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In their defence
A brief but critical review of Satori appeared in Images some time back. Understandably, both Aaminah Haq and Ammar Belal were eager to respond to the criticism that had been levelled against the 40-minute film.
Aaminah came off as a more than a bit peeved at the bad press Satori had received. “It’s a pity that some audiences in Pakistan do not appreciate good creative work when they see it. It’s not as if those who made the film were accomplished films directors or had access to state-of-the-art technological equipment. But people seem to be judging on that instead of seeing that someone has at least tried to do something different for a change. Satori is an independent, low-budget film.”
Ammar added: “Some people have said that the film lacks continuity, some even criticized the fact that no dialogue has been used. And then some have said that it’s a copy of other films. Well, it is in four parts, all of which might seem discontinuous, but do have links with each other. In any case, the perceived lack of discontinuity is a deliberate move on our part. As for copying from other films, it was clearly stated in the announcement distributed to all audience members that I had been inspired by several film-makers, one of which is Quentin Tarantino. There are some people who have accused me of copying from his film, Kill Bill (I & II).
“I would say that I have also been inspired by Samurai Jack (a cartoon with a cult following). But the same people, I am sure, are not aware of the fact that a lot of the imagery in Kill Bill is borrowed or inspired from other films. In fact, Tarantino has repeatedly said several times on record that his movies are inspired from the past. People have accused me of copying Tarantino when in fact a lot of the inspiration for Satori came not from him but from another martial-arts classic, Game of Death. The sad thing is that if Tarantino says that he is inspired by other directors, people here take that at face value. And when someone like me says the same thing, the same people accuse me of being a copycat. I think there is a difference between copying or imitating someone else’s work and being inspired by it.”
Ammar admits that neither he nor Aaminah are trained in film-making or direction but decided to go ahead with the project. “It is symbolic of a certain genre (of film). I am a big fan of kung-fu movies and have had training in it. We did not want to spend too much money on Satori because after all that is what independent film-making is all about.
“We wanted it to retain its authenticity to the genre of kung-fu films of the ’80s and to Tarantino’s work where he intentionally tries to make the film look fake, in a campy sort of way. It took us a week to film it but we worked on the concept for four to five months. I choreographed the fight scenes myself. The only help we got was from Sikandar Mufti in direction, and Faisal Beg who composed an original score for it,” he says.
Aaminah chimes in: “I think no one has ever done something like this in Pakistan before and so it feels great to have been a part of this. I didn’t do it for publicity or to promote my acting career but because I believed in the whole thing. Everybody did their own stunts and all these things lend an authenticity to the film.”
Both she and Ammar were asked whether small independent films were by their very nature going to be seen as somewhat elitist in a country like Pakistan. “It is true that small independent films are not for everyone. They are also not mainstream but such films do develop a cult following. Star Wars has a cult following but it also did extremely well commercially.”
Aaminah adds: “How many people do you know who would make a small commercial film? If you are going to take apart a film, there’s always a good and a bad side. You have to have an open mind and understand that this isn’t Lollywood or Bollywood. As it is, people aren’t encouraged to make films that are different and the ones that do are criticized.”
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