Iram Parveen Bilal’s Attempt to Process Qandeel Baloch’s Legacy

Qandeel Baloch, an icon of the Pakistani social media landscape, was a divisive figure due to displaying her body in contexts which would chafe at conservative groups. A self-made woman, she was from a working class background, and the more notoriety she got, the more hate grew in proportion to it. In a tragic turn of events, she was murdered by her own brother in 2016, despite the fact her family was financially profiting off of her celebrity. The incident stunned the public, and despite the large-scale processing of the crime, substantively things remain the same. Our archives, histories, are filled to the brim with incidents where innocent voices have been shoved and silenced whenever they say something against traditionally patriarchal notions. 

Iram Parveen Bilal’s upcoming film Wakhri (One of a Kind) is an attempt to make sense of the history and context of this violence. The outspoken heroine of the film gets a second chance, and is shown to be someone who perseveres against the trolls.

Bilal makes it clear that though Baloch’s death inspired her to write the story of this film, it is not based on Baloch’s life story. The central character here is a widowed schoolteacher and a mother of a ten-year-old from Lahore who becomes a viral sensation overnight when she accidentally releases her unfiltered opinions on social media. Wakhri (One of a Kind) is her fourth feature film, and before its world premiere at the Red Sea festival, it participated at the Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors Hub and the Cannes Cinefondation L’Atelier.

Film Companion had a chat with the US based Pakistani filmmaker about the themes, genre and political affiliation of her films. Here are the edited excerpts:

How she Picked the Subject of the Film

When I feel that the story is something that can help provoke a thought and a conversation, I get behind it. When Qandeel was killed, it made me angry and shook me to the core. I decided that I am going to give a piece of my mind here. The film is loosely inspired by her but it is not her life story. I did not want to give this film a treatment of a documentary because it is not one. When you watch the trailer, you will notice that the film is very commercial and cinematic, but it is also very realistic at the same time. 

Her Love for Realism and Fantasy

I am an avid Bollywood fan, and like many of us, I have grown up watching and admiring Yash Chopra’s and Shahrukh Khan’s films. But I am not making those kinds of movies yet. As an artist, I have so many questions and concerns burning inside of me which I have tried to bring out on screen through my body of work, whether it is Josh or I’ll Meet You There and now Wakhri (One of a Kind). So my happy space is where I can package realism in a commercial manner — basically marrying the two. But I didn't have the budget to pull that until Wakhri…. When you are an Indie-filmmaker, your scale is defined primarily by your budgets. But for Wakhri…, we have left no stone unturned, and we have worked with the best artists and technicians. 

Documentaries versus Commercial Films

I don’t want to generalise, but I personally don’t make documentaries because I believe that fiction is far reaching, and caters to wider audiences. Having said that, some stories look better with the documentary treatment, and adding a commercial treatment may dilute their authenticity. Social media plays an important role in Wakhri…; its palette had to be fantasy driven because unfortunately social media has the power to camouflage fake news as truth, and one cannot separate fantasy and false propaganda from realism because it is so deceiving. In short, whatever approach is needed to present the story authentically, I strive to go with that. 

The Approach she Adopts on Sets

The truth of the story is always the best guide on the set. I discuss the story with my stars to such a degree that by the time the actors come to attempt it, they understand the level of emotions needed for a particular scene. One of the limitations that any director faces is keeping the emotion consistent across the scenes because you are mostly shooting out-of-order. It doesn’t matter as much that the actor has given an amazing shot, as much as it should cut together seamlessly at the editing table. So for me, the barometer to measure emotion is always the story. And if for any reason the actor gives more than what is required then I have a way to communicate numerically with them. I tell them, “this was a nine, please give me six”. That way I always have more than one option in the editing-room and I pick the one that matches the most with the truth of the story. 

What She Wants to see More of in our Storytelling Landscape

We certainly need more diversity in storytelling. From genres to scale to ground realism to fantasy to thriller, we need them all. A healthy industry churns out all sorts of stories and that is how a taste is developed for the audiences. In Asia, and specifically in industries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, due to inconsistency and instability of the film industry, the footfall has diminished over time. Let me throw in a fact here: In the last ten years in Pakistan, we have had less than three horror films. People are afraid to experiment because no one wants to take that risk. And as I said, the audience will come and explore only when you make all sorts of films. So, it’s a chicken and egg situation. 

On Setting up an Academy for Scriptwriters

So when I was making Josh in 2013, I was in LA, and I went and met a few representatives of the Academy Awards, (which is) when I realised that there was no Oscar committee that existed in Pakistan. Then, the same year Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy won the Oscar and I suggested to her that there must be a local committee for Oscars. I realised that smaller films focusing on the ground realities and working at the grassroot level will get squashed and in a larger scheme of things will impact the pipeline. So, I started Qalambaaz, which is Pakistan's first professional screenwriting lab with mentors from across the world. The idea is to nurture the growth of screenplay writers and teach them the craft of scriptwriting in a structured manner. We now have students from Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in addition to Pakistan. 

On Being the Inspiration Behind Kareena Kapoor’s Name in Agent Vinod

Sriram Raghavan is a good friend of mine, and in 2012 he was making Agent Vinod and I was making Josh. He had mentioned that he wanted to name Kareena (Kapoor Khan) after my name. I thought he would only use the first name Iram but when the trailer was released, I got to know through some friends that they have used my full name. Sriram was sweet enough to suggest changing the name by dubbing it but I was okay with it. After all,  any publicity is good publicity! After the release, Times of India reached out to know more about me and that’s how the tabloids across India picked it up. It went ‘viral’, if you wish to use today’s terminology.