Laraib Atta spends her days scrutinising a computer screen where she adds in effects and digitally assembles images. If you’ve seen Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible — Fallout you may have seen her handiwork. Some of the buildings in the background when agent Ethan Hunt and the IMF team visit Kashmir and that car that Tom bumps into during a wild motorbike chase in Paris … that was all Laraib and the team that she works with. It’s a job that she loves — and given that her repertoire includes a hefty line-up of major Hollywood blockbusters, one that she’s very good at.

As the daughter of Pakistan’s venerated folk singer Ataullah Khan Esakhelvi, one would have expected Laraib to pursue a career in music. Considering that she hails from a very traditional background, some members of her family also had the preconceived notion that she would opt for a more conventional life. But while her brother Sanwal Esakhelvi embarked on a career in music and girls in her native village Isakhel would usually get married in her teens, Laraib chose to walk a path less trodden. She was always drawn to VFX (visual effects) technology and when the opportunity presented itself, she pursued a profession in it with great enthusiasm — even though it was one that her family didn’t quite understand initially.

“I remember watching Toy Story and thinking that there was a magic to it,” she recalls. “I was 19 at the time and was taking a gap year after having completed my A-levels in the UK. My brother commented that it would be cool if I studied VFX and create music videos for him. That was what primarily pushed me into enrolling into a very intense six-month diploma course where industry professionals trained us in visual effects.”

Making a name for herself in a mostly male-dominated field, singer Ataullah Esakhelvi’s daughter and VFX artist Laraib Ata has taken the road less taken

VFX is mostly a male-dominated field and Laraib was the only girl, the only Pakistani and the youngest in her class. “I didn’t let that bother me. I was very determined to make the most of this opportunity that I had been given.” Her recruitment manager in the course liked her work and linked her to her first few jobs. Her initial projects included working on a few commercials for Disney, promos for the Olympics and the football World Cup, and creating album ads for the Rolling Stones and singer George Michael. She proceeded to work with the BBC, Spanish television and Sky British television. The first major Hollywood movies that she worked on were 10,000 BC and Johnny Depp’s Sweeney Todd — The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She has also worked with Paul Franklin, the Oscar-winning VFX supervisor of Interstellar and Inception.

“It took some time for my parents to understand my chosen profession,” says Laraib. “Then, I got married and had a son which resulted in a huge gap work-wise. It was a struggle getting back into the industry and there was the additional responsibility to balance motherhood with my passion for my career. Fortunately, my family supported me and I eventually found my way back in, getting hired to work on some big projects.”

“To date, I am one of the few females working in the industry but I have never gotten intimidated by this,” she continues. “My peers may initially be surprised by the fact that I’m a Pakistani woman but they are more interested in the calibre of my work. VFX truly does form the backbone of a movie although it’s hardly ever noticed. Audiences will observe the acting and the direction but unless someone is keenly interested in art and technology, he or she won’t really notice the small details that make every scene look complete and plausible.”

“Even here in the UK, where I live, most people don’t understand what VFX is or see it as a potential field that they can pursue. But I want to create more awareness about it, particularly for people living in Pakistan. It can be taught in universities or students can apply for courses abroad.”

Laraib’s major Hollywood projects — aside from Mission: Impossible — Fallout, Sweeney Todd and 10,000 BC — include Gravity, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past, the TV series Krypton and the Emmy-nominated Altered Carbon. “Altered Carbon would have to be my favourite so far because I made some leading decisions while working on it,” she says, “although Mission: Impossible was also quite enjoyable.”

Is it a glamorous job? “A lot of famous Hollywood actors and directors do visit the company that I work in,” admits Laraib. “But we’re usually sitting at our desks at the time, glued to our computers. They come for work and it’s all very professional.”

She apparently ‘just missed’ Tom Cruise when he visited her company recently while Mission: Impossible — Fallout was still under works. “But even if I had been there, it’s all very serious. It has to be!”

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 19th, 2018