Building with a constant thump of a beating
heart, the teaser for Jami’s second venture Downward Dog, due out in 2014, is
an awkward fix.
A modishly composed motion picture that looks
like a welcome conundrum — a psychological thriller that’s primarily a venture
for the “pull kay paar” audience — stars Sajid Hassan, Joshinder, Nayyer Ejaz,
Ali Sheikh, and a diverse set of localities.
The monochrome footage knitting a loose series
of naturally lit shots (which filmmakers know, are painstakingly lit to appear
natural), gives piddling insight into what the director calls a ‘classic Noir’
(my initial impression was Neo-Noir).
What we see is a woman (Joshinder),
contemplative over a multiple scenes; a man in a biker’s helmet; a mid-shot of
Mr. Ejaz behind a string-beaded curtain; a close-up of Mr. Hassan; an
impoverished-looking youngster; a swirly sandstorm – and most importantly: no
dialogues.
There’s not a lot to empathize with in the
teaser’s 2:06 minute interval, apart from Nausheen Dadabhoy’s arresting cinematography
(Ms. Dadabhoy’s last venture, Josh, was splendidly shot as well). Nevertheless,
seeing the way these sequences unfold there’s evidence of a bound-screenplay
pulling the strings of the production.
From first impressions, everything, including
the intensity of the score, is calculatingly conspicuous in design. Jami’s
direction in frames, like most of the director’s resume, guides the eye to
distinct portions of the image without over-decorating the ambiance — which,
given the genre and artistic inclination to go black-and-white, is thick enough
already. Like I said, it’s an awkward fix whose appeal lies in its own
idiosyncrasy. How well Downward Dog unfolds, of course, will depend on when the
film hits the cinemas next year.
In conversation
It isn’t quite like me to seek a conversation
with a director after a film’s teaser; Downward Dog, is an exception. Catching
up via Facebook and Email (Jami is not in Pakistan at the moment), we touched
on the bare essentials of the project.
Q. When
did you start Downward Dog?
A. Well I started this film after Joshinder and
Fawad decided to go with my story last year in November. I wasn’t supposed to
do (the film) originally, but after some changes, we decided that I should
direct this new complex storyline (that we had). So there you go.
Q. So,
what's Downward Dog about?
A. Well in short, it’s about a writer gone
greedy with a novel and all hell breaks loose.
Q. Seeing
that there’s a lack of dialogues in the teaser, one cannot make an assumption
to the film’s language. What is the film’s predominant language? Is it in
English?
A. The film is 90 per cent Urdu.
Q. Why a
film Noir?
A. My heart said it was needed for this story,
so we did it. We are not going into how we’re going to sell this, or how to
market just now. I am a filmmaker. Distribution is the next step. As Nadeem
(Mandviwalla) has already taken it, so (I guess) all slowly worked out fine.
Q. A Noir
is a chancy venture right now, so why not do something more mainstream?
A. Right now we don’t know what mainstream is.
But, as you well know, I can't do films with Item numbers that abuse girls for
a few (quick) bucks. So, (I’d like to think)of this as my mainstream.
Q. Do you
think Pakistani audiences would accept a thriller made in Black and White?
A. I don’t think they would come to see it.
(Whoever does come to the movie), I think would enjoy it. There was no point in
making lot of films in history (if you consider their genres or their need to
not be mainstream) but they were made. It is important to make these films.
Downward Dog releases next year. No date has
been finalized.
Article By : MOHAMMAD KAMRAN JAWAID (DAWN)
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