.  One is already running on GEO TV right now.  I start filming the other one in the first week of February in New York.  There will be another one, set most probably in Florida.  And then I will start thinking of a film.  So a lot of television work is coming in the next few months. 

Q. Is there anything else you'd like to say about your work at this time? 

A. Please check out my website www.mehreenjabbar.com and I have started a blog on there too. 

Other information regarding Mehreen’s work: 

http://www.ramchandpakistani.com/ 

http://www.jazbah.org/mehreen.php 

We thank Mehreen Jabbar for taking the time to give us this exclusive interview.  We wish you the very best of luck and look forward to seeing a lot more of your work. 

Till next time, Khuda Hafiz,

Anjum Alden