Saqib Malik
Encyclopedia
Saqib Malik is one of the most established directors in Pakistan
, known primarily for his avant-garde music video
s and commercial
s. He has directed numerous successful music videos for many Pakistani pop acts, the more notable among them being Fuzon
's Khamaj
, Ali Azmat
's Na Re Na and Ali Zafar
's Dekha.
, Pakistan
where he received his earlier education. Later he moved abroad to study for a degree in Mass Communications from Syracuse University, UAE.
At the completion of his graduation, he shifted to his mother's home city Karachi amidst the sectarian riots that would devastate the city's state later. This didn't stop him from achieving his goal of becoming a director and he worked with an advertisement agency R-Lintas (now Lowe and Rauf) on a normal nine-to-five basis.
Working for almost seven years in the advertisement business, he took upon direction as a freelance director making commercials for various brands. 1990s brought a revival in the Pakistani music industry where young stars were emerging almost always in dire need of exposure. Saqib chose to work with Asim Reza on various projects that led them into directing music videos for these very artists. As a director duo, their first break came with the video for the hit single Mr Fraudiyey by the band Awaz
. The video would later root the careers of the band Awaz, Aminah Haq and Tariq Amin
. Saqib later worked for three years with Asim Reza after they decided to split and go their separate ways.
But while it seemed the nation was headed towards a new revolution in music and media in general, Saqib clinged on to making advertisement commercials rather than making more music videos. His inhibitions led him to believe that his art hadn't been properly furnished. His work with Asim Reza was mostly shadowed by the powerful charisma that Asim had and he lacked. He went his way making commercials for the sake of improving his stronghold over these very inhibitions and proving to himself that he excelled at what he did. He started his own production company PAGE 33 Productions,
In 2001, Saqib served an experimental new-wave band named Rushk to come up with a music video for their song Behti Naar. The video depicted various taboos of the Pakistani culture like homosexual relationships
, BDSM
, etc., and portrayed them in a mild manner. The video became a cult classic, albeit the censor board ruled against the airing of the video on music channels. The controversy surrounding the video gave his career a further boost.
His recent endeavours included videos for the band Fuzon
's song Khamaaj which stood neck-to-neck with Asim Reza's video for Mahi Ve sung by Faakhir Mehmood
at the nominations for the Best Music Video at the 2004 Lux Style Awards
(LSA) held in 2005.
His video for Ali Azmat
's song Na Re Na gained him an award at the LSA.
After the success of Khamaaj, Fuzon selected Saqib on their next big project – a video featuring Urmila Matondkar
from Bollywood
beyond the border. Saqib worked with Pralad Kakar (a director from India) on the video and was since then attributed with being the first music video director to have worked with an India
n star. His next such venture would be a video for Salman Ahmad
's song Ghoom Taana featuring Nandita Das
, another Bollywood star. Ghoom Taana was written by both Saqib Malik and Asim Reza.
Malik's film debut is in pre-production since 2005. Reportedly, Shaan
, Ali Zafar
, Samina Peerzada
, Tooba Siddiqui
and Nadeem
were the original cast of the film. In 2008, Malik has stated that he is making changes in the script, actors and producers of the film. The script is written by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
and the soundtrack is composed by Shanee (a new composer in Pakistan
). Malik has confirmed, "The music will be a great taste for the audience, it would most determingly leave the audience singing for years, I'm really looking forward it it. Title song, item numbers, romance songs, action songs and a full-thriller." He also said in a interview with Dawn
news
, "Ajnabee Shehr Mein is a commercial Urdu film with lots of songs and dances to cater to the mass appeal. It’s something I am extremely excited about. The film is a suspense thriller set in Karachi, a city which is perfectly suited for this theme because it has a dark edge of mystery and uncertainty to it."
Saqib is son of the talented television actress and educationist, Parveen Malik and cardiologist Dr. Shaukat Malik. He has two siblings, a sister Maha Malik who is a writer and a brother Adnan Malik a model and director, who was Video Director for the Coke Studio project. His cousin, Anjum Nida Rahman is a journalist and was host of Express 24/7's show The Other Line.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, known primarily for his avant-garde music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s and commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
s. He has directed numerous successful music videos for many Pakistani pop acts, the more notable among them being Fuzon
Fuzon
Fuzon may refer to:*Fuzon , a character from The Book of Ahania by William Blake*Fuzön, a band from Pakistan...
's Khamaj
Khamaj
Khamaj is one of the ten Thaats of Hindustani music. It is also a specific raga in Khamaj thaat.-Khamaj Thaat:The parent-scale Khamaj Thaat, notated in sargam notation, has the following structure:S R G m P D n S'.n is komal here....
