Lollywood: From the set of Khamosh Raho

Model-turned-actress Juggun Kazim makes her Lollywood debut in Altaf Hussains ‘Khamosh raho’.

LAHORE:

A dozen people are controlling the lights. With a cameraman fixed on a moving trolley, everybody in the spacious lounge is transfixed, holding their breath, waiting for the director’s nod. He signals and the music starts. With smart moves and light feet, Juggun Kazim follows the steps,  that till only a moment ago Nigah Hussain (choreographer) demonstrated for her. Everybody is focused and waiting for the magical word …  It takes a minute to complete the dance step and the magical word echoes: “Cut”. This is a scene from the set of Khamosh Raho.

The final shots of Khamosh Raho, an upcoming Urdu film by director Altaf Hussain, are being shot in Lahore these days. Model-turned-actress Juggun Kazim is making her Lollywood debut, while Shaan is appearing in an Urdu film after a long hiatus. Another important team member is Lollywood’s celebrated writer Nasir Adeeb. Adeeb has resumed writing  after many years. His last script was for a Sultan Rahi film.

In an exclusive tete-a-tete with The Express Tribune on the set of Khamosh Raho, the director Altaf Hussain shared details of the film. “I am surprised at the way Kazim has worked. I wasn’t expecting her to do so well. Apart from Shaan and Kazim, the cast includes Ghulam Mohiyyudin,  Mariam Khan, Kinza Malik, Asif Khan and Sheraz.  The entire team has worked very hard and I hope this film will provide healthy entertainment to the audience,” he said.

Speaking about the plot Hussain said: “The story of a family that undergoes a mishap and their attempts to recover. This is basically a female oriented film. The music for the film is by none other than M Arshad, who has composed tunes of many famous records of late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The lyrics are written by Riazur Rehman Saghar. Another delight of the film is Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who has sung five songs”.

Shot in Pakistan for over two and half months, the approximate budget of the film is Rs15 million. “The climax has been shot and only few scenes are to left now. I will release this film in Pakistan on June 10 while in Norway it will be released on May 26. I plan to release it in the UK as well,” Hussain added.

The film is largely shot indoors. Instead of shooting at studios, Hussain shot at private locations. Juggun Kazim, who is making her debut, is optimistic about the film while Shaan is confident that it will fare well.

“People are interested in watching quality Pakistani films but filmmakers have to face a lot of problems. I have tried to push aside all those problems,now it’s on the audiences how they percieve my effort,” Hussain maintained.

The film will be released countrywide unlike Punjabi films that have limited release in Punjab and have very limited viewership in cinemas houses in Karachi. Film critics believe that filmmakers should not just make films in regional languages to capture the audiences across the country and are eyeing Hussain’s effort as a step in right direction.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2011.