Director-producer duo, Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza sit down for an interview with Instep prior to the release of their film Load Wedding that is scheduled to premiere in Karachi tonight.
We are just a day away from the release of Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza’s latest cinema outing Load Wedding that has received mostly positive reviews after its premiere in Lahore on Saturday. While the Karachi premiere is scheduled for tonight, the film is officially releasing on Eid ul Azha and will see a box office clash with Nadeem Baig’s Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 and Haseeb Hassan’s Parwaaz Hai Junoon.
Starring Fahad Mustafa and Mehwish Hayat, which was also the lead pair in Nabeel and Fizza’s second film Actor In Law, the upcoming film serves as a commentary on our society’s obsession with marriage and how big of a burden it is for parents to marry off their daughters. As Nabeel Qureshi puts it while speaking of the film’s title in an interview with Instep, “Load wedding is an equally important issue as load shedding.”
Producer of Load Wedding, Fizza Ali Meerza, who was also a part of this interview, shared that hard work, consistency and focus is the formula to make a good film otherwise there is no fixed pattern that works.
Given the success of Nabeel and Fizza’s past films, all of which were written by the duo, we can safely say that they are one of the very few filmmaking ‘brands’ who offer good films to the masses.
“It’s the script that is the most important factor actually,” added Nabeel. “I think if a film doesn’t work, it’s because of the script. Filmmaking requires time; maybe people aren’t investing that much time, which is perhaps the reason they don’t succeed.”
When asked what is it that they would like to fix in Pakistan’s film industry, Fizza responded, “There are a lot of things that need to be done. For instance, we need a proper film committee, release committee, producers association, government support and quota for Indian films – all if this is missing and we need to talk about that. We are still in the constructive phase I think; we are progressing every year but when it comes to development of the film industry we haven’t done much. Films are being made but what needs to be done after that, that side has to be taken care of. ‘Revival’ has taken place and I am tired of this word now. I have been hearing this ever since we made our first film and now we have made four films and people are still talking about revival. We have revived the industry but we have not been able to sustain it. There are still problems and that is where we need a release committee, an association to see what is the right product, when should it be released, which film (s) should or shouldn’t go international. There is a market for our films internationally but not every film is good enough to be sent for release abroad, be it anyone’s product.”
If we look at the trailer of Nabeel and Fizza’s upcoming film, Load Wedding, one can see that it is a blend of entertainment and awareness for the masses, a common pattern in all of their films till now.
Should a film be able to convey a message or it should just be entertaining?
“I think it should be a blend of both,” Nabeel asserted. “I don’t know about other filmmakers but we think that we have a medium that has a lot of reach. So, as an artist, as a filmmaker, we should be a little socially active. There should be entertainment and some subtle message or awareness for the betterment of society. It is important that pop culture has some references to all of that.”
Added Fizza, “It’s not a standard; it’s up to a filmmaker. If he/she wants to make a fully entertaining film and doesn’t want to impart any message through that, it’s their choice. As filmmakers, we like to incorporate both the things though it’s not intentional always. We belong to this society and we’ve grown up seeing certain issues around us. So, when you are writing, it comes very naturally and it’s a bit of our share towards our society.”
Load Wedding is set against the backdrop of Punjab, unlike their past projects that were essentially Karachi-centric. Speaking of the shift this time, Fizza maintained that we need to get out of this conversation and segregation of films as Karachi or Lahore-centric. “We need to view things as a nation; it shouldn’t be categorically associated with a certain section of society unless it’s not relatable to others,” she continued. “We try to make sure that the film touches the entire audience. We want to capitalize on the audience. This story was appropriate to be shot in Punjab and there is an industry in Punjab that you can provide employment to. If four films out of all the films that are made in a year are shot in Punjab, it will benefit them.”
Reflecting on the idea of releasing their film on Eid only, the duo observed that they have been doing it since the beginning; it’s others who need to be asked this question.
“The audience who comes to watch a film on Eid spends the money on it once a year,” Fizza opined. “Would you show them a bad film?”
“The budget of our films is relatively high and given the limited number of screens we have, we don’t have enough footfall on days other than Eid,” she explained. “It’s easier to recover the money on Eid. Ideally there were two films slated for release during the festive season but unfortunately a third one is also coming out and we can’t say anything on that. They missed their initial release date so they should have looked for another date which isn’t preoccupied. A producer is ethically bound to consider this.”
