Rahat Kazmi: A legend on stage and behind the camera

The veteran actor shares his thoughts on the state of television and the arts in Pakistan.

KARACHI:

Rummage through PTV dramas of the 1980s, and you will surely find some classics that you simply cannot ignore. It is here that you will find his dignified presence, a larger than life figure on the small TV screen.

People still remember Rahat Kazmi’s performance in “Dhoop Kinaray”, where he can be seen as the reclusive Darcy, who our very own Elizabeth (beautifully enacted by Marina Khan) is trying hard to chase, or in “Ehsaas”, where he plays the role of doting father and a loving husband.

In short, he is a legend that PTV can proudly boast of, a legend that was born during the state broadcaster’s prime years. The nation dotes on his acting skills, and cherishes his body of work which the younger still watch on YouTube or DVD’s.

He is a man of few seasons when it comes to dramas that he has performed in. Sometimes a recluse living in tragic times, in others a sad and heart-broken character (that he performed so well), but never a comic role.

Reflecting on the visual story telling industry in Pakistan, Rahat Kazmi said: “The people of the sub-continent relied heavily upon oral history. Here, the concept of mentorship is very strong. So strong are the undercurrents that all great men have started new chapters in the history of the TV screen or film-making by simply learning the art from their teachers and their mentors.

“But then, why do we feel and say that our film industry has lost its true guise, its true color, wrongly claiming that uneducated people have made it fall, in the throes of unaccustomed position. But it is not that uneducated people are ruling the roost in film-making and have made it lapse - there are other numerous reasons that caused the fall! We need to do our market research for that, to know what caused its downfall.”

Talking about his brief film career, Kazmi said: “My first film Aj aur Kal ran for 125 weeks straight at the Bambino cinema in Karachi, Mehman too for about 85 weeks. I still remember at the opening night of Aj aur Kal, there was a huge fan following and it was very difficult for Shabnum and me to exit the cinema house from the front door. Somehow though, we managed to get out from the backdoor. Such was the glory of the Pakistani silver screen.”

It was Kazmi’s arresting persona that PTV’s classic hero was modelled on. There was none who could ever be compared to his looks, style and oh, that voice, with his natural flair for the Urdu language. Speaking of the mother institution, PTV, Rahat Kazmi said: “PTV is a public channel, which is supposed to be non-commercially driven. We already pay Rs35 in tax, the fee for PTV to run. The problem lies in the fact that the accounts need to be revised, the audit needs to be done, just as for all state institutions such as Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Steel Mill. Any institution will be in bad shape if there are only political appointments!”

Kazmi reiterated the fact, “Like the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), which is based on the principle of ‘promotion of cultural heritage’, PTV too, should follow the same philosophy. No creativity can ever take place in a commercially-driven institution when it is meant to be a public entity. Yes, for private channels, being commercially-driven is the need of the hour, for they are supposed to compete with one another.”

About Napa, with which he has now associated for quite a few years, he says: “We are not commercially driven like the rest of the theatre performers, directors and producers are, for we believe that classical literature should be projected and promoted here in the city, and hence we do our productions on those same lines.”

Kazmi, a cultural institution on his own, is the master of a cultivated personality that harbours a deep love for all forms of art. Telling of the fact is that the man enjoys listening to piano recitals and has visited places the world over to listen to good piano recitals. So strong is his passion, that he has spent quite a fortune on it, about which the veteran TV actor and stage director has no regret.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2011.