, Ali Azmat
Ali Azmat
Ali Azmat is a Ali Azmat is a...
's Na Re Na and Ali Zafar
Ali Zafar
Ali Zafar is a Pakistani musician, composer, song writer, singer, actor, painter and model, popular in Pakistan for his music, including his hit songs like "Channo", "Rangeen", "Chal Dil Merey", "Dekha", "Masty" and "Sajania"...
's Dekha.
History
Born in 1966, Saqib grew up in IslamabadIslamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
where he received his earlier education. Later he moved abroad to study for a degree in Mass Communications from Syracuse University, UAE.
At the completion of his graduation, he shifted to his mother's home city Karachi amidst the sectarian riots that would devastate the city's state later. This didn't stop him from achieving his goal of becoming a director and he worked with an advertisement agency R-Lintas (now Lowe and Rauf) on a normal nine-to-five basis.
Working for almost seven years in the advertisement business, he took upon direction as a freelance director making commercials for various brands. 1990s brought a revival in the Pakistani music industry where young stars were emerging almost always in dire need of exposure. Saqib chose to work with Asim Reza on various projects that led them into directing music videos for these very artists. As a director duo, their first break came with the video for the hit single Mr Fraudiyey by the band Awaz
Awaz
Awaz were a Pakistani pop band that formed in Karachi in 1992. The group was formed by Haroon Rashid, lead vocalist, who was soon joined by keyboardist Faakhir Mehmood and lead guitarist Asad Ahmed...
. The video would later root the careers of the band Awaz, Aminah Haq and Tariq Amin
Tariq Amin
Tariq Amin is a Pakistani hairdresser, celebrity wardrobe stylist, hair stylist and media personality. He has salons in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi....
. Saqib later worked for three years with Asim Reza after they decided to split and go their separate ways.
But while it seemed the nation was headed towards a new revolution in music and media in general, Saqib clinged on to making advertisement commercials rather than making more music videos. His inhibitions led him to believe that his art hadn't been properly furnished. His work with Asim Reza was mostly shadowed by the powerful charisma that Asim had and he lacked. He went his way making commercials for the sake of improving his stronghold over these very inhibitions and proving to himself that he excelled at what he did. He started his own production company PAGE 33 Productions,
In 2001, Saqib served an experimental new-wave band named Rushk to come up with a music video for their song Behti Naar. The video depicted various taboos of the Pakistani culture like homosexual relationships
LGBT rights in Pakistan
Traditional religious norms and cultural beliefs view homosexuality and cross-dressing negatively and this homophobic societal attitude contributes to intolerant social behavior as well as refusal of the government, or most political groups...
, BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
, etc., and portrayed them in a mild manner. The video became a cult classic, albeit the censor board ruled against the airing of the video on music channels. The controversy surrounding the video gave his career a further boost.
His recent endeavours included videos for the band Fuzon
Fuzon
Fuzon may refer to:*Fuzon , a character from The Book of Ahania by William Blake*Fuzön, a band from Pakistan...
's song Khamaaj which stood neck-to-neck with Asim Reza's video for Mahi Ve sung by Faakhir Mehmood
Faakhir Mehmood
Faakhir Mehmood is a Pakistani singer and music composer. He started out his career in a Pakistani musical group called Awaz. However to conflicts of interest the band split and they all went to become solo artists. The band Awaz also consisted of well known musician Haroon.Faakhir has produced...
at the nominations for the Best Music Video at the 2004 Lux Style Awards
Lux Style Awards
The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The awards celebrate "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, and honour the country's best talents in film, television, music, and fashion. Around 30 awards are given annually.The Lux Style Awards is considered...
(LSA) held in 2005.
His video for Ali Azmat
Ali Azmat
Ali Azmat is a Ali Azmat is a...
's song Na Re Na gained him an award at the LSA.
After the success of Khamaaj, Fuzon selected Saqib on their next big project – a video featuring Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar
Urmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...
from Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
beyond the border. Saqib worked with Pralad Kakar (a director from India) on the video and was since then attributed with being the first music video director to have worked with an India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n star. His next such venture would be a video for Salman Ahmad
Salman Ahmad
Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani musician and former actor, who used to be a member of Vital Signs but left after their debut album due to creative differences. He went on to form Junoon, South Asia's biggest and longest-lasting rock band. While still enjoying the success of Junoon, he was involved in...
's song Ghoom Taana featuring Nandita Das
Nandita Das
Nandita Das is an award-winning Indian film actress and director. As an actress, she is known for her performances in Fire , Earth , Bawandar , Kannathil Muthamittal and Aamaar Bhuvan . As a director, she is known for her directorial debut Firaaq , which has won a number of national and...
