A well received dance performance, a couple of speeches, a lot of hopes and positive vibes and a great amount of energy, and the FiLUMS 2014 had officially been kick-started. It was the eighth addition to the golden history of what is undoubtedly the biggest student organised film festival in Pakistan, a true success story in its circle.
Though Galaxy Lollywood had regularly been keeping you posted on the daily updates from the three-day (7th – 9th Feb) event of 8th FiLUMS – LUMS International Film Festival– through our Facebook page, but it would be an under-credit to the event were the star sessions of the festival not highlighted in details they deserve. Thus, one by one, you will see reports, reviews, and pictures from the event here on the site giving you a much greater look at how this ever-growing event conducted itself this time around.
The first two main highlights of the event involved Skyp(ing) with the online guests from the latter side of Wagah-Attari border and discussing what Pakistani content means in India and that how the entertainment industries on both sides are evolving with time.
Karan Wahi, the famous Indian television name and a face of many popular Indian dramas was the first one to join the event through a Skype session organised by Momin Ali (Director ER at FiLUMS and Editor Galaxy Lollywood) where the actor really poured his heart out.
Karan, besides thanking Momin for the opportunity, talked about how Pakistani dramas are real good at content and that they have a pretty big fan following in India as well. He also acknowledged the improving state of Pakistani films and film industry on whole and said he knew things are improving real fast, he also expressed his wish to see more of Pakistan’s big screen content. Karan also talked about the need of an ever evolving state of a film industry in terms of stories, technology and finances and said he felt glad that Indian film industry is going through just that. The session was received quite well by his audience here and according to Momin, ‘girls were all going crazy at his super good looks.’
The other Skype session was with another Indian television actor and famous reality show ‘Big Boss’ season 6 contestant, Rajeev Paul. His talk was more dominated by his thoughts about his own acting stint on Indian small screen, his Big Boss appearances and the book that he has recently launched tilted, Mumbai Mohabbat aur Tanhai. He too expressed his happiness for being part of the event and said he wished there were no gaps between the two countries and termed the Indo-Pak rivalry, ‘just the politician’s business.’
The star highlight of the day was the premiere of Nauman Ejaz, Samina Peerzada, Maria Wasti and Danish Taimoor starer feature film Rehaii. The movie according to Momin Ali Munshi, was basically a Mehreen Jabbar directed TV show, cut and made into a feature film; the first to premier on FiLUMS 14. Produced by Kashf Foundation — a microfinance institution operating in Pakistan with the aim of empowering low-income households– Rehaii was a story of three oppressed women living in their male dominated worlds and their strive towards a better life for themselves.
Rehaii truly made its mark at the event and manage to simply amaze the segment of audience previously considering it to be just another low-budget independent film on social issues. The story, acting and the overall execution of the film were all highly appreciated. Well, it was a Mehreen Jabbar product after all.
The first day, though, a little light compared to the succeeding two days of the event, managed to set a great tone for the whole event and things just got better and much more captivating as the event progressed.
Basic Input By: Momin Ali Munshi
