Pakistani drama serials “Landa Bazaar” and “Boota from Toba Tek Singh” took the Pakistani society by storm in the early 2000s and continue to produce excitement whenever touched upon as topics of discussion. Daily Times caught up with the director of these popular serials, Dilawar Malik. How did you enter the Pakistani drama industry? I began my journey as a director with films. I used to assist greats like Muhammad Javed Fazil and Parvez Malik in their work. From films, I moved towards telefilms, my first one being “Jab Mohabbat Nahi Hoti” for NTM. It starred Arfa Siddiqui and Noman Ijaz in the lead roles. I also produced it myself. After directing four telefilms, I went for my debut serial which was “Boota from Toba Tek Singh” with Faisal Qureshi, Farah Shah, Kashif Mehmood, Maria Wasti, Mishi Khan and Baber Ali among the cast members. You have worked a lot with Khalilur Rehman, be it ‘Boota from Toba Tek Singh,’ ‘Landa Bazaar’ or ‘Tum Yehi Kehna.’ Tell us something about this popular collaboration. We both began our journeys around the same year. Khalil ur Rehman wasn’t Khalil ur Rehman back then and I wasn’t Dilawar Malik. Since both of us were new and young, we started working together. Among my initial dramatic productions was “Loomri”. While I directed this telefilm, Khalil ur Rehman produced it. Afterwards, when Khalil ur Rehman wrote “Tum Yehi Kehna”, he chose me as its director and I introduced Ayesha Khan through it. Then our series of famous collaborations began, from “Boota from Toba Tek Singh” and “Landa Bazaar” for PTV to “Us Paar” for ATV, and then “Laal Ishq” for A-Plus, which was the sequel of “Landa Bazaar”. Khali ur Rehman is like an elder brother now. We have undertaken an amazing journey together, both as friends and as professionals. Why does Lahore surface a lot in your works? Is there some special association of yours with the city? I would go for any story that is connected to my land. Staying connected with your roots gives you identity. When you are in an unfamiliar place, your foothold is weak. As far as Lahore is concerned in my directorial works, there are two reasons behind it. One is that it was through Lahore that we could depict a different culture, a culture that too, is our own. While writers from Karachi like Haseena Moin were amazing and respectable, the culture they showed was not the one which was associated with Lahore back then. People from Lahore could relate more to the inner-walled city and that is why with “Boota from Toba Tek Singh” and “Landa Bazaar”, I gave the people of Lahore a taste of their own surroundings. The other reason is that the inner-walled city of Lahore attracts me a lot with its alleys and people. On the days of shoot, I would be the first person to arrive on the sets and the last to leave. Such was the charm of it which I used to enjoy. The people of Lahore’s inner city were so warm-welcoming back then that we did not buy our own tea for a single day, although we shot “Landa Bazaar” for almost nine months. We used to be given tea and food by the people over there. Some of them didn’t even demand any rent from us and we used their houses as locations instead of designing artificial sets. “Landa Bazaar” became so popular that its VHSs often used to go short even in countries outside Pakistan, and Pakistani expatriates, the ones who belonged to Lahore, would demand that a VHS of it be kept for them on their return. ‘We both began our journeys around the same year. Khalilur Rehman wasn’t Khalilur Rehman back then and I wasn’t Dilawar Malik. Since both of us were new and young, we started working together. Among my initial dramatic productions was Loomri. While I directed this telefilm, Khalilur Rehman produced it’ Relate an interesting incident which you encountered while directing a drama serial. I can recall two such incidents. While we were shooting for “Parbat”, there was a scene in which Mehmood Aslam had to push Mishi Khan from the mountain. Mishi wanted it to be real and demanded that a real scene incorporating her fall from the mountain be shot. It so happened that Mishi started rolling down the mountain and when she got done with it, the camera-man told her that the camera-roll had failed to open. She had to do it all over again and was filled with bruises the next day. When we made “Boota from Toba Tek Singh”, a case was filed against us by the lawyers from Toba Tek Singh, who were of the view that we had represented the people of the city in a negative light, as simpletons and stupid. We argued that Boota epitomizes all those people who experience displacement in life. Every person moving from a smaller to a larger city is innocent and hence Boota. That never means that the person is stupid. He or she is just new to the place. Which project of yours is the closest to your heart? “Boota from Toba Tek Singh” is very dear to me. Although I have never told Khalil ur Rehman about it, I always saw myself in Boota, the only difference being that while Boota left his rural life for a girl, I did the same for the film industry. Our interests are also the same. When I was young, I loved to play marbles with my friends and go for movies on a tonga. That is what makes the serial the closest to my heart. Which other serials have you directed apart from the ones written by Khalil ur Rehman for PTV? I did “Wafa Kaisi Kahan Ka Ishq” for HUM TV in which I introduced Imran Ashraf. I also did “Nadaamat” for HUM TV starring Sanam Baloch. Then I directed “Ik Kasak Reh Gayi” for GEO TV in which I roped in Sanam Saeed and Mikaal Zulfikar in the lead roles. “Ikisween Sadi” is also one of my directorial works. It was made for ATV in the days of its inception. Apart from these, I have the plays “Banjar” and “Parbat” to my name, along-with a telefilm “Ishq” through which Saba Qamar was introduced. What difference do you see in the actors’ attitudes if compared with times of PTV? The more you struggle, the more depth is there in your work. Social media stars becoming TV celebrities over-night has filled the industry with hollow and insubstantial people. More than acting, they are interested in cashing their looks. Back in the times of PTV, when an actor would get popular, he or she would work harder on his or her acting skills for the projects to come. These days, the focus is on the face and the wealth that can be accumulated through it. This has definitely affected the quality of work. What are your upcoming projects? These days, my “G T Road” is running on A-Plus, and my next serial will also be for the same channel, which will probably be out after Eid. I am also writing a play myself, again based on the inner-walled city of Lahore. Is there any message which you would like to send across? Please keep a balance between politics and art. Our news channels are growing in number and good entertainment is decreasing. If you want your children to grow up into humans with healthy and positive minds, then you should put an end to these loud and fruitless talk shows that are there on every channel. Instead of these, produce good art. Keep literature and its genres alive, especially drama when it comes to television. PTV lost its glory because instead of artists, politicians started to be recruited, who had no idea of how good entertainment works, and therefore ruined the channel. When politics enters art, disasters are bound to occur. I would also advise drama makers to reduce the glamour that has filled our screens. We need dramas that are rooted in our culture so that our younger generation has something substantial to imbibe while watching television. The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at m.ali_aquarius85@yahoo.com. He Tweets at @MuhammadAli_DT