SUFIA SHAHID started watching films when she was in college, as before that “there was this restriction, a kind of a curfew by the family to keep the kids away from the cinema halls.” When she was finally allowed, she recalls, “it was one of the most beautiful experiences” of her life.
She misses the cinema culture, where one could get advanced bookings done, gather friends together, and wait for the D-Day. She vividly remembers the wonderful ambience inside the halls, “from the curtains covering the screens to the paintings on the walls, from the seats to the people busy occupying them, everything showed the effort and interest taken to present the best.” All this, she says and rightly so, added to the impact of the film that was being screened.
Though Sufia preferred serious films, she equally enjoyed comedies, specially those featuring Peter Seller, Norman Wisdom, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. “They were a treat to watch and we would come back refreshed with ample material to discuss with family and friends until the next blockbuster.”
Although there’s hardly any time to watch films now, but if and when she does, it is always the one recommended from people who understand her taste. “I like watching movies with real-life situations, new experimental themes, serious issues facing any society, as I feel they act as a refresher course in human values. I also like intelligent humour to relax, never was one for stupid jokes and could never digest science fiction.”
Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Great Escape and Gone with the Wind are a few on her list of all-time favourites. Some of the contemporaries include Serendipity, Unbreakable, Shallow Hal and Erin Brockovich. She goes for subcontinental flicks only when she has a lot of time on her hands — which is seldom now — but remembers enjoying Aag ka Darya, Armaan and Lakhon Mein Aik as a young girl, as well as some recent Indian art movies.
When it comes to music, “I absolutely love good music, no matter what nation and what genre it belongs to.” Be it pop, classic, rock or reggae, it should be music and not vexation to the ears. “Music becomes a treat if accompanied by good poetry.”
Her favourites range from Beethoven to A.R. Rehman, and include vocalists like Saigol, Lata, Noor Jehan, Nayyara Noor, Tina Sani, Mehdi Hasan and Jagjit.
As for the books, she has over the years read whatever came her way, “depending on my age, mood and friends at the time”. From comics to romance and from Russian to Hispanic authors, she has enjoyed reading immensely, and still regrets that she was and is unable to read as much as she wanted to.
“I have enjoyed the humour of Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Mushtaq Yusufi and Ibne Insha greatly, just as I have revelled in the details of Razia Butt, Khadija Mastour, the audacity of Fahmida Riaz and Kishwar Naheed, the mellow romanticism of Perveen Shakir, the wisdom of Faiz, the prophetic poetry of Iqbal, and the mysticism of Rumi.”
These days Sufia is reading Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley, and finds it “hilarious”, as it tells about how the FBI and the CIA fool the American public by creating UFO sightings. Before that she finished reading The Eleventh Hour by Martin Lings, which discusses the reasons for the deterioration of society and the present state of affairs and why the world is where it is today.
She relaxes in different ways, and skimming through magazines is one of them, but what she really loves the most is finding time to sit and chat with her family and friends over a cup of tea with some music in the background.
FAVOURITE FILM: Lawrence of Arabia
FAVOURITE BOOK: Can’t really say ... they are all so different from one another, but Reader’s Digest is my favourite magazine.
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Colours of the Wind, by Vanessa Williams, and umpteen others by gifted artistes.
SUFIA SHAHID started watching films when she was in college, as before that “there was this restriction, a kind of a curfew by the family to keep the kids away from the cinema halls.” When she was finally allowed, she recalls, “it was one of the most beautiful experiences” of her life.