, another Bollywood star. Ghoom Taana was written by both Saqib Malik and Asim Reza.
Malik's film debut is in pre-production since 2005. Reportedly, Shaan
Shaan (singer)
Shaan , is an Indian playback singer, and television host. He hosted the shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, Star Voice of India and "Star Voice of India 2"...
, Ali Zafar
Ali Zafar
Ali Zafar is a Pakistani musician, composer, song writer, singer, actor, painter and model, popular in Pakistan for his music, including his hit songs like "Channo", "Rangeen", "Chal Dil Merey", "Dekha", "Masty" and "Sajania"...
, Samina Peerzada
Samina Peerzada
Samina Peerzada is a Pakistani television, film actress, and a director who has appeared in numerous films and television serials.-Early life:...
, Tooba Siddiqui
Tooba Siddiqui
Tooba Siddiqui is a Pakistani model.Tooba started her career from a charity show. Soon after her first show she starred in a Music Video for Pakistani pop singer Yasir Akhtar. The video gave Tooba enough exposure to register her as a newcomer. Soon Tooba packed her bags and moved to Karachi from...
and Nadeem
Nadeem
Nadeem is a masculine given name. It has the meaning "friend", "close companion", or "confidant"...
were the original cast of the film. In 2008, Malik has stated that he is making changes in the script, actors and producers of the film. The script is written by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat
Sarmad Sultan Khoosat is a script-writer, director and actor from Pakistan best known for directing the drama Pani Jaisa Piyar. He is the son of television and film actor Irfan Khoosat...
and the soundtrack is composed by Shanee (a new composer in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
). Malik has confirmed, "The music will be a great taste for the audience, it would most determingly leave the audience singing for years, I'm really looking forward it it. Title song, item numbers, romance songs, action songs and a full-thriller." He also said in a interview with Dawn
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon...
news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
, "Ajnabee Shehr Mein is a commercial Urdu film with lots of songs and dances to cater to the mass appeal. It’s something I am extremely excited about. The film is a suspense thriller set in Karachi, a city which is perfectly suited for this theme because it has a dark edge of mystery and uncertainty to it."
Saqib is son of the talented television actress and educationist, Parveen Malik and cardiologist Dr. Shaukat Malik. He has two siblings, a sister Maha Malik who is a writer and a brother Adnan Malik a model and director, who was Video Director for the Coke Studio project. His cousin, Anjum Nida Rahman is a journalist and was host of Express 24/7's show The Other Line.
Videography
| Track | Artist | Role | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Fraudiyey | Awaz Awaz Awaz were a Pakistani pop band that formed in Karachi in 1992. The group was formed by Haroon Rashid, lead vocalist, who was soon joined by keyboardist Faakhir Mehmood and lead guitarist Asad Ahmed... |
Co-director (with Asim Reza) | 1993 |
| Behti Naar | Rushk | Director | 2001 |
| Dewaane | Fuzon Fuzon Fuzon may refer to:*Fuzon , a character from The Book of Ahania by William Blake*Fuzön, a band from Pakistan... |
Co-director (with Prahlad Kakkar Prahlad Kakkar Prahlad Kakar is a leading Indian ad film director, best known for his work on the famous Pepsi TV commercial with Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. He is the founder and main director for Genesis Film Productions, one of India’s leading production houses, established in 1977 He is renowned... ) |
2003 |
| Khamaaj | Fuzon Fuzon Fuzon may refer to:*Fuzon , a character from The Book of Ahania by William Blake*Fuzön, a band from Pakistan... |
Director | 2004 |
| Na Re Na | Ali Azmat Ali Azmat Ali Azmat is a Ali Azmat is a... |
Director | 2006 |
| Dekha | Ali Zafar Ali Zafar Ali Zafar is a Pakistani musician, composer, song writer, singer, actor, painter and model, popular in Pakistan for his music, including his hit songs like "Channo", "Rangeen", "Chal Dil Merey", "Dekha", "Masty" and "Sajania"... |
Director | 2007 |
| Aitebar | Zeb and Haniya Zeb and Haniya Zeb and Haniya is a pop group from Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The duo's songs are mostly in Urdu, but some lyrics are also in Pashto, Persian and Turkish... |
Director | 2008 |
| Ghoom Taana | Salman Ahmed | Co-director (with Asim Raza) | 2009 |
| Love Mein Ghum Love Mein Ghum Love Mein Ghum is a Lollywood Urdu film, directed and produced by Reema Khan. It stars Moammar Rana, Reema Khan, Nabeel Khan, and Araida in the leading roles.... |
Movie | Director | 2011 |
Filmography
| Film | Role | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Ajnabee Shehr Mein | Director | Pre-production |