“The movie is such an enchanting medium that it can transport you into a fantasy land. It has a magic of its own. There was a time in distant past when cinema-going used to be the only entertainment activity at your disposal. It was in that era that I started frequenting cinemas. I rarely missed a new film and at times I would go to Lahore from my native city, Sialkot, in order to watch a movie. For me, film watching is a three hours compulsory yoga in which I can relax and enjoy myself,” confesses the cartoonist par excellence Javed Iqbal, about his infatuation with the world of cinema.
His irrepressible passion to watch movies compelled him to regularly visit the cinemas Sialkot and also those of Lahore. Among the movies that he watched in that era and enjoyed were Ben Hur, Gone With the Wind, Dr Zhivago and others.
Among the local movies, he recalls Yakkay Wali, Mahi Munda, Pattan, Patay Khan, Phanny Khan, Intizar, Saat Lakh, etc., as some of the ones that appealed to him. He praises Patay Khan a lot as he claims “it truly represented the culture of Lahore”.
Action as well as humorous movies appeal a lot to him. Says he, “Since humour and wit are an integral part of my persona since my childhood, I could not help watching humorous movies and Jerry Lewis and Norman Wisdom were favourites of mine. On the other hand, I can derive equal amount of pleasure from any action movies starring Van Damme or Sylvester Stallone.”
Bollywood fare too has much appeal for him and he doesn’t take a moment to reveal the ones that he liked. These include Baghban, Lagaan, Devdas, Veer Zara, Mangal Panday, Black, Vastav and also Aik Din ka Chief Minister. “The movie Aik Din ka Chief Minister touched my heart so much so that I watched it again an again. It portrays the problems of the common masses graphically. The brilliant performances of Anil Kapoor and Amresh Puri add to the appeal of the movie. I think it is very relevant to our political atmosphere. In my view, every new Chief Minister should be made to watch this movie,” opines Javed Iqbal.
Though he venerates Aik Din ka Chief Minister a lot but it is Baghban that he names as his all time favourite film. He adulates it in these words, “I used many tissue boxes to dry my tears that I could not control while watching Baghban. It is my personal experience that after watching it, many children have started respecting their parents. Thus, Baghban has completely changed many teenagers. Amitabh’s acting is so powerful that you can’t find proper words to describe it.”
He says that though the Indians lift the themes of Hollywood films straightaway, they are doing good business due to their technical superiority. He also adds that their costumes, make up, music and cinematography are the areas in which they have reached new heights. These factors, he guesses, have helped the Indian films win international acclaim. Javed thinks that the huge success of Bollywood has rendered the India’s Foreign Office redundant because their movies have been more successful in propagating their indigenous culture all over the world.
Javed puts the blame for the degeneration of our film industry on the 11 years of Gen. Ziaul Haq’s rule. That period, he believes, proved to be very devastating for all performing arts of our country. On the other hand, Iran is producing world class art movies despite the fact that the clergy rules there.
“There was a time when our industry was peopled by educated men like Khwaja Khursheed Anwar, Muhammad Ali, Waheed Murad, Riaz Shahid, S Suleman and host of others. But gradually, educated souls vanished from our industry. At the moment, smugglers and other ruffians are tarnishing the image of industry. They invest black money in making sleazy movies in order to fill their coffers. But then all is not lost yet as we have been able to produce nice films like Choorian and Yeh Dik Aap Ka Howa,” states Javed Iqbal.
He further says that there should be co-productions with India and our actors must cross the border to work in Bollywood, provided there is any offer for them. Here he praises Meera for being able to bag a lead role in an Indian film, which in his estimation is quite an achievement for Meera.
Javed Iqbal’s early introduction to music was through radio as he was fond of listening to the radio. Then, with the passage of time, his taste matured and he started enjoying the art of maestros too. In the list of his favourite singers, one finds names such as Lata, NoorJehan, Rafi, Mukesh, Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Fateh Ali, Fareeda Khanum, Sonu Nigam Alka and even Naseebo Lal. The influence of Nusrat Fateh Ali on Javed is very profound.
Says he, the fan, “Nusrat sang qawwali as well as other songs with equal finesse. Anything that he sang, he took it to new heights. For me he has been my invisible teacher from whom I learned a lot. One can understand the art of singing by listening to his Hamd Koi To Hai Jo Nizame Haasti.
From the pop icons, he chooses Abrar and Jawad. Likewise, the Punjabi songs of Naseebo Lal rank very high on his list of favourites. He not only enjoys our stage plays but admits it boldly too. He admits being and admirer of Amanullah, Sohail Ahmad and Babbu Baral. “I am not hesitant to admit that I enjoy watching stage dramas and dances. As far as the element of vulgarity in stage dramas is concerned, I feel that if a family can enjoy bawdy Indian soaps then why can’t they relish our stage dramas?” Javed sahib poses a real question.
He is avid listener of the radio channel City FM89 and adds that they are doing a great job by interviewing eminent people from a cross section of our society.
In his childhood, Javed veraciously read all the books of Ibn-e-Safi by making good use of the Aana library. He was also an avid reader of the books of Naseem Hijazi and M. Aslam. From the genre of poetry, he enjoyed the books of Iqbal, Faiz and Ahmad Fraz. Quite candidly he states that he is not a great lover of books as he prefers reading newspapers and other current affairs stuff. Inspired by the laudatory comments of Ibn-e-Insha, Javed has written ten books including few travelogues. He goes through almost ten newspapers daily and also loves reading columns of Ayaz Amir, Javed Chaudhry and Hasan Nisar.
Is he content being a cartoonist? Yes, comes the reply. “I have been awarded the Pride of Performance while the street where I live has been named after me by the government. So what else do you need? I have always followed a strict code of ethics while drawing cartoons. I can safely say that my cartoons never hurt anyone.”
JAVED IQBAL: A movie buff
