There is no denying the fact that almost all film industries have certain camps and groups in them. If Christopher Nolan won’t make a film without his wife, Emma Thompson, as its producer, you will see Nawazuddin a common element in a lot of Anurag Kashyap projects too.
In simple terms, these are basically groups of directors, producers, and even actors who have their personal favorites they like to work with. Since Pakistan film industry is quite tiny in its size, the practice is more visible and common here. Risks are high and therefore, people like working mostly in comfort zones they have built overtime.
The practice is not necessarily bad. From the audience’s perspective, it gives them the chance to see their favourite stars again and again, while from a filmmaker’s point of view, it provides them a risk-free working model that they understand well. On the negative side, however, if it gets widespread as it is in Pakistan film industry, it also limits creativity.
So here are all the different camps that operate in the Pakistan Film Industry.
The Nabeel Qureshi Camp
The common elements of this camp are actors, Fahad Mustafa and Mehwish Hayat, and producer Fizza Ali Meerza. Even though he won’t accept it, but Nabeel Qureshi considers Fahad Mustafa as his lucky charm. That’s the reason why you would see the actor in almost all his films.
We say “almost,” because Fahad is currently taking a break from films, while Nabeel has already announced that he is working on his next.
Another prominent feature of this camp is the actress, Mehwish Hayat. Nabeel has directed four films so far in his short career, and Mehwish has been present in three.
The Humayun Saeed Camp
Humayun Saeed’s contributions for the film industry are no doubt praiseworthy. The biggest secret behind his immense success is the team he has in his camp. Who all are are part of this camp? Well, it starts off with Humayun’s trusted director, Nadeem Baig, and also includes big names like, Mehwish Hayat, Ahmed Ali Butt, and Vasay Chaudary.
The camp is so big that since Humayun only releases his films on Eid-ul-Adha, that entire festival can also be considered part of it.
The Imran Kazmi Camp
Although quite underrated, this is one of the biggest camps operating in the industry currently. The most prominent member of this camp are Hareem Farooq and Osman Khalid Butt, who have been associated with every movie that has come out of this camp.
Other members of the group include actor Ali Rehman Khan, director Azfar Jafri, and producer Imran Kazmi. The next film to come out of this camp is titled, Heer Maan Ja, and has all these usual suspects in it.
The Asim Raza Camp
The prolific ad filmmaker is only two films old in Lollywood. In fact, his second hasn’t even come out yet, but there are a few constants around him that do give a hint of a big camp in the making.
This camp basically includes names like Sheheryar Munawwar and Mahira Khan in it, along with the thousands of Asim’s friends in the industry who would willingly appear in his projects for special appearances.
Honourable Mentions
While those were some of the biggest film camps that exist in the industry. There are some other, more underrated groups out there too. Here is a list.
- The Shoaib Mansoor Camp (Mahira Khan, Iman Ali, Rasheed Naaz)
- The Wajahat Rauf Camp (Yasir Hussain, Ashir Wajahat, Shiraz Uppal
- The Yasir Nawaz Group (Danish Taimoor, Javed Sheikh, Nayyar Ejaz)
Well, the existence of these camps is undeniable. Whether it will be helpful to the film industry in the long run or not, is yet to be seen. Tell us in the comments which one’s your favourite camp and what’s your opinion on them.
