Zinda Bhaag : Tale from Pakistan But A Tale of Indian Sub Continent
Sorry to write little late on Pakistani Movie Zinda Bhaag. It is Pakistani Movie but it appeals as a story of our own. It is about dreaming better life of Western Countries by most of the young people of this Sub Continent, many such people resort to illegal and risky route which may culminate into long detentions, deportations, sub human treatment. It is also true that the plot of this story is not original or new. In fact, Devenand's Des Pardes was on the same subject and was a instant hit. What attracts, is the treatment of subject. In many International Festivals the movie received honors and special mentions as this problem touches to people right from Mexico, Cuba to Bangladesh.
It is a tale of three friends from city of Lahore Khaldi, Chitta and Taambi struggling to escape their dead-end existence by getting a job – any job – abroad, could be the story of someone in Amritsar, Indore, Pune or Patna. Lahori mohallas, where shady deals are conducted under fluorescent light, look like small towns just outside your city.
And the powerless desperation that drives every dangerous shortcut? We’ve all been there.
Indian connections are also visible everywhere. There’s Naseeruddin Shah playing the small-time gangster, Pehlvan, who’s made crime his ticket out of the mess. And of the film’s two directors, Meenu Gaur is Indian, as are sound designer Vipin Bhatti, cinematographer Satya Rai Nagpaul and editor Shan Mohammed.
India-born Gaur says that the film was born out of stories of close friends and family in Pakistan, where she’s lived for seven years. "These are actual tales of the boys of Lahore," says co-director Farjad Nabi. They’re actual boys of Lahore too. The directors convinced Naseeruddin Shah to train amateur locals for the three central roles to keep Zinda Bhaag’s feel intimate and unpolished. “Never mind that they weren’t trained actors," says Gaur. Many actors hadn’t even had formal education. For most of the crew members it was first feature film .
Where local talent fell short, India happily stepped in. Cinematographer Nagpaul flew to Pakistan and blended into the local milieu, his mother tongue Punjabi came very handy. Shan Mohammed edited the scenes filmed in Lahore from a guest house in Delhi and his home in Mumbai. “They tried to get me to come to Pakistan but it didn’t work out, so it just made sense to do it here,” he says. It worked seamlessly. “It just shows that the culture and the sensibility of the two countries are more similar than different."
Sending the film to Malaysia for post-production was similarly worry-free. “There are shades of Punjab in India and Pakistan,” says Nabi. “No one could tell they were working on a Pakistani film, and not a Bollywood one."
Producer Mazhar Zaidi describes Zinda Bhaag as a portrait of everyday Pakistan without “pigeonholing the country and its people”. That explains why it has struck a chord with people far beyond the subcontinent. “I was humbled when a Bulgarian woman met me after a screening in Toronto and said ‘the three boys in your film are like the boys I went to school with!’” says Zaidi. “For me , this totally encapsulates the global response we are getting."
With the film becoming Pakistan’s first Oscar submission in 50 years though it failed to make the shortlist, that response has gone into overdrive. “We’ve been on a roller coaster, swerving from extreme to extreme and riding the wave of goodwill,” says Nabi. The rest of the team is similarly exhilarated – no matter which side of the border they’re from. “None of us knew this was going to be an Oscar contender when we started work on it,” Mohammed says. “We didn’t care that this was a Pakistani project, we just wanted to be true to the story.” In any case, points out Nabi: “No film in the world happens without collaboration."
India-born Gaur says that the film was born out of stories of close friends and family in Pakistan, where she’s lived for seven years. "These are actual tales of the boys of Lahore," says co-director Farjad Nabi. They’re actual boys of Lahore too. The directors convinced Naseeruddin Shah to train amateur locals for the three central roles to keep Zinda Bhaag’s feel intimate and unpolished. “Never mind that they weren’t trained actors," says Gaur. Many actors hadn’t even had formal education. For most of the crew members it was first feature film .
Where local talent fell short, India happily stepped in. Cinematographer Nagpaul flew to Pakistan and blended into the local milieu, his mother tongue Punjabi came very handy. Shan Mohammed edited the scenes filmed in Lahore from a guest house in Delhi and his home in Mumbai. “They tried to get me to come to Pakistan but it didn’t work out, so it just made sense to do it here,” he says. It worked seamlessly. “It just shows that the culture and the sensibility of the two countries are more similar than different."
Sending the film to Malaysia for post-production was similarly worry-free. “There are shades of Punjab in India and Pakistan,” says Nabi. “No one could tell they were working on a Pakistani film, and not a Bollywood one."
Producer Mazhar Zaidi describes Zinda Bhaag as a portrait of everyday Pakistan without “pigeonholing the country and its people”. That explains why it has struck a chord with people far beyond the subcontinent. “I was humbled when a Bulgarian woman met me after a screening in Toronto and said ‘the three boys in your film are like the boys I went to school with!’” says Zaidi. “For me , this totally encapsulates the global response we are getting."
With the film becoming Pakistan’s first Oscar submission in 50 years though it failed to make the shortlist, that response has gone into overdrive. “We’ve been on a roller coaster, swerving from extreme to extreme and riding the wave of goodwill,” says Nabi. The rest of the team is similarly exhilarated – no matter which side of the border they’re from. “None of us knew this was going to be an Oscar contender when we started work on it,” Mohammed says. “We didn’t care that this was a Pakistani project, we just wanted to be true to the story.” In any case, points out Nabi: “No film in the world happens without collaboration."
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