Jami Jami Jami. That's all one hears these days. Bands dream of getting their video directed by him. Phoolan dreams of starring in his videos. This extremely talented director, who debuted with a controversial video Pal Do Pal that led to it being banned in Pakistan, has come a long way. Extremely friendly, Jami puts one at ease immediately and is a pleasure to talk to
How does it feel to be known as the best video director in Pakistan?
Top! [laughs] I'm trying to enjoy it. Because when you're at the top, people want you to fall down, which is why I get scared of being called that. But we know we're not doing that good work. If you go abroad, there is so much good work being done by kids outside this country, there are short films being made. We're doing commercials, ghar chalane ke liye, we're making music videos, and we try to balance both, which is why we try ke music videos mein na bikein. We should do justice to the song.
In commercials, the clients will only listen to you to an extent. Like the Indigo commercials, they've given a very free rein, but you know that you have to sell something.
Most of your videos for e.g. Chaye Chaye are very abstract. You can't really understand it on seeing it for the first time. Do you think people will be able to understand them?
They don't have to. Because if I just give it to them handed on a plate, then I'm not doing anything innovative. I want to use and abuse this medium. They're not paying me to show them what they want to see. When they pay me to show them what they want to see I'll do that. Right now they have to see what I want to show them. Chaye Chaye, why I'm so famous right now, Allah maaf kare, because it went over people's heads. The concept's been completely changed, the start is in the end, it starts off with the middle of the video. It's a story that they're telling.
How important are concepts to you?
Concepts are everything. For example, look at the Jamiroquai video, the sofa keeps moving around in that, what will we do with a moving sofa? Internationally, there are a lot of special effects and gadgets used now, like 6 things are coming from here or there, etc. In India it's all based on women. All we have is concepts.
How much input does the band have in the concepts?
With Strings its 50-50, always. With Fuzon's Ankhiyan it was entirely me. Ali Zafar was very much involved with the video but you have to get him back on track, because he listens to everyone's advice and that is very dangerous. 70% of the people like the video and 30% don't, they say it's not Jami's style, because it's a one take video, I can't edit it, I can't improve the lighting.
How do you feel about the shift in ideas, videos and concepts?
It seems like its shifted, but it hasn't. Because if you see, for example 90% of Jawad Bashir's videos, they're all girl and boy based. I like the Jal video - Aadat by Umar Anwar because it doesn't have that, it's slightly different. Woh nikal raha hai uss mein se. India is 101% based on women right now. The new directors, they think that if they'll show a guy and girl in it, people will get attracted to it more easily…it's ironic. A video has to be a bit abstract; the director's vision should be present in it, the concept should be present.
How difficult is the cost of video making here? Since you're known as the ten lakh man…
Dhaani was a ten lakh video, but it was branded. Chaye Chaye wasn't a branded video, it cost 8 and a half lakh, and it was very well spent. It had such a huge cast, 5 sets, and we spent 2 lakhs just on the cost of the film, then processing it, etc. Ankhiyan and Chal Dil Mere were around 3 and a half lakh. Anjaane is again ten lakh a video. Hadiqa's new song that's coming, that's for 4 and a half lakh. I've done 13 videos and if those people, who've been in the industry for 7-8 years pay ten lakh then its fine with me.
Only Strings is able to pay up easily, no one else can. Dhaani, Chaye Chaye and Anjaane - they had so many actors and we shot for so long. You cannot just tell the actors that work for free, we don't have money. We have to pay them something. Out of 13-14 videos, only 3 have been for ten lakh, the rest haven't. Our work looks like ten lakh (were spent on it), maybe that's why people say that.
How difficult is it to manage the cost of the video with the budget that you have?
You should come see them when they're discussing the budget and the video. I cannot ask the younger bands to pay up ten lakhs for example, where will they pay it from? Nevertheless, we do the video. We just can't stop working. Galian khaate hain, apne paise lagate hain, biwi poochti hai ke yeh kaunsa kaam hai jis mein ghar se paise jaate hain. Its so difficult to work in this country - my good friends who are directors are sitting at home, they're organizing the Kara Film Festival.
If a student wants to go into video direction, how would you want him to go about it?
Start writing stories. Buy 3 or 4 books on direction, when you've read about the structure, then dump it. First learn the rules, and then break them. Learn how to write stories, write horrible stories and eventually you'll be able to write one good story. In the meantime continue working on your direction skills, make videos, and make a video of your brother digging sand! So that way both your skills are getting ready. Write all you can. Fine there are problems in Pakistan, but no one will stop you from writing or condemn what you're writing.
What about equipment?
