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The Mengal touch
Arriving at Farooq Mengal’s house at the agreed time for our interview, I discover that he is fast asleep. Waiting patiently for him to surface, I take in the artistic decor of the surroundings, which turns out to be the work of Mengal himself. Forty minutes later a showered and flustered Farooq Mengal emerges, apologizing profusely. He had been working all night shooting a play and therefore, he overslept. We finally get cracking and the first question that pops up is, why has Anarkali not gone on air yet?
“It has already taken nine months and needs a little more time for editing. It should be ready to air by July although we had said it would come out in March. The sets have actually taken a long time as I have tried to make them as authentic as possible, so much so that I used to visit the Lahore Fort regularly to replicate the flooring.”
Mengal claims that the government did not help him in any way to produce this historical serial. Most of the shooting was done at the Shahi Hammam and at a gurdwara near the border, which had been used by the army as “its dumping ground.” Mengal says that he found it in such a state of disrepair that he had to renovate it before the gurdwara was in a fit enough condition to be filmed.
Did he seek any professional guidance when rehabilitating the ancient structure in order to ensure that it retained its authenticity?
“The gurdwara was in a completely dilapidated state. All I did was paint it, fill up the holes and give it a presentable look,” he explains.
Farooq Mengal says that his most challenging serial to date has been Anarkali, but it is also one that he has enjoyed the most.
“It was such an expensive serial to make, what with the grand darbar scenes, the 200 horses that were used, not to mention the elaborate costumes.”
But do these plays have a large viewership, or are they watched by just a niche audience?
“As far as I am concerned, with the kind of research that has gone into the project, I’m happy just with the fact that there is something available for reference in our archives. I prefer to do offbeat work anyway, rather than commercial. Anarkali may not be a new theme for the subcontinent and I know it’s been done to death, but we consulted many historical books prior to making it. We have gone into details which perhaps no one has focused on in the past and adhered to history as closely as possible,” claims the director.
To illustrate his point he says that he focused on Tansen’s character in great depth and instead of just portraying Shehzada Salim as a lovesick hero, as is normally done, he has dwelt on other aspects of his personality. Similarly, Dilaram’s character has been dealt with in depth.
Currently, Mengal is working on the script of Laila Majnu, which is to be shot in Morocco. He is hoping to start the shoot in August. An MA in political science, one wonders how Mengal got involved and became adept at something as different as TV direction. He ponders a bit.
“I don’t know. I think this was a God-given gift to me. But I must admit that PTV Quetta, where I worked for almost two years, helped me gain experience in this field. I can’t forget the days when I was giving my university exams while working as Attaullah sahib’s assistant. I would get so exhausted going to shoots right after my papers that I’d nod off to sleep on the sets. I really worked very hard throughout, so much so that there was a time when I was working 24 hours at a stretch, editing, recording, then editing, oblivious to the world outside.”
Five years down the road and with around 17 serials to his credit, not to mention a serial nominated every year in a certain style awards, Mengal claims his work remains his passion and he can’t see himself doing anything else. He keeps so busy taking on one project after the other that when Zee TV approached him to work with them, he had to decline because of paucity of time. Not surprisingly, he has his future plans clearly chalked out. He wants to make a movie — a love story with the Pak-Afghan border as a backdrop.
“I’ve seen the camps in Afghanistan after the war and how those people suffer. NGOs become very active in such places, but their targets and perceptions are very different from those of the victims. They are from two different worlds and I have highlighted this aspect in my love story. It’s an offbeat theme to say the least.”
One wonders if it is worth investing in films at a time when the industry is at an all-time low.
“I feel if your product is good and you work with sincerity, you can’t go wrong. The best directors have been churning out movies in 20 days, so naturally they are releasing flops. I’ve been working on this film for a long time. I have had the script written by many people, and now the final draft is being done by Naila Ansari, drawing a little from all the earlier pieces. I am planning on a co-production, with music and technical assistance from India.”
Judging by the kind of serials he has been directing over the years, all of which seem to have a filmi touch — in fact, he tends to cast film stars very frequently — one feels that Mengal will probably be successful as a film director too. In any case, he does firmly believe that the panacea to our film industry’s ills lies in its relocation to Karachi, “where there is professionalism and straight-dealing.”
Coming back to serials, Mengal feels that the quality of dramas today is far inferior to that of yesteryear.
“One would have thought that with time our serials would have improved, but instead, they are becoming mediocre and leave no impact. Even today, it is the old plays that everyone remembers. Our sitcoms are quite disgusting and people don’t seem to realize that doing comedy is serious stuff. We have no alternates for Khalida Riyasat, Saba Pervez, Rubina Ashraf and Bushra Ansari, for whom style was never a problem. Today, no one has the time and actors have no idea what is happening — there are no rehearsals and no teamwork.”
So how does he ensure that his serials are any better than those being aired?
“I sit with the writers and discuss the scripts with them in great detail. I try and introduce new subjects and also new faces — such as Natasha in Chaltey Chaltey, Ali Anwar and Sarah. Although I usually don’t mange to get rehearsals done, I meet with the stars and brief them, and stress on colour schemes. In fact, I do the wardrobe selection myself and also the set design.”
It is no wonder then that all his productions bear his signature style — a touch of glamour and elegance mixed with a strong story-line. And now, thanks to Anarkali, with Afreen Baig (his wife and team-mate) by his side, one expects to see a lot more brilliant work from the talented couple.
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