Staging 'Ethics'

Published in 'Images' [Dawn]
May 27th, 2007

By Fariha Rashed
What are the ingredients for a successful comical farce? The play should entertain and make you laugh, its message should be clear and concise, and it should engage you throughout the duration.

Ethics of Job Hunting, an original script written by Saad Sultan, possessed all these qualities and more. Directed by Ian Eldred and Saad Sultan, and produced by Younis Chaudhry, the play ran for three consecutive nights last week at the Alhamra in Lahore.

The story revolves round Mujtaba (Taimoor Shakuri), a young graduate from Lahore looking for a well-paying job. After more than six years of waiting in vain, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime break when a family friend, Zahid, settled in London (Timothy Abel) visits Pakistan. The friend is seeking out local talent for business purposes.

In order to land the job, Mujtaba is willing to wipe out any obstruction in his way, even if it is his own girlfriend who applies for the same position. However, when he visits Zahid equipped with a worthless degree, a frustrated, religiously-inclined elder brother and father, he has to face tough competition and his prospects look bleak. But he has a secret weapon at his disposal — Zahid’s engaged but flirtatious daughter.

The director points out that he thought the play was a good idea, as most of the scripts that have been performed locally in the past have been either European or American. “We thought it might be good if we encouraged local youth and talent with a script that carries indigenous characters that show Pakistani’s unique situations.

“I also thought it would be a good experience since I haven’t really done a production before,” says Ian about his stint as director. Saad had a skeletal outline for a script and Ian advised him to keep it simple and go with that.

‘Ethics of Job Hunting’ was a good effort by a bunch of daring youngsters who
put up a production in Lahore that sat well with the audience, despite facing
great limitations and hindrances. As Isaam pointed out, “People here need to get
out of that Shakespearean mindset and move on”

Ethics of Job Hunting was relevant in the sense that it tried to show, albeit subtly, that if society is to advance and progress, we should keep our ideals with us but not let them control us. This point was driven home through the character of Mujtaba’s brother, Mustafa, played brilliantly by Isaam Haris. Taimoor further points out that the characters in the play mirror people we see everyday as an intrinsic part of our society.

In spite of the voice projection classes before every rehearsal, there were still a few voice-projection blunders during the play. At times it was felt that the actors were running through their lines. The performance was also packed with a lot of moving and jumping around on the entire length of the stage as Ian meant for the play to be that energized. “We would have loved to cut down the pace, but to be very honest when you are doing it with new actors, they are sort of unsure of what to do on stage, so I gave them very precise movements to avoid any fidgeting. Taimoor was the only one given liberty to move around freely as he is an experienced actor,” said Ian.

“I played upon a topic that is so relevant to everyone out there who has looked for a job,” says Saad who plans to learn literature, philosophy and theatre from here on, not sure at this point if he would write another script anytime soon. “I just want to get an education first,” he says, talking about his plans for college.

The cast featured a good ensemble that worked well together and their performance on a whole was perfectly synchronised. Timothy Abel (also known as the gentle giant) in particular did a scene where he was meant to act high after accidentally smoking a joint. His performance was outstanding in this regard and had the audience in fits.

According to Timothy the best part about working in an amateur production is that one gets to meet lots of talented people. Uswa Amjad, Huma Mobeen and Jennifer Bhatti, who play the female leads in the play, believe that team work is what made the play a success.

Overall, Ethics of Job Hunting was a good effort by a bunch of daring youngsters who put up a production that sat well with the audience, despite facing great limitations and hindrances. As Isaam pointed out, “People here need to get out of that Shakespearean mindset and move on.”

“What each one of us will take away from this play and the experience overshadows any amount of financial loss we might have suffered,” said Saad on a concluding note.

The Passive Voice

Published in 'The Friday Times' [TFT]
May 25-31, 2007

By Fariha Rashed
'Maawaan Noo Na Satao' is an interactive exercise that is meant to create awareness about the issue of violence against women. It was performed by the Interactive Resource Centre [IRC] as a theatre performance, followed by an interactive session on preventing violence against women. The event was specifically held on the occasion of Mother’s Day this year. The White Ribbon Campaign and FCC Rotaract Club organized the afternoon at Sinclair Hall, Forman Christian College [FCC], Lahore. GTZ must be commended for funding such educational events.