It's broken down; the good equipment is very expensive. The camera that we used in Chaye Chaye costs Rs 40,000 per day to rent it. The other one that's completely broke down costs Rs 2500 per day, but we have to use it. We used it for the new Hadiqa video and we couldn't even fix the wire for the battery in it. It would stop in between the shots, but we made the video, because we didn't have the money. Just compare that to the budget of ads - we took 40 lakh for each of the 40 second Indigo ads, 1 lakh for each second. And we do a 5 minute video for 10 lakhs.
What's the story behind the Mayfair Fuzon Candy ad?
I never was meant to do the Mayfair Fuzon Candy ad, Saquib [Malik] was supposed to do it, then the SAF games happened and Fuzon got called for that, so Fuzon's dates didn't match with Saquib's. I think Saquib had an idea ke kiya hashar hona hai. Then the Fuzon people asked me to do it since we all are friends, but I said I would do it but I wouldn't put my name on it.
Why didn't you put your name on it?
Because it's not our work, we just did it to save Fuzon's ass. They were about to get sued, because they'd taken the money and they hadn't done the ad, they were saying nahi yeh nahi karo, woh nahi karo. You're doing a candy commercial, what did you expect it was going to be like? It's a candy commercial!
But Shallum said that you didn't even edit the video properly…
I was booked before the video for a whole month! I was in Thailand because I'd been booked earlier and was working there. And I want you to quote me that Fuzon didn't even provide us with a soundtrack till the last day! They weren't even editing it. Woh mujhe deinge to mein edit karoonga na. The song had been sung so badly, we asked for sound effects and those weren't right, like the thunderstorm sounds sounded like gunshots. I did the Ankhian video for 3 and a half lakh, I worked on the video for 3 months, animations, speakers. They don't come on time for shoots…
For example like those people are waiting outside [some people who had come to meet Jami], I can't ask you to leave or I can't ask them to come in, because you came here first. I read the interview Shallum gave. Shallum is such a good friend, I had no idea he's been thinking this. Kisi tarah shoot karliya wohi bahut bari baat hai. Now Shallum's saying that I didn't edit the video properly. They cannot expect me to do good work on a project like this. This is not Dhaani, this is not Chaye Chaye, this is not Anjaane, this is not Ankhiyan. Pick up any of my projects and see the difference.
Which is why people were so shocked because it didn't look like your work.
Because it's not our work. This was an emergency because Fuzon was getting sued for one and a half crore rupees. The agency was suing them because the clients were angry at the agency. The clients were insistent that the video had to be given to them by the 25th of the month because their product was in the market and according to them it wasn't selling. This is still a good concept that I've shown in the video. The first concept was that you eat a candy and munn se likha hua nikalta hai fusion…
You mean like the bubbles coming out of their mouths like in old cartoons?
Yes! And these guys have said yes to THAT concept! I tried convincing them for 4-6 months not to do it, uss waqt dosti mein samajh rahe thay, lekin un ko samajh hi nahi aaya.
So basically Saquib was supposed to do the video first?
Saquib did Khamaj for Fuzon and they were really happy with it. They asked him to do the ad and Saquib said fine, Saquib does commercials, he said yes to that. I don't know what problem Saquib had, but I feel that he knew that it would not turn out well. Even if you put 50 billion rupees in it, it wouldn't have turned out well. It was like Waterworld, paisa jaye ga, mile ga kuch nahi. You will not believe it; they sat here for 8 days, begging me to do the video.
I even got less money, because Saquib had said yes for 21 lakh and I charge 25 lakh. I said if I am going to do it, I'll only do it for 25 lakhs, or else I won't. Izzat bhi ja rahi hai, galian bhi khaa rahe hain, at least paise hi mil jayein. I had predicted this that this would happen. Fuzon just wanted their 15 lakh. They would've earned that much by doing 15 concerts, they're such idiots. Just look at Dhaani - it's a branded video, paid for by Pepsi.
It is? But there's no bottle of Pepsi in it.
A lot of people are shocked at hearing it. It's in the scene where Bilal is in the restaurant, the bottle's been cut from the neck down; you cannot see the label of Pepsi on it. We told Pepsi we wouldn't do it any other way, Dhaani is a philosophy, it's a journey, a story, and you can't show a bottle of Pepsi in the middle of that. Itni galian khaaein for the Fuzon Mayfair ad, they've written about me in newspapers because of that - you're a rock band yaar, get a life. You don't sing candy ads. You don't blame the director. You signed up for a candy ad, what do you expect? Marlon Brando milega? And it's a cheap candy ad!
Plus it's not like they'd signed up for Cadbury or some other famous company…
Exactly, you'll meet the client and you'll start laughing. Mein kitna larr loonga unse? They wanted me to show God knows what and when I told them that it's not looking good they're like, kiya baat kar rahe hain, hum ne aap ko paise diye hain, aap dikhaein. These are the sort of fights we were having. This is why I don't do such commercials. I can't deal with getting so many kids to act; it's really hard getting 150 kids to act.
