Nabeel Qureshi is a filmmaker and screenwriter. After doing directorial work in television, he moved on to make films. His first film, ‘Na Maloom Afraad‘, came out in 2014 which he co-wrote with his college friend Fizza Ali Meerza. Together, Fizza and Nabeel have made several films together in the past few years under the banner of Filmwala Pictures including ‘Actor in Law’, ‘Na Maloom Afraad 2’, ‘Load Wedding’, ‘Khel Khel Mein’, and most recently ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’.
Following the release of his film ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’, he sat down for an interview with FUCHSIA Magazine. In an interesting conversation with our host, Rabia Mughni, he talked about the making of the film, his working process with Fizza, and how the film industry can progress. Continue reading to know the details!
Audience’s Reaction To QAZ
Nabeel was elated with the feedback he has received from the audience. He hopes that QAZ surpasses Actor in Law to become his highest grossing film.
He mentioned an incident where a man shared his excitement and happiness to witness a Pakistani film talked about Quaid-e-Azam:
“A person told me that they showed the film to their children. They told me they recently watched Ms. Marvel where they talked about Gandhi and Nehru in the series but there was no mention of Quaid-e-Azam. So, he was really happy that a film was made that talked about Quaid-e-Azam.”
Nabeel Qureshi
The Process Of Penning The Script
He mentioned that he and Fizza are inspired by pop culture and want to make films about present-day issues that the audience can relate to.
“We never think about what is trending on social media. Sometimes we make a film (about a topic) that bothers us. We don’t put a status on social media, instead we make a film about it.”
Nabeel Qureshi
Nabeel thought about the idea of making ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’ three years back. His idea was that what if everyone woke up to find the country come to a halt because something happens to the rupee. Fizza then added to the idea and introduced the concept that the rupee notes have Quaid-e-Azam’s picture and he is watching us from there and when we do something wrong he gets angry. Eventually, this became the opening dialogue of the film!
Nabeel also talked about how cordial Fizza and he is and they respect each other’s decisions.
“There are no ego problems between Fizza and I. We present logical arguments to defend our idea and whoever gives a more logical explanation, we go with that person’s idea.”
Nabeel Qureshi
Nabeel On Taking Inspiration From Other Movies
Nabeel acknowledged that he does take inspiration from other movies and filmmakers as this is his way of paying a tribute to them. However, he added that it is very difficult to do so due to limited resources.
“I do take inspiration from other movies and there are some cinematic scenes that I find very iconic that I want to recreate in my films. Many filmmakers around the world also do so. This is my way of paying homage to them. And yes, for ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’ as well I have recreated the opening scenes from Singham and Matrix.
Nabeel Qureshi
Nabeel Qureshi Talks About The Actors In The Film
Nabeel was all praises for the actors in the film. He told us that Fahad Mustafa is a director’s actor while Mahira was so brilliant in her role that he didn’t have to give her much direction.
“Fahad and Mahira don’t bring any baggage and negative energy to the set.”
He praised Javed Sheikh for doing a small role in the film:
“I think this is very big of Javed Sheikh that he accepted this role. Some days he didn’t even have any dialogues but salute to him that he did that role and that too fantastically.”
Nabeel Qureshi
Onto The Process!
Nabeel highlighted that he had the technical support of the police department who provided them with the necessary equipment and allowed them to shoot in jail.
He mentioned that Fahad Mustafa got injured during the shoot as there were a lot of action sequences. He also talked about the making of his songs. For ‘Loota Rey’ he told us that they shoot in Frere Hall in Karachi which was a three-day shoot. And did you know? They shoot with a real lion in the film!
About the infamous plane scene, Nabeel talked about the struggle behind it:
We built a private cargo plane for that scene which took 2 months to be made. It was so expensive to build that the ten minute scene took 40% of the movie’s budget to be executed!
Nabeel Qureshi
How Can The Film Industry Progress?
Nabeel talked about how much the film business has been affected after Covid but is gratified by the incentive taken by the government to open cinemas till late at night. The director thinks it is imperative that only people who are serious about filmmaking do so, so that good films are produced and the audience’s trust is regained.
“We need serious producers and filmmakers in the industry.”
Nabeel Qureshi
Nabeel also mentioned that he shows his work to people outside the industry to get their feedback and opinions.
Lastly, he also added that he is willing to introduce new faces in his movies and has also done so in the past, case in point Kubra Khan and Mohsin Abbas Haider, but unfortunately, the audience does not accept new faces most of the time. He concluded on the note that audiences need good movies that provide them with entertainment and this will eventually help the industry and in turn, the economy to grow. Do you agree?
