Daily Times

Pakistan action drama film ‘Revenge of the Worthless’, featuring the directorial debut of former Director General Pakistan National Council of the Arts and renowned actor Jamal Shah screened here at Islamabad Club on Friday.

The Islamabad Art festival which began on November 18 and will continue till November 30, has screened films from Pakistan, Austria, Iran, Japan, Russia and several other countries. The film was produced by Amna Shah under production banner Hunerkada Films and assisted by Zohaib Akhtar.

The film casts Jamal Shah himself, Ayub Khoso, Firdous Jamal, Shamil Khan, Maira Khan and Emel Karakose along with new talent, the students of Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts. The film depicts a brutally disfigured cultural narrative of a land with the enviable cultural heritage highlighting the heroic struggle of a few unsung heroes during 2009 Swat Insurgency. Jamal Shah plays the lead, Zarak Khan, whose wife and two daughters refuse to leave their ancestral home.

They decide to fight the invaders, along with their household staff. Tragedy leads to the end of Zarak Khan, three servants and one daughter.

The film was produced by Amna Shah under production banner Hunerkada Films and assisted by Zohaib Akhtar

Jamal Shah was born into a Pashtun Syed family in 1956 in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

In 1991, Jamal Shah made his acting debut in film K2, directed by Franc Roddam and since then in many other movies and tv dramas. In 1984, he established the Fine Arts Department at the University of Balochistan and headed the department until 1987. In 1985, he founded the Artists Association of Balochistan and also was appointed the first Chairman of the Artist Association of Pakistan.

Jamal Shah received a Master’s degree in English literature from Balochistan University, Quetta in 1978. He graduated from National College of Arts, Lahore in 1983.

He later obtained a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Slade school of Fine Art in London. He founded the Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts in Islamabad in 1992[ and became a Telenor Pakistan Brand Ambassador doing television productions (Hunerkada Productions).

He also remained Director Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) for three-years tenure and completed its tenure three months ago.