SRINAGAR: Rahat Kazmi could not have asked for more. At 44, he has won 11 international film awards for just one movie `Lihaf’.
For many Bollywood producers, it is a dream to work with Oscar-winning moviemakers. For 44-year-old J&K-born filmmaker, Oscar-winning French producer Marc Baschet of `No Man’s Land’ fame, came calling to work on `Lihaf’.
“I am grateful to Almighty Allah for being there for me. I am not a typical Bollywood masala filmmaker. I am a filmmaker who is somewhat independent of Bollywood. My movies are hailed worldwide. Lihaf, which I wrote, co-produced, and directed, won 11 international awards. Plus Oscar-winning French producer Marc Baschet worked with me on this project,” Rahat told The Kashmir Monitor.
Hailing from Surankote, Kazmi comes from a family of noted Sufi poet Vilayat Ali Shah Bukhari who had a tremendous influence in the area. For Kazmi, Bukhari was the first inspiration and he started writing prose and poetry when he was in eighth standard.
Films were his first love and such was his passion that he shot a movie on a small camera and screened it in the video halls of the area to test his skills. When he was in class 12th, he left for Mumbai to try his luck but to no avail. Unwilling to give up, he came back and started afresh with Doordarshan.
Dreams however came crashing down when Doordarshan Metro channel was converted into a news channel. Rahat had invested more than Rs 14 lakh to produce a drama series. Later he shifted to Delhi to make a series on Bollywood personalities for ETV. He got in touch with several luminaries who appreciated his work.
Rahat become the first J&K-born filmmaker whose two award-winning movies made a digital debut.
`Lihaaf’, which is a joint venture of Surankote-born filmmaker Rahat Kazmi and Oscar-winning French producer Marc Bachet of `No Man’s Land’ fame, was premiered on Voot Select Film Fest. `Lihaf’ is a story based on famous Urdu writer and novelist Ismat Chugtai.
`Lines’, which encapsulates the story of divided families living across the Line of Control, is a joint venture of Rahat Kazmi and famous Kashmiri television star Hina Khan. The movie also premiered at the Voot Select film festival.
“Our next venture `Country of Blind’ will be released soon. I am also working on a Bollywood mainstream movie. Plus a web series on the partition is also in the works,” he said.
