A Very Powerful Tool

By Razia Khan, *Interview with Atiya Khan* - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Sunday, August 23, 2009

I think advertising is a great industry to sort of learn craft from, because you are working with a lot of formats so you have to be very conscious of every frame and it is a great learning experience

Razia Khan interviewed Atiya Khan, a former model and documentary/film maker.

RK: There is so much to talk about, your career has comprised of all kinds of jobs. You started off as a model at a very young age and then you moved on to advertising and production. How did you enjoy the switch from in front of the camera to behind the camera?

AK: I started off behind the camera actually and I continued doing my work behind the camera while I was doing my stint in front of the camera as well so it wasn’t really a switch as such but for me, being in front of the camera was part of a learning process and I was learning the craft really.

RK: But you were drawn more towards working behind the camera?AK: Yes.RK: Most people tend to get lost in the glamour and the air of the industry; you weren’t at that side at all were you?AK: No, somehow I wasn’t. I wanted to be able to excel in something but more the creative aspect of it than anything else.

RK: And as I mentioned, you have enjoyed every aspect of it, from the direction to the production and even the costumes. Tell me how is it that you were involved in every single step of the process?AK: I think at that point I really didn’t have a choice, I mean if I wanted to sort of have the kind of image or the kind of vision translated, you ended doing everything yourself because you don’t have those kinds of budgets and it’s not so well organised and you cant really afford to have a designer, a wardrobe or set designer to design the sets, and you had to work within a certain limited budget. RK: So you were happy to take that on and you just went with it

AK: Well, when you take on a project, you can either let it go or you can get fully involved and get very meticulous about every single detail, and I am more of a meticulous person I suppose.

RK: So it must be a good learning experience, I mean you were doing everything!

AK: Yes, it was fabulous and I think advertising is a great industry to sort of learn craft from, because you are working with a lot of formats so you have to be very conscious of every frame and it is a great learning experience.

RK: And you had a very memorable experience with the advertising industry as well, tell us about that.

AK: Yes, I was very young at that time and I was working in an environment which was full of established men who had cornered the market and it took me a while to be taken seriously there, but to excel at it was very rewarding.

RK: Apart from advertising, you are also involved with music videos.

AK: Yes, Pakola sponsored a music video of Ali Haider and I think that was the first sponsored music video that happened in Pakistan and I directed that. Again it was something to do with, interestingly enough, because at that time I hadn’t really gotten involved with spirituality, the lyrics had to do with God and it was like a prayer, so I ended up using Nighat Chaudhry and shooting at the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazaar and stuff. Now that I look back I think it must have been something even then! That was a lot of fun.

RK: Yes and you mentioned Sufism, the spiritual side of you had quite an awakening at some point in your life?

AK: I had different points in my life till it became very prominent later on, but even at a young age I went through episodes where I would sort of dedicate time and energy into the Quran and Hadith and stuff. I kept getting drawn in more and more. You know for the longest time it was more of an intellectual pursuit and a more philosophical endeavor till I met the Sheikh, who I would take as my teacher and that was the first time that I decided to actually change to a more practical aspect of religion.

RK: And then you traveled to Cyprus on several occasions?

AK: Yes. I did a documentary on the Sheikh as well a couple of times.

RK: Was that quite a nice enhancing experience? I mean I am sure that you were spiritually inclined, that must have had an impact on your world?

AK: Yes, because initially I used to feel that there were great Sufis and they had written great works, now they have passed away and that system does not exist anymore and those people don’t exist anymore, but that was till I met the gentleman and I realised that he was still pretty much alive.

RK: And that led you then to eventually set up an online TV channel based on this interest of yours which was Soul TV.

AK: Initially then I did a documentary on Sheikh Nazim and I was working on a documentary based on Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar while I was in Pakistan. And then when I moved to Canada, I was given an opportunity to join this channel called Soul TV, which was basically about promoting a moderate face of Islam by inter-faith dialogue and that sort of thing.

RK: That must have really been amazing; to have been part of something that promotes such a positive image frankly.

AK: Absolutely, it was a great opportunity and for me, I find that media is such an important tool and by large it has been used to promote rubbish, you know like lies and deception and all of that stuff, but it can definitely be used to promote the other side. And I think this is something really important because we are so used to being fed by the media with an agenda like Western media, and even Pakistani media today, I personally find it so blatantly biased, there still are journalists who want to come up with the truth but they are not allowed to do that.

RK: It is a very restricted environment right now, just because of the nature of the situation in the country I guess.

AK: But even before, it has always been so politicised. Each channel has its own political and financial affiliation and then you end up promoting their interests.

RK: So have you thought of getting back into the media game since you came back earlier this year?

AK: I have and I do plan to at some point, but it all depends on whether I find the right people who want to do the kind of programming that I want to do. I am not interested in doing something just for the sake of doing something commercial, because like I mentioned earlier, the media is a very powerful tool and I would like to use it in the most positive way possible.

RK: Yes because media has now come to the point where people are realising their responsibilities and what they should say on air but I guess it will take time.

AK: Yes, I think it has been great, this boom and the rise of so many different channels but things have become highly politicised and they all have vested interests now, and media has not always been a very positive game, so yes it will take time.

RK: I wish you best of luck with your endeavors, and thank you for talking to us.

AK: You are welcome.

Razia Khan is the host of ‘17 Minutes’, a show on Business Plus TV