The hall seated a packed crowd of 700 students, faculty and staff members. Surprisingly, the event started on time. It began with the beautifully synchronized playing of a tabla and a flute. I thought this was an ingenious way to allow a rowdy crowd of students in uniforms to settle down in their seats and relax. As told to us by Mr. Amen Jaffar, Advisor, FCC Rotaract Club, the performance was put up to encourage all of us to learn a lesson. The crusade is an effort to educate both men and women about women’s rights. The White Ribbon Campaign takes up volunteers and offers summer internship programs to anyone interested in joining in to help forward the cause.

As the show was about to begin, an IRC performer took to the stage and explained the format of the performance. Since it was an interactive play, the actors brought forward an issue, acted it out, and later invited people from the audience to come on stage and complete the story. Completing the story would of course in essence mean that the audience was giving the solution to the problem highlighted through the performance.

The story discussed a woman who was beaten and abused by all the men in her family --- her husband, her brothers and her sons. What IRC did was leave the woman’s story behind for awhile and instead gave us a peak into each one of the men’s lives. As we witnessed the husband going to work as a laborer and being ill-treated by his boss; the brothers making money off of gambling and getting into all kinds of trouble; and finally the sons being beaten by the teacher in class as a means of punishment, we realize the reason for each one of their frustrations. Unfortunately, it is the woman who suffers their wrath at home as they unleash their aggravations upon her.

Throughout the performance the actor playing the abused woman interacted directly with the audience, asking them questions pertaining to her plight. By the end of it, a scenario had been presented to us, yet no solution had been offered. One by one young audience members went on stage and gave their opinions as to how the situation could be resolved and what they thought of violence against women. A few very interesting remarks and observations were made. A question was posed as to whether kids who are beaten at school should leave and stop studying. The audience was quick to disapprove. A teacher of FCC took to the stage at this point and agreed that beating students was acceptable because according to him, the teacher knows best how to make a child listen. When asked to take the place of the kid being beaten in the play, the teacher did so and still stuck to his guns. “If I did something wrong as a student, I should be hit”, he said as the crowd booed him off stage. Another audience member brought it to everyone’s notice that it is not only the girls who are suppressed and ill treated at childhood. Boys are sent to off to work at very tender ages and huge responsibilities are put on their shoulders. Yet another person pointed out that at least boys have a right to speak out against any injustice done to them; girls have no such rights in our society. A few girls felt that if they were ever beaten or abused they wouldn’t take it. They would go to court and divorce their husbands. Loud cheering and clapping resounded through the hall as these thoughts were expressed. However, immediately someone raised the question as to whether our society would accept such a step taken by a woman. Would it be easy for her to walk into a court and file for divorce? To this, the audience became double minded and one girl admitted that it is not an easy step for women and the only solution is to educate men and teach them how to respect women. She pointed out correctly that women are only respected by men so long as they stay within the four walls of their homes and stay obedient. Although change would be slow in coming, the audience felt that we should at least try. They believed that awareness programs such as the IRC performance would help immensely. Also, it was noted that every family has its own policies regarding education for their children, and whether it is necessary at all.

At this point a young man came on stage and provided us with a perfect example of certain factions of society, mostly men, who are in complete denial regarding the issue of violence against women. “Women are not as violated as you portrayed them to be through your performance”, he said. He goes on to state, very optimistically, that even if there are problems, there are matching solutions. However, he failed to pin-point what these solutions might be. “Bardasht kee had hoti hai” shouted a young lady as she grabbed the mike from another student. She stressed that the education of men with regard to how they should treat women should have been enforced from day one. She raised a pertinent question; how long will women run? A daring your man admitted on stage that men should sit down and think about how to behave with the opposite sex.

On the whole the event was a brilliant success. A very important issue was presented to the youth in an intelligent manner. The message got across to them clearly and they were provoked into actually ‘thinking’. For a society where social theatre is not yet recognized and accepted as a good form of ‘entertainment with a message’, the IRC did an excellent job. They must continue to perform interactively in various schools and colleges around Pakistan, as these young minds are the ones that need to be fueled to bring about change.

