NAEEM BOKHARI inherited the love for films from his parents, both fond of watching films in a cinema. The entire family going to cinemas with a’loo wale parathey was a regular feature in his childhood days. “I was so fascinated with movies that in my ninth class, I would play hookey, that is slip out of the school, watch a movie in Plaza Cinema, rush back (sometimes missing the end of the film), climb the side-wall of St. Anthony’s High School and hide in the bathroom till the striking of the school bell. This continued for some time till we were caught and soundly caned by our Principal, Brother Burke. That was the end of hookey,” he recalls with his characteristic charm.
Naeem remembers how fascinated he was watching Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No. However, when he watched the movie recently, he found it to be “extremely childish.” He also remembers crying in Dilip Kumar’s Daagh, but when he viewed it again a few years ago in the USA, he says it was “melodramatic” and amusing rather than tragic.
Michael Caine’s The Ipcress File, which he saw with his father at the Alfalah Cinema, was a memorable experience. “I cannot bear to see tragedies or frightening films. My heartbeat quickens and tears come easily to my eyes. So action and light movies and sometime dramatic movies remain attractive.”
The films he can fondly recall include Attila the Hun, Samson and Delilah, The Last Train From Gunhill, Gunfight At The OK Corral, The Longest Day, Aan, Daagh, Awara, Deedar and Babul.
Once he entered the legal profession, however, his craze for movies tapered off, but revived somewhat with the availability of movies on video. Now with cable, he says, “I am more or less forced to watch movies before sleeping.”
There are many movies he can watch again and again, such as Gone With The Wind, African Queen, The Scent Of A Woman, Beckett, The Loin In Winter, Indiana Jones, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, To Kill A Mocking Bird, Behold A Pale Horse, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and, of course The Lawrence of Arabia.
“Of course I must have missed out dozens of movies which gave me much pleasure when I first watched them. I don’t like the Hulk (though I watch it with my children), or the Star Wars trilogy or even the cartoon movies, except Shrek. The fun is when you get immersed in the movie totally, identify with a character and when a movie ends, come back to reality slowly,” he says.
Although a lot of people say that music is food for the soul and Abul Kalam Azad missed his radio in jail, Naeem admits he has not been able to develop a musical ear. The only time he can concentrate on music is in Arshad Mahmood’s studio in Karachi, listening to his compositions on one of the best music systems available. “Having said that, I find most singers repetitive and monotonous.”
He finds Abida Parween, “a truly great singer”, indulging in the same notes in most of her songs. So does Mehdi Hasan. “Madam Noor Jehan was a legend no doubt, but I found the tonal quality of her voice somewhat jarring.” He finds the voice of Mehnaz truly “soothing” and Nayyara Noor while singing Arshad Mahmood’s composition truly “fantastic”.
While driving from his home in Chattar every day to his office in Islamabad — a good 45-minute drive — he often hears Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Abrarul Haq, Nayyara Noor, Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Begum Akhtar and Ustad Barkat Ali Khan. “But one song each. No more no less. I do not need music at breakfast or to go to sleep which I do soundly without musical notes.”
When it comes to reading, Naeem loves it but, “the profession of law, which is extremely time-consuming, leaves me very little time to indulge in books.” But over the years he has managed to nibble at books unrelated to his profession. “Although the absence of ambition has been the mainstay of my life, I have ambitions to read a lot when I retire. That is only if I can make enough money for my spouse and children so they survive in comfort if not in luxury once I retire.”
There are many books on his mind, but ask him to short-list five, and he reluctantly recommends a few titles such as Hundred Years of Solitude, The Story of Philosophy, The Pleasures of Philosophy, An Intimate History of Humanity, and the Picture of Dorian Gray. “The habit of reading has to be developed. Once it takes hold, it is even more difficult to get rid of than smoking or any other pleasurable vice or virtue,” he concludes.
FAVOURITE MOVIE: Gone With The Wind
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Nayyara Noor singing any Arshad Mahmood composition
NAEEM BOKHARI inherited the love for films from his parents, both fond of watching films in a cinema. The entire family going to cinemas with a’loo wale parathey was a regular feature in his childhood days. “I was so fascinated with movies that in my ninth class, I would play hookey, that is slip out of the school, watch a movie in Plaza Cinema, rush back (sometimes missing the end of the film), climb the side-wall of St. Anthony’s High School and hide in the bathroom till the striking of the school bell. This continued for some time till we were caught and soundly caned by our Principal, Brother Burke. That was the end of hookey,” he recalls with his characteristic charm.
