From across the border, a love tale and a film

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A girl from Kolkata flew to London a few years ago to pursue her PhD in film studies, where she met a Pakistani youth - a journalist with BBC. They got married but without the chaos and friction of India-Pakistan ties. This real-life classic border tale continued to get rosy. Years later, the couple has come together to melt borders with 'Zinda Bhaag', the Pakistani movie with Naseeruddin Shah as the lead and an Indian crew.
The film, the first from Pakistan to be sent for Oscars in the last 50 years, is being screened at IFFK. The film is written and co-directed by Meenu Gaur along with Farjad Nabi while her (Meenu's) husband Mazhar Zaidi has produced the film. The Pakistani film will soon have an official release in India, most likely in February 2014. "Our talks with an Indian distribution company have been fruitful," Meenu said.
The couple had reached the capital on train from Kochi after travelling around Kumarakom. Zinda Bhaag would be the fourth Pakistani movie to be released in India in the last four decades, after Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Kay Liye in 2008, Mehreen Jabbar's Ramchand Pakistani and Bol in 2011.
Meenu doesn't hold weighty views about roping in an Indian crew for her film. "Having an Indian crew would help us communicate better since there are so many things we have in common. Also, our film is a tribute to the old Pakistani film industry that crumbled in the 90s. Unlike a foreign guy, an Indian colourist would be able to bring out the tonalities," she said.
The crew members from India had stayed in Lahore for almost three months and the relationship that grew was heart-warming. When the mother of an Indian crew-member fell ill, they could arrange an over-night visa, a process that usually consumes months especially if the flight connects India and Pakistan.
The boys who did the main roles were picked right from the alleys and Naseeruddin Shah held acting workshops for them in Lahore before the shoot. "The artistes do not talk boundaries. We talk about subjects and we have people from the best place we get it from," Meenu said.