Strike A Pose

Published in 'Fashion Avenue Quarterly' [FAQ]
9th Edition.

By Fariha Rashed
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that in Pakistan, there is a stark contrast between the modeling industry of the 80’s and the modeling industry of today. If we sit down and try to pin point what the major difference is, we will realize, as I have, that it’s a whole new ball game now. However, whether the industry has changed for the better or the worse is another debate altogether. In the 80’s, the industry was in its infancy and had been initiated by some daring individuals. As veteran designer Rizwan Beyg points out, “Initially the fashion scene was about a lot of friends working together. People like Atiya Khan were all part of the same group of people and what happened was that friends ended up asking friends to work for each other. It was not about making a buck back then and people came across work through word of mouth and contacts”. That was a different time. Models back then came from seemingly educated backgrounds. I use the word educated very carefully here as its meaning may be easily misinterpreted. When I say educated I am simply referring to the fact that in the 80’s and 90’s women taking up modeling as a profession were not only good on the ramp and in shoots, but could also carry off a conversation if engaged in one. That is the kind of overall persona internationally expected of super models. Do the new models taking up fashion as a profession fit this bill? Do they exude that state-of-the-art super-model quality or even look like they belong on the ramp?

We have to keep into account that the modeling industry’s trends have with time transformed or rather evolved if you will. In the late 80’s and early 90’s we had models such as Bibi, Zoyla, Atiya Khan to Aliya Zaidi leading the way. They had poise and were all unique in their own right, knowing how to carry themselves and taking what they were doing seriously. Shehzad Raza is right on track when he says “before, photographers and designers were educated and experienced in their fields. Even if they had no formal training there was no copying going on and they were all good at what they did. There was an air of professionalism and they worked with professional models as well. Now anyone gets up and becomes a designer or a photographer and therefore the models coming in are also less qualified and skilled.” Frieha Altaf who has been one of the top models in her time and currently recruits models herself [through her agency] has a slightly different point of view on the matter and states that “Even at that time there were two types of models. You either came from a good background or what we called an ‘ifi’ background. I personally was very hesitant before doing a commercial. I stayed away from poor quality, ‘pan masala valai’ offers. The ‘ifi’ models were doing all that and there were very few models that came from serious backgrounds. I kept away from the ‘ifi’ models because they gave a bad reputation to the modeling industry. Girls from good families were not allowed to take up modeling and those who did had to fight a lot of misrepresentation. I believe it is the same deal right now.” Amina Haq takes it one step further and says that “the 80’s saw no models as such. It is in the mid-90’s that modeling developed in Pakistan as it was a paid profession. Modeling has always attracted a varied kind of people.”

The 90’s saw the coming of exceptionally talented models such as Vinny, Iraj, Amina Haq, and ZQ. The advent of fashion schools in the mid-90’s also encouraged more females to take up modeling as a career. However, modeling at this time was still more or less about creating and maintaining a certain image and class that comes with exclusivity in the business. Grooming became important as modeling agencies led by Ather Shehzad and Nabeela primarily came into being. Male models also entered the arena and today we see talents such as Abdullah and Emmad Irfani making waves. Although male ramp models are paid relatively less than female models, they tend to find plenty of work in the corporate business sector and are often found on multi-national company’s billboards and in their TV advertisements. Shehzad Raza says very confidently that “we [Ather Shehzad] are the ones who introduced all the educated models in the industry from Amina Haq, to Vinny, to Iffat Rahim, to Cybil, to Iman Ali, to Nadia and even Meesha”. Shehzad goes on the express that it is therefore they who feel the pain the most when they see that the bar has gone down tremendously when it comes to the kind of girls becoming models. However, Shehzad agrees that it is an inevitable trend which is difficult to curb and the industry is suffering as a result. Iraj agrees and says that when she started out the field was tiny. There were fewer dedicated people who were only interested in fashion and had purely aesthetic reasons for joining the industry. “It’s completely different now. People want to do more now than just fashion. They are more interested in what’s happening after midnight. Women in the modeling industry have become distracted. The media is huge and models don’t eat and end up looking anorexic. Today you don’t have to do much to become a model”, says Iraj. She also insists that a girl is not measured according to her brains. So who is responsible for making sure that models are brought back on track? To this Iraj says “me just talking about it will not make a difference. Designers need to be responsible; people at the top need to be responsible. I have heard designers putting models down and telling them they are too fat. If my lot leaves the industry it will get worse. New girls don’t voice themselves. We used be particular about quality and now girls are willing to do anything. Lobbies are killing the industry. You can survive if you strive to survive. Talent has a lot to do with it and your intentions have a lot to do with it.” Iraj also hints that there is a difference between Karachi and Lahore when it comes to professionalism. “Karachi is still a little better. Take Nadia Hussein for example. She had presence and was modeling solely for fashion. Some newcomers are also good and it is my duty to guide them. Everything negative that crops up in the industry is very contagious but we try to stay decentralized and not get into that chaos.”

