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 sur 
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 Why Me ? Muzzaffar Ali
New Delhi, March 01, 2008 Bollywood writer-director Muzaffar Ali, who also dons the hat of a painter, says he has borrowed his sense of geometry from the famous artist S.H. Raza. "I know him since the 1970s and stayed with him in France. I have some precious memories of visiting his studio in Paris," Muzaffar said. "I have been painting since I was a child. I met Raza in my formative years and was largely influenced by his art of dividing space on the canvas. When you look at the canvas, you don't know how to start. And I have borrowed that sense of geometry from him." He also said he held the painter in high esteem because of his passion to take Indian culture across the globe. "Raza is truly one of the greatest Indians who has walked the earth. The most wonderful thing is his passion to take the ethos of India and Madhya Pradesh across the globe," the filmmaker said.
Last edited by sur on 04 Nov 2008 09:54; edited 1 time in total
____________ "I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.
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#1 23 Sep 2008 00:39
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sur
Joined: November 2006
Posts: 10620
Location: Virginia
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Muzzaffar Ali.......!! STORM IN HIS HEART
By Nilima Pathak
Inspired by the extremes of beauty and suffering, Indian film-maker Muzaffar Ali finds a voice for his soul in art, poetry and Sufi thought
He's one of those who needn't lock the doors of his house while he's away. What can be burgled anyway? The wealth of talent is all within him! Muzaffar Ali is film director, artist, fashion designer, Sufi follower and politician a ll rolled in one.
Since he's not an actor, one wonders how he manages to play such diverse roles. "I'm a person who feels things," says Ali. "I believe each work of art is a kind of meditation," he adds. Going by the evidence, one realizes that the real Ali is actually a painter. His other personae are but an outlet for this one. He clarifies: "Painting is my private life and film-making is my public life."
Ali belongs to Kotwara, a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The young Ali had only a brush for company and an ambition—to become an artist. The obstacle: his single-room dwelling couldn't accommodate his canvas. A friend obliged and Ali found space in his house. His first painting exhibition was held in 1968. All went well, with one hitch: he had no buyers! Just one painting was sold. The rest had to be gifted.
The times change. And how! His works are now bought at the conceptual stage itself. What inspires or touches him the most? "I think the driving force in me is the helplessness of people. I feel that if you apply your mind creatively to this, you can do something about it. Actually that's what makes me an artist! Painting to me is a way of clarifying my mind, creating a relationship with myself, which is so intimate. It has some kind of abstract feeling of love and poetry of love," Ali replies.
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One could say that his life is full of surprises, even inspiring. A man on the move, his quest for Sufi sources of knowledge seems endless. It was in Kashmir (in north India) that Ali first became acquainted with the teachings of the Sufis. "Sufism takes the self to the self," he declares. "The flower has everything in its garden—fresh morning air, birds and trees. But is there an eye that gets moist on seeing any of these?" he recites.
Breaking the rhythm he adds: "The experience of beauty and its impact on the heart is the biggest prayer." To him beauty means, "that moment of surrender when you confront His creation. It's the ecstasy of seeing something in an instant. In music it could be tune or rhythm—something that surrounds you. If you can't reach that, it means you miss the essential quality of beauty."
The fine arts are, so to say, a mission with him. Ali is unfailingly charismatic. His frames tell you about the man's accomplishments, his vision and quality as a thinker. He says: "I've been brought up in situations beset with contradictions, rife with trauma. I saw and felt when things were going wrong." The political and social turmoil he encountered evoked an intense response in him. "That became my basic temperament. And owing to that temperament, I'm an artist. I started sketching what I felt. But gradually began to feel that whatever I was doing was only one-dimensional. Maybe if it was translated on celluloid, it could communicate on a much bigger scale. Also my feelings could be transformed into a film," he states.
Gaman, a Hindi film on the angst of modern life, was the outcome. "An outlet for settling my creative imbalances," he says. Ali finds life in big cities stifling. Gaman portrays such sentiments. He explains: "Actually the urbanite is upset because issues of his environment, culture and livelihood are not being addressed. No one is thinking of him. So some holistic thinking is required to be able to eliminate that sadness and helplessness in him." His films always portray people's helplessness and look at their sadness. "By doing so you make people sensitive to the cause of that sadness," Ali declares.
|  He narrates a story: "A person went to Hazrat Ali, the mentor of Sufism. Hazrat Ali declared: 'I have no assets, nothing to give to the world. Why have you come to me?' The man replied: 'I want nothing. You just smile. That's enough!' So love is a very strong force to bring about a positive change in society."
Whatever the man undertakes, he does with passion. Attributing his success as a filmmaker to his sketches, he says: "I sketch out each and every scene. Making a film brings out the best in me. And the discipline of film-making has made me versatile." Arriving at a distilled emotion or peak of an emotion, so important to him, is what drives him to perfection in his craft.
