Hameed Sheikh — when mountains speak, wise men listen

With major roles in Khuda Kay Liye, Operation 021 and Moor, the actor from Quetta has stood the test of time.

KARACHI:

“Kohsaaron ki Ata rasm nahin khamoshi, raat so jaaye tau behta hua chashma bolay.” In these verses, legendary Baloch poet Ata Shaad beautifully epitomises the enduring landscape of Balochistan. The mountains are barren, but beautiful, the terrain is difficult to tread, but gratifying and the streams never let silence prevail. This continuum resonates as resilience in its people, who have always stood resolute in the face of struggles – be it finding the ‘missing’ part of their families or earning their spurs on the big screen like actor Hameed Sheikh.

From performing plays by Bertolt Brecht under the auspices of Jamal Shah and Feryal Gauhar to playing major roles in Khuda Kay Liye, Operation 021 and Moor, Sheikh has stood the test of time. “Like many actors from Quetta, I never idealised Bollywood films or actors because they are always a perfect form of escape,” the 44 year old tells The Express Tribune. “I have always found Hollywood Westerners more relatable because their characters are very rugged, both in terms of nature and looks.  Even the places in which the Westerners are set are quite similar to the look and feel of our province.” Over a span of almost three decades of acting, Sheikh has done multiple independent films and a few television roles. Many of the films he has featured in revolve around Balochistan and its surrounding areas. If Kandahar Break was about a British mine-clearance engineer working for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Moor is about something that strikes a deeper chord with Sheikh: corruption that resulted in the stalling of the Zhob Circular Railway and subsequent loss of livelihood for many families. Almost a decade back, Sheikh had gone to the same railway station to make a short series titled The Challenge, with loss of livelihood as its running theme. Although the series didn’t get aired, getting the opportunity to be a part of a feature film on the same station was exciting for him. “I was shocked when Jami Mahmood told me that he is making a film on Balochistan and that too, on a matter very few people know about,” says Sheikh. He didn’t charge a dime for the film as he is optimistic that it is ventures like these through which more actors from the province can get a chance to showcase their talents. Interestingly, the actor regularly practices karate, horse riding and other intense physical training exercises to remain fit, but it all went in vain because Moor demanded him to gain weight to look older. “It’s difficult to put on weight when you have maintained yourself all your life,” comments Sheikh laughingly. “Not only did I have to put on kilos [for the role], but also change my posture and the way I walk. After a long time, I have been given a genuinely challenging role.” Sheikh stays tight-lipped about the character that he is playing in Operation 021, but is confident that the audience is in for an extraordinary experience. “It will be one of those films that will introduce Pakistani cinema on a global platform, both stylistically and thematically,” he promises. Despite these developments, the deteriorating situation of Balochistan irks Sheikh, and adding to the artistic woes is the recent demolishment of the Arts Council in Quetta. “Although the Balochistan Arts Council was acting more like a government office and less like a council for artistes, its recent demolition is a bad sign for local actors,” he laments. “Since we don’t have a concept of guilds in Pakistan, I wonder where they [the artistes] will all go after this.” Sheikh is waiting for the release of his upcoming films and intends to create a guild or association for artistes from Balochistan before it is too late.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2014. Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.