One can not deny that to some extent the modeling industry, along with many other industries, has become excessively commercial and media driven. Rizwan Beyg further clarifies this issue when he says that “now everything has become about money and models are doing shows to gain easy and fast cash. Designers are also commercially driven and fashion is suddenly at the forefront everywhere. Our clients are now making clothes and this is a reflection of our culture and the times we live in. Earlier there were no fashion magazines and now we have magazines solely based on fashion. There are no longer any standards or criteria for what is good and what is bad…..and this is sad.” The pertinent question arises. Does the current frivolous, glam-driven and ever changing nature of the modeling industry demand that models should be well groomed and well educated? Does it make a difference to the overall impact they exude? Frieha Altaf for one, when hiring models, does not care if they are literate or not. “I don’t give a damn about someone’s education. They should be groomed properly and should look like a model; they should come on time and take orders well. I am non-judgmental about what a model does with the rest of her/his time and I don’t care if they can speak English or not.” Amina Haq is perturbed by the insinuation that education is a criterion for judging a model’s caliber. “Since when do models have to become nuclear scientists? It is not necessary for models, actors or people in the performing arts for that matter to be PHDs. Why is it necessary for a model to speak English to be considered educated?” she exclaims. Vinny on the other hand believes that grooming and training is very important for a model. “A model needs to know how to deal with clients and how she or he does that depends on their background. Models are now personalities around the world and modeling is all about how you carry yourself. It is a good thing that more people are coming in and I feel it is the model’s own responsibility to get appropriately groomed. Nabeela has groomed models and Shehzad’s girls are also all groomed. Think of Iman Ali when she did Dawlance and now…what a big difference! A model must definitely know how to speak well.”


Say the word ‘model’ and what instantly comes to mind is a sassy, hot individual wearing great clothes and posing like there is no tomorrow. Scratch the surface and you will realize that there is a whole lot more to this species than just glamour and good looks…at least that’s what you are supposed to find under all the paraphernalia! A model is meant to be a complete persona equipped with taste, beauty, sophistication and above all else…brains! So have the modeling standards really dropped in Pakistan or are we making a big deal out of nothing? Hassan Sheheryar couldn’t agree less with the fact that fewer educated females are coming into the modeling business now as opposed to in the 90’s. “Meesha and Farheen are both newcomers and well educated. Nadia has a LUMS degree for God sakes! Those who were educated just used to shine through more before although there were uneducated models even back then. Now even models that are uneducated have been given a chance to come in and shine through and let’s give them that chance instead of insinuating that they aren’t any good”, says Hassan. Maybe if some of the influential people in the fashion world erected some modeling schools and agencies with all the money they make, it would ensure that well-groomed, educated, and trained models came onto the scene and eventually got invited and represented us abroad as well. The people who can truly make a difference need to re-invest in the industry. As far as I can see, the modeling world is fast becoming a second rate business where anyone who gets a shoot done can claim to be a model. Models such as Bibi, Vinny and Iraj etc have worked so hard to raise the standards and here we are disrespecting their efforts. With the way things are unfolding, we are only ensuring that modeling in Pakistan goes to the dogs. Everything can not only be about making money or else progress shall never see the light of day.