“If you have something to say, you have to be brave and face the consequences. The more the people criticise you, the stronger you become,” said a renowned film-maker, Jamil Dehlavi on Wednesday.
Delivering a lecture on “guerrilla film making” at he Aga Khan University auditorium and later answering questions from the audience, he, in an apparent reference to beautiful locations in the country, said, “go out and be guerilla film maker.” “You don’t need studios to create scenes,” he said.
He said first “you have driven by films and think about contribution later.”
He also advocated a “parallel film industry” and added that once he mortgaged his house to finance film.
Talking about his last “unfinished” film “Infinite Justice” loosely based on the story of US journalist Daniel Pearl who was kidnapped and killed in Karachi, Dehlavi said that after 9/11, he felt the need to explore the roots of the so-called terrorism. “I wanted to understand why young Muslims in the West had been drawn towards terrorism,” he said, adding that he wanted to show the “other side” of the picture and decided to expose the western world’s victimisation and demonisation of Muslims and Islam. He said he wanted to emphasise that, “if one doesn’t address the grievances of Muslims, the world will become an even more dangerous place.”
He said the intention of the film is to open up “a dialogue between people who don’t communicate with each other.” The message of the film is “if you want to make peace, do not talk to your friends, talk to your enemies!”
He said the Muslim world and the West were facing “clash of ignorance not clash of cultures.”
Appreciating Aga Khan’s efforts to set up an Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London, he said the rejection of pluralism played a significant role in breeding destructive conflicts. He also appreciated another one of the Aga Khan’s steps to open a “Global Centre for Pluralism,” in Ottawa, aimed at fostering policy and legislation that enables pluralism to take root in all spheres of modern life, including the arts.
Talking about the theme of his lecture, he said guerilla film makers were the new breed of independent film makers, who may be short on money but not on passion and vision. They have an attitude of creativity and freedom and are courageous and innovative in their approach. They not only break the rules but also work creatively within them, he said, adding that they may overstep the boundaries of what is considered the status quo in film making to create “something fresh, new and unique,” which bears their signature. He said one of the hallmarks of independence is that it comes out of oneself.
“Guerilla film makers are not trying to copy anyone else, they are not contriving to look or feel independent by wearing a certain style of clothes or emulating certain directors,” he said, adding that independence means “you have a voice that needs to be heard and a passion to make it.” He said if they are in it for money and fame, then they are not guerrilla film makers.
Talking about his films, he said his film “The blood of Hussain,” based on the democratic movement against tyrannical rule of Gen. Ziaul Haq brought immense troubles for him as the military regime leveled all sorts of allegations against him but the instinct of the guerilla film maker told him to leave the country. “If I were to disclose how I managed to reach London without my passport, I would be giving away the script of a film I may make one day,” he said.
About his film “Jinnah,” he said all those who controlled the film including the Government of Pakistan had a “hidden agenda”, which was to use it as a way of promoting themselves. As a result, the film is in the hands of a liquidator in England following legal proceedings.
Dehlavi smilingly said, he needed a group of Pakistanis to buy it back as it is part of history. He said partly blood ties drove him to come to Pakistan and make films. “I am trying to become a Pakistani film maker because I love Pakistan,” he said with applause from the packed auditorium.
