- Saqib Malik
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Saqib Malik (Urdu: ثاقب ملک) is one of the most established directors in Pakistan, known primarily for his avant-garde music videos and commercials. He has directed numerous successful music videos for many Pakistani pop acts, the more notable among them being Fuzon's Khamaj, Ali Azmat's Na Re Na and Ali Zafar's Dekha.
Contents
History
Born in 1966, Saqib grew up in Islamabad, Pakistan where he received his earlier education. Later he moved abroad to study for a degree in Mass Communications from Syracuse University, UAE.
At the completion of his graduation, he shifted to his mother's home city Karachi amidst the sectarian riots that would devastate the city's state later. This didn't stop him from achieving his goal of becoming a director and he worked with an advertisement agency R-Lintas (now Lowe and Rauf) on a normal nine-to-five basis.
Working for almost seven years in the advertisement business, he took upon direction as a freelance director making commercials for various brands. 1990s brought a revival in the Pakistani music industry where young stars were emerging almost always in dire need of exposure. Saqib chose to work with Asim Reza on various projects that led them into directing music videos for these very artists. As a director duo, their first break came with the video for the hit single Mr Fraudiyey by the band Awaz. The video would later root the careers of the band Awaz, Aminah Haq and Tariq Amin.[1] Saqib later worked for three years with Asim Reza after they decided to split and go their separate ways.
But while it seemed the nation was headed towards a new revolution in music and media in general, Saqib clinged on to making advertisement commercials rather than making more music videos. His inhibitions led him to believe that his art hadn't been properly furnished. His work with Asim Reza was mostly shadowed by the powerful charisma that Asim had and he lacked. He went his way making commercials for the sake of improving his stronghold over these very inhibitions and proving to himself that he excelled at what he did.[1] He started his own production company PAGE 33 Productions,
In 2001, Saqib served an experimental new-wave band named Rushk to come up with a music video for their song Behti Naar. The video depicted various taboos of the Pakistani culture like homosexual relationships, BDSM, etc., and portrayed them in a mild manner. The video became a cult classic, albeit the censor board ruled against the airing of the video on music channels. The controversy surrounding the video gave his career a further boost.[1]
His recent endeavours included videos for the band Fuzon's song Khamaaj[1] which stood neck-to-neck with Asim Reza's video for Mahi Ve sung by Faakhir Mehmood at the nominations for the Best Music Video at the 2004 Lux Style Awards (LSA) held in 2005.[2] His video for Ali Azmat's song Na Re Na gained him an award at the LSA.[citation needed]
After the success of Khamaaj, Fuzon selected Saqib on their next big project – a video featuring Urmila Matondkar from Bollywood beyond the border. Saqib worked with Pralad Kakar (a director from India) on the video and was since then attributed with being the first music video director to have worked with an Indian star. His next such venture would be a video for Salman Ahmad's song Ghoom Taana featuring Nandita Das, another Bollywood star. Ghoom Taana was written by both Saqib Malik and Asim Reza.[3]
Malik's film debut is in pre-production since 2005. Reportedly, Shaan, Ali Zafar, Samina Peerzada, Tooba Siddiqui and Nadeem were the original cast of the film. In 2008, Malik has stated that he is making changes in the script, actors and producers of the film. The script is written by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat and the soundtrack is composed by Shanee (a new composer in Pakistan). Malik has confirmed, "The music will be a great taste for the audience, it would most determingly leave the audience singing for years, I'm really looking forward it it. Title song, item numbers, romance songs, action songs and a full-thriller." He also said in a interview with Dawn news, "Ajnabee Shehr Mein is a commercial Urdu film with lots of songs and dances to cater to the mass appeal. It’s something I am extremely excited about. The film is a suspense thriller set in Karachi, a city which is perfectly suited for this theme because it has a dark edge of mystery and uncertainty to it."
Saqib is son of the talented television actress and educationist, Parveen Malik and cardiologist Dr. Shaukat Malik. He has two siblings, a sister Maha Malik who is a writer and a brother Adnan Malik a model and director, who was Video Director for the Coke Studio project. His cousin, Anjum Nida Rahman is a journalist and was host of Express 24/7's show The Other Line.
Videography
Track Artist Role Released Mr Fraudiyey Awaz Co-director (with Asim Reza) 1993[when?] Behti Naar Rushk Director 2001 Dewaane[4] Fuzon Co-director (with Prahlad Kakkar) 2003 Khamaaj Fuzon Director 2004 Na Re Na Ali Azmat Director 2006 Dekha Ali Zafar Director 2007 Aitebar Zeb and Haniya Director 2008 Ghoom Taana Salman Ahmed Co-director (with Asim Raza) 2009 Love Mein Ghum Movie Director 2011 Filmography
Film Role Released Ajnabee Shehr Mein Director Pre-production Citations
- ^ a b c d "Interview with Saqib Malik". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zelwqrcYIE. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ Haider, Azeem. "Saqib Malik: a profile". DAWN Newspaper. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070702140011/http://pakfilmarchive.tripod.com/saqib_malik.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ "Ghoom Taana: Video Review". The News International; Paki Pop. http://www.pakipop.com/reflection/ghoom_taana.html. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- ^ "Deewane by Fuzon". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC8Yf2YlVig. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
External links
Categories:- Pakistani film directors
- Living people
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