Despite recognition, he didn't get into routine filmmaking. "Had I done so, I would've moved from one film to another. But I go into a film with a certain amount of depth, taking a lot of time over it. After the completion of a film, it takes me time to grow out of it. So it creates obvious gaps. These gaps have to be filled with some kind of exercise-be it painting, which is my basic strength, or even designing clothes. Through designing I have been able to create employment and a relationship with my own village. This gives me the dimension of a designer. Thus I believe I have absolved myself of the blame that I am so much rolled in one," he laughs.
How content a person is he? "Very," he replies. "At the same time, restless. I'm content with myself but restless over the larger environment." Regrets, if any, could presumably be over his brush with politics. As if on cue, he adds: "I have an unfinished dream. That of completing my film Zooni."
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His multifaceted personality is a curious mix of feelings and ideas. He can talk about the harsh and ugly realities of life, as well as the rich and beautiful aspects in the same breath. There's this story: A man went to a Sufi master and asked him: "How do you feel?" The master said: "Like one who has arisen in the morning and does not know whether he will be dead by the evening." The man said: "But that is the situation of all men." To which the master replied: "Yes, but how many of them feel it?"
Needless to say, Ali does. He lives each moment of life fully. And doesn't seem to plan for the next. A true Sufi, indeed. For Sufis don't preach. They only teach. And can be understood. But only by people who seek.
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____________ "I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.
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#2 23 Sep 2008 00:40
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sur
Joined: November 2006
Posts: 10620
Location: Virginia
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Re: Why Me ? Muzzaffar Ali
 Online edition of India's National NewspaperSunday, August 12, 2001 Capturing the past for the future.... By K. Kannan As a film-maker, he does not want to have any incomplete projects standing against his name. That is one reason why he still talks about the 1989 film ``Zooni'' which has not yet seen the light of day. Eleven years after that ambitious project was stalled midway, Muzaffar Ali still hopes to complete it. The Vinod Khanna-Hema Malini starrer aspired to change the very face of Kashmir and present the positive facets of Kashmiriyat before an international audience much before terrorism raised its ugly head in Kashmir. ``If Zooni had been completed, the history of India would have been different,'' asserts Muzaffar Ali. Known for taking up projects that convey the vibrant culture of India, Muzaffar Ali has always stood apart from the crowd. ``If I get into the rut called Bollywood, I would have no sensitivity left. I have always kept myself aloof and worked on projects that have sharpened my sensitivity,'' says the film-maker, who has been able to change the face of his native village -- Kotwara -- by working with craftspersons. In fact, a group of American students from the California-based Deep Springs College chanced to read about this project on the Internet and invited Muzaffar Ali recently to deliver two lectures by conferring on him the Whithrow Chair Award. ``This is the only institute in the world where students decide who should get the award,'' says Muzaffar Ali. One of his lectures at Deep Springs centered on ``The Sufi Artist: A Journey through Life''. ``Launching myself on the Sufi path has been a positive gain of the Zooni period. This has helped me explore the artist in me with ever greater sensitivity,'' says Muzaffar Ali, who even had an exhibition last year of Sufi paintings drawn by him over a period of time. Having made many documentaries, including some that directly or indirectly deal with the Sufi way of life, Muzaffar Ali was surprised when during his U.S visit, he learnt that the famous Sufi poet -- Jalaluddin Rumi -- was popular all over the world. ``There and then I decided that I would make an international feature film on Rumi,'' says Muzaffar Ali, adding that the Japanese composer, Yuchi Sahanoto, who gave music for such films as ``The Last Emperor'' has agreed to be the composer . While Muzaffar Ali has not had a very successful stint in making feature films -- the Rekha starrer ``Umrao Jaan'' being an exception -- he still continues exploring his sensitivity through the medium he adores the most. ``My films have always had women- oriented themes. I feel that the problems of society can be portrayed with greater sensitivity if the woman is a protagonist,'' says the film-maker. Even Zooni had a unique storyline in that it was about a poetess who lived in 16th Century Kashmir and rose to become a queen. ``Abba Khatoon was married to the last independent ruler of Kashmir,'' says Muzaffar Ali, adding that ``her life is a powerful vehicle to project the real Kashmir''. If there has been any consistency in Muzaffar's life journey, it is the growth of his sensitivity and the refusal to compromise his soul for crass material gains. ``I have endeavoured to make a film on Rumi and I am determined to complete Zooni,'' says Muzaffar Ali, adding that the Jammu and Kashmir Government which had stood guarantee for the film should complete it in the interest of the people of Kashmir. ``Zooni is not just a film. It is a bridge between Kashmir of the past and present-day Kashmir,'' the film-maker says. Pointing out that his films have always been a reflection of his feelings, Muzaffar Ali says that creativity cannot be moulded in a particular manner. With his wife, Meera, he has also dabbled in fashion designing and as erstwhile Prince of Kotwara, he has various social welfare projects in hand. ``Sometimes, I will make a film on my experiences in life,'' he avers.
____________ "I am a dreamer,I collect all the smiles from My yesterday,
Neatly pack them into words and hide them in my heart,
I call them "MEMORIES" Music has no boundary.
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#3 04 Nov 2008 10:06
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