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The fame seeker
Samson had long hair. So did Rashid Sami. They cut off Samson’s long tresses and with it, his strength. They cut off Rashid Sami’s long hair (during Haj last year) and nothing changed. So, is Sami more powerful than even the legendary Samson? Not quite, but with many achievements to his credit, he can’t be faulted for thinking so at times.
Rashid Sami claims to be the only producer/director in Pakistan who has crossed 12,000 minutes of on-air production. He is also the proud owner of the first proper television studio built on 8000sq ft floor in the Korangi Industrial Area. Without any pillars whatsoever, it meets all technicalities of a proper television studio.
He also says he is the first person in this country to use the digital format in shooting and the first to have done non-linear editing on the desktop computer, as director of the Sunday Brunch Show a few years ago.
“Back then, people made fun of me for using the technique,” he says smiling at the memory. The 30-something actor/director/producer/writer has come a long way from his theatre days, which began in 1988.
“I started with Rahat Kazmi. We called our company ‘Theatre Wallay’ and we would perform at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Later, I did a lot of theatre with Khalid Ahmed and Sheema Kermani. Being close to Khalid, I even adopted his style of speaking without realizing it! Those were the days when I got deeply involved with this medium of entertainment,” Sami says nostalgically.
Inspired by Imran Aslam’s style of satire, he has done stand-up comedy as well.
“Two years ago, I created Lyari King Live. I was the first one to make Ali Saleem act out Benazir in Lyari King. He would play her and I would be Lyari. Maybe it was a bit obnoxious,” he laughs, “but the political satire was hilarious.”
Being the creative individual that he is, Sami was looking for something more.
“Gradually I started writing. At first, it was just short stories, which was followed by a weekly newspaper column about television.” But the passionate son of Malika Baltistani could not refrain from giving his articles a nonconformist twist, the result of which got him the label of being controversial. “My poor editors must have missed many a heartbeat.”
Writing so much about TV got him more interested in the medium and hence he decided to get into production.
“My first production for TV was titled Aik Gana Aik Afsana, where apart from handling the production side, I also penned the script.” The series was all about a story based on an old Pakistani movie song.
“The songs evoke nostalgia. They are not readily available and I conduct a lot of research to acquire them. For instance, I have discovered some melodies from a small shop at Regal in Karachi. The old songs are re-sung by new singers and people follow the series quite regularly. Just a few days go, I had gone to pick up my cousin from school and I saw one of the boys from class seven or eight humming the song from the previous evening’s episode. It makes me glad to know that I have reintroduced these golden oldies to the new generation.”
Ghar Beetian is another series that Sami has done for PTV. “It is about stories based on Urdu and English literature. I choose stories by literary greats such as Mumtaz Mufti and even Ismat Chughtai, who was banned from the channel.” Sami took it up as a challenge to bring the controversial author to PTV.
“I put my foot down. I made it clear I would not take my play to any private channel. I kept on pushing my sponsor until they let me do one of her short stories entitled Amar Bail. I wrote the script myself. The nine episodes of the play were a big hit,” boasts the director.
Rashid Sami now owns his own production house, Kohinoor Telefilms. This has provided him with a lot of breathing space and enabled him to experiment.
“We are the only ones to have the latest camera equipment, computers and software in Pakistan. We are the only ones using the ‘Video Toaster,’ a state-of-the-art editing software. Our format is totally digital. I am also the first to bring special effects like the ones used in the movie Ghost to PTV,” he claims.
These days besides working on a series of tele-films Sami is also very involved in his latest project, the remake of the legendary serial Khuda ki Basti.
“I have managed to secure the rights of Khuda ki Basti from Shaukat Siddiqui Sahib,” he beams at the mention of the victory. “There were many other channels, including some major international players, after its rights, but after seeing my earnestness Siddiqui Sahib was kind enough to trust me with his masterpiece. We are totally engrossed in its re-making process. When the serial was being produced by PTV years ago, many controversial tracks from the novel had been left out. I will include them all. I am looking forward to it. The story has been upgraded with the times. For instance, a dagger has now been replaced by a pistol. I have created special effects like those of the Matrix, where you can see the bullet moving slowly towards its victim.”
And what about acting? Does that also include something new and special?
“I haven’t really stopped acting, which is the same. Nothing special added to it. I do it now and then — as a favour to friends or for myself when I can’t find anybody else for a certain character. But my basic love is film-making and drama. I have gone to bed at 5:00am and then woken up again at 10:00am and not even felt a hint of fatigue while directing a play.”
Being an engineer, Sami is also into designing equipment. “Times have changed. Light digital cameras have replaced the old heavy movie cameras. I am designing cranes to carry the new lightweight camera. My crane, which is operated by a single person, just weighs seven kilos compared to the traditional one that weighs about three to four tons.”
Actor, writer, film-maker and engineer. Rashid Sami, it seems, is a man of many talents.
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