Going Against the Grain While Remaining Grounded

What will your
visiting card say?
Filmmaker, musician
or academic?

Someone asked this of Babar
Sheikh, ostensibly offering
advice on the importance
of choosing one’s career
path. But a few minutes into
my conversation with him, I
understand this is not someone
who can fit into one designation.
He has proven that one can
wear the hats of a filmmaker –
commercials, documentaries
and cinema – musician, artist
and educator, with confidence
and clarity.

It does, however, pose
a challenge as far as the
interview goes. For the sake
of brevity, I chose to focus
on Sheikh’s trajectory as a
filmmaker, while recognising
that his links to his music and
band were never far behind.

Sheikh was born in Karachi
in December 1978 to a humble
family; both his parents worked,
which he says was not as
common as it is now. He
recognised early that “if you
wanted to become something
in this country and you don’t
have contacts left right and
centre, one had to forge one’s
own identity.”

“I think [my upbringing has]
contributed marvellously to
who I am,” he continues, over
a cup of coffee at the canteen
at Indus Valley School of Art
& Architecture, where he is
visiting faculty.

He pursued pre-med at college
before hearing “my true calling,
which was art,” in 1993/4. He
was spending time with an uncle,
a graphic designer from Punjab,
in his studio outside Pakistan
and saw the appeal of art and
design. But when he “dropped
the bomb on his parents,” there
was resistance – they tried
to convince him that artists
don’t make money – but then
supported him. He was admitted
to Indus Valley in the mid-nineties in the communication
design track.

He was the youngest in
his class and the youngest
graduate. He also received a
distinction for his thesis, as he
chose to go against the grain
by not pursuing the requirement
of creating a campaign for a
company or product. Instead,
his thesis was in purely graphic
art – a risk he chose to take and
one that paid off well.

I ask whether he learned
to take risks at a young age.
He nods. “From a very young
age, I always thought about
doing things my own way, from
science experiments to building
my instruments.”

He credits music – specifically,
heavy metal – and which came
into his life at a young age, for
making him a risk taker. “The
visual of the culture – men with
long hair, in bandanas, rock
stars – appealed to me.” He
wanted to grow his hair as a
young child but wasn’t allowed
until he got to Indus Valley.
Today, his shoulder-length hair is
tied in a ponytail.

While still a student, Sheikh
began to watch movies that had
been donated to the college by
an embassy. These films opened
a whole new world for him; as
did the photography class which
taught him the basics of framing.
Armed with that, he was able to
play with a friend’s video camera.
He created an experimental
film, which he turned into a CV
of sorts and handed out in VHS
tape format to agencies.

The late nineties/early 2000s
was a transformational time
in Pakistan.

Sheikh is playing in his heavy
metal band, a local underground
band and doing a lot of gigs. He
is watching films on his own as
part of his learning, and he is
working in a design house while
studying. Musharraf is in charge,
things are opening up in creative
art and people are returning to
Pakistan to open up businesses,
cafés and other ventures. The
video CV lands him his first gig
at Asiatic as an art director. True
to form, he begins producing
work without compromising on
his identity.

“The whole gender thing is
an issue today,” he tells me,
“but I used to get a kick out of
wearing anklets. I was dressed
in kolhapuris, painting my
toenails black, wearing eye
make-up, 23 years ago. I walked
into Unilever dressed like that to
get my first commercial.”

He acknowledges that while
he stood out for his look, he was
respected and recognised for his
talent and confidence.

He has a humility devoid
of any of the faux attributes
used in interviews to impress
audiences. He recognises how,
20 years ago, he was perceived
as obnoxious. “I wanted to
become larger than life, I didn’t
know where to stop, and it just
kept on going to the point where
I was loud.”

“I am 40% of what I was then,”
he says, adding that he has
been through a lot and simmered
down. “I realise it’s not about
spreading your vastness; the
beauty is containing it. It takes a
while to realise this.”

Next, he landed a job at
Pyramid Productions, then
headed by Rohail Hyatt, and
soon he was producing music
videos, which caught the eye
of Ali Haider, who asked him to
direct his new single Jadu. It was
a kicks-tart to his career in film.

Then came the requests
for ads, corporate films and
documentaries. He has been
the recipient of grants from
the Goethe Institute and which
opened a whole new vista of
opportunities to collaborate
with filmmakers in Europe.
He has been working as an
independent filmmaker for the
last 20 years under his company
name, ‘Diagram’.

The opportunities have
been bountiful and he remains
grateful, and I believe grounded.
Even during the low points,
whether it was about things
not working out the way he
hoped or losing his father
during the pandemic.

The industry, which has
grown exponentially, can also
be brutal. “There’s no check on
well-being, there’s no check on
mental health, there’s no check
on how many hours you are
putting in.” That, he says, has to
change, though he understands
how difficult it is to turn down
jobs with tight schedules when
the market is so competitive.
“I’m a sucker for a good
storyline,” he adds.

The EBM ‘School Girls
Newscasters’ campaign is one
such example. The idea was
conceived by Ali Rez, Chief
Creative Officer Impact BBDO
(Sheikh calls him an inspiration)
who wanted to highlight the
importance of female education
in Pakistan. It showed school
girls, who three years earlier
could not read, playing the role
of news anchors. The ad was
broadcast earlier this year on
three channels. He loved travelling
to various TV stations across the
country to work on this campaign
which was a stark difference
from the “glamorous world of
advertising.” It won the prestigious
‘Glass: Lion for Change’ at the
Cannes Lions Festival.

I have to ask about his highly
anticipated cinema debut, which
has been reported on for two
years, the last being that he has
a script with an acclaimed writer
Bee Gul. He says he is hopeful
he will be able to work on it soon.
“It’s not going to be a super
commercial masalaydar film, but
I am also sensible; it’s not going
to bankrupt a producer.”

While Babar Sheikh has
not directed his first film for
cinema, he likens being on the
production team of Carma,
an action revenge thriller that
released last year and did fairly
well, as “nature’s way of telling
you when to step back and when
to step forward.”

Muna Khan researches
newsroom culture in Pakistan and
tweets@LedeingLady