What do you consider your best video to be?
That's a very difficult question to answer. Pal Do Pal. Chaye Chaye comes very close. Pal Do Pal was so pure, the video came, I'd just come back from the States after finishing my studies and I was like aisa karna hai isse ke dunya yaad rakhe gi. It was very simple - a girl falling in love with a boy, the boy saying my heart belongs to you and he deceives her. She goes mad and she takes his heart.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! What sort of work is being done under Azad Films?
Commercials and music videos, 2-3 feature films and right now I'm working on this film with Nadeem Mandviwala. We'll also be helping out Kara, if they accept our help i.e.
Are you submitting anything for the Kara Film Festival this year?
Not this year. Probably next year, we're working on something right now. We did submit something in the first Kara festival with Farjad Nabi.
How do you feel about controversies such as the Gana no 1 story - why does this happen? Isn't the director the owner of the video?
If I apply the American philosophy to it then yes, the director is the owner of the video. But you have to make changes if the band doesn't like it. For example, the start of Dhaani has been completely changed because Bilal and Faisal didn't like it, so I changed it. I think the band does own the video, but if the band goes cuckoo, then the director can also go cuckoo. But you have to keep the band's wishes in consideration; they're the ones paying for it.
How do you feel about the recently held award shows, such as the Lux Style Awards where Anarkali won the best video and it had a higher budget than the rest of the nominated videos?
That video has an 80 lakh budget or so. You cannot compare it to videos like Ankhiyan which cost 3 and a half lakh. There should be a separate category for branded videos and unbranded videos. Even in the IM Awards, Chaye Chaye didn't win because it was a 2003 video or something and Mahi won. I think no one can say no to Asim. Maybe it's a drama, maybe its not.
Do you think your work gets the proper recognition it deserves?
Oh yes. You're sitting here right? [smiles] but I think I'm getting way too hyped now. Bahut zyaada hogaya hai.
The Chal Dil Mere video is a one take video - is it the first one take video in Pakistan?
No, Shehzad Mughal's video was the first one take video here. But it's the first one take video on film.
It's been rumored that the video's been edited.
No its not. There's a scene in it where everything goes dark so it may seem like I've edited it, but its not. Ali Zafar asked me to edit the video, I told him I wouldn't.
Which band have you loved working with the most?
Strings.
And which band have you not loved working with?
Fuzon.
After Mayfair?
They've changed. I think fame has gone to their head.
What do you think about the current videos playing on IM and The Musik?
I think some good work is being done. For example look at Rushk's videos - brilliant. I heard their album 5 years ago when it was being made. Ziyyad and Uns, they put in everything in their album. Saquib put in his own money in Khamaj, his khoon paseena and that shows.
How do you feel about the Tulsi sponsored music videos/advertisements on air these days?
They should be banned! I swear, God - they're so badly done and they're mujras! What is wrong with the channels? The Tulsi people approached me to do a video, and the guy has his hand in a bowl of Ding Dongs and says, so what do you want? And I told him, wait a minute, I'm not doing your videos. Itna bura kaam kar rahe hain yeh channels by showing these videos, and it's going to have an adverse effect on them.
The channels are getting paid to air the videos.
Agar aap ko paise de rahe hain to aap bache baich deinge? These MBA's and all that have come, raira maar diya hai inhon ne. its okay to bribe the policemen, its okay to take bribes, if you talk to them, they'll do anything wrong as long as they're getting paid for it. There are so many talented directors out there, Maheen Zia etc, they all went to IM. Nahi kaam mila. This is why people like Mehreen Jabbar have left the country. She's the best director in Pakistan, she left and she's in New York right now. You're getting paid 40 lakhs for a Tulsi video and you're paying her 2 lakh for a 50 minute serial. Wait, that doesn't make sense.
What current music are you listening to?
I'm not listening to any Pakistani music right now, just listening to a lot of jazz, Pink Floyd, all old stuff. I really like a couple of songs by Strings, 2 of Ali Zafar's songs are great as well.
Books?
I don't read a lot of books. I'm still stuck on Lord of the Rings 1!
What books would you recommend to upcoming video directors?
All of Sigfield's books on screenplays. And the book The Art of Dramatic Writing - we studied that as well. Learn the structure, and then dump it.
Favorite movies?
Godfather 1 and 2, Satya, Company, The Seven Samurai, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - only the first half of that though.
What future projects do you have lined up?
Ali Azmat's new video from his solo album, Hadiqa's new video, that's yet to be edited, working on this commercial film with Nadeem Mandviwala, and I want to start work on my own feature film this year.
Thank you so much Jami
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
