KARACHI: As the critically and commercially acclaimed Pakistani movie Kamli heads to the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2023 for its European premiere, lead actor Saba Qamar said the production would lead the way in pushing the boundaries of Pakistani cinema and the themes it covers.
Kamli revolves around the story of a young woman whose husband has been missing for the last eight years as she lives with her blind sister-in-law. The film shows the woman’s struggle between her sense of loyalty to her husband and her carnal desires that urge her to move on. The main character’s story is interspersed with the stories of other women, also trapped in their unique lives and set of problems.
Directed and written by Sarmat Khoosat, Kamli released across cinemas in Pakistan on June 3, 2022, and stars powerhouse performers Saba Qamar, Sania Saeed and Nimra Bucha, among others.
Earlier this year, it was screened at the Indus Valley International Film Festival (IVIFF) 2022 in Chandigarh, India, where Qamar won the Best Actress trophy for her performance. The film is next headed to Rotterdam.
“People are realizing we can move beyond cliché themes and produce issue-based scripts too,” Qamar told Arab News in a phone interview on Tuesday. “This is the right time that we start making issue-based movies that have a message besides entertainment … We can no longer say our audiences aren’t educated enough to appreciate unconventional themes.”
Pakistan’s film industry, or Lollywood, has slipped into severe decline in recent decades and produced few films meriting international distribution. The industry, like Bollywood in India, also mostly subscribes to the all-singing, all-dancing brand of big-screen escapism, though critics say its productions are mostly low-budget imitations of Bollywood fare.
“I am delighted that audiences abroad will get to watch the film and will learn about the kind of work we are doing in Pakistan,” Qamar said about Kamli’s European premier.
“Our dramas are popular beyond borders but films like The Legend of Maula Jatt, Kamli, and Joyland represent the best of Pakistani cinema abroad,” she added, referring to two newly released films that have been lauded around the world. “We’re being recognized internationally. I’m happy that our industry is growing.”
Qamar lamented that she may not be able to travel to attend the upcoming 57th edition of the European festival, which will run from January 25 to February 5, due to work commitments. The team will be represented, however, by director Sarmad Khoosat, who told Arab News his movie “puts Pakistan on the map, horizon-wise.”
“We did an experiment with how the music is incorporated in a storytelling language as opposed to the Bollywood or Lollywood formula of how music is used,” Khoosat said, saying “experimentation” was necessary as mainstream formulas were being challenged in film industries around the world.
“Kamli does have elements of what the screen formula is considered to be, but we didn’t adhere to a formulaic story. It is an unusual genre that is usually not there in the subcontinent,” the director said. “Kamli has its own original language to it. So, this kind of recognition matters.”
