Meenu Gaur | |
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Born | Meenu Gaur Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
Alma mater | Lady Shri Ram College for Women Jamia Millia Islamia PhD, SOAS, University of London [1] |
Occupation(s) | Film Director, screenwriter and film scholar |
Years active | 2007-present |
Notable work | Zinda Bhaag |
Spouse | Mazhar Zaidi |
Meenu Gaur is a London-based British-Indian director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 2013 Pakistani film Zinda Bhaag which she co-wrote and co-directed with Farjab Nabi. The film was an entry to the foreign film category at the Oscars. [2] She is presently working on a feature film titled 'Barzakh:Between Heaven and Hell' supported by the Locarno International Film Festival's Open Doors Hub Programme. [3] [4] She has also been part of Berlinale Talents and the NIPKOW film residency in Berlin, supported by Berlinale and Medienboard. [5] [6] Recently, SOAS, University of London installed her portrait on the school walls as part of the Alumni Series that celebrates notable alumni. [7]
Gaur was born in Kolkata. [8] After finishing her schooling, she moved to Delhi for higher education where she studied at Lady Shri Ram College and the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. [9]
In 2013 Meenu co-directed a Pakistani film Zinda Bhaag , under the film production company Matteela Films. Meenu got immense praise from Pakistani film directors and critics for putting forward Pakistani cinema into limelight again. [10] Zinda Bhaag became one of the highest-grossing of Pakistan and has won many accolades and recognition including an official selection for Best Foreign Language Film [2] [11] at 86th Academy Awards however was out of the competition for the final race. [12] Zinda Bhaag was only the third Pakistani film in 50 years to be submitted at the Oscars, after 1959's The Day Shall Dawn and 1963's The Veil. Zinda Bhaag earned her critical acclaim worldwide and was theatrically released in USA, UAE and Pakistan. [13] [14] [15] [16] It was subsequently released on Netflix in 2015. [17]
Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam is an Indian and Pakistani crime fiction drama original web series streaming on ZEE5. [18] It is created and directed by British-Indian director Meenu Gaur and written by Farjad Nabi and Meenu Gaur. [19] The series is produced by Hasan Raza Abidi and Shailja Kejriwal. [20] This six episode web series was released on 10 December 2021. [21] It stars Rubya Chaudhry, Sanam Saeed, Sarwat Gilani, Eman Suleman and Faiza Gillani in the lead roles. [22] [23]
In 2022, Meenu Gaur directed episodes on the second season of BBC's hit drama, World on Fire. The second series aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2023. [24]
On February 22, 2023 it was announced that she would direct Murder is Easy, based on the classic novel by Agatha Christie. The show is being adapted by Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre, produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited for BBC One and iPlayer, with BritBox International. [25]
Year | Film | Awards |
---|---|---|
2013 | Zinda Bhaag | Won:Jury Award at Festival du Film d’Asie du Sud Transgressif (FFAST) in Paris (shared with Farjad Nabi) [26] Won: ARY Film Award for Best Story (shared with Farjad Nabi) Won: ARY Film Award for Best Film (shared with Farjad Nabi & Mazhar Zaidi) [27] Won: Lux Style Award for Best Director (shared with Farjad Nabi) Won: MISAFF Canada Award for Best Film (shared with Farjad Nabi) [28] Won: Jaipur International Film festival, Special Jury Award (shared with Farjad Nabi) [29] |
2022 | Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam | Won:Asian Academy Creative Awards in Singapore [30] |
The film industry of Pakistan, consisting of motion pictures, has had a large effect on Pakistani society and culture since the nation's independence. Pakistani cinema is made up of various sub-industries, including Lollywood, which makes motion pictures in Urdu and Punjabi. Lollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the country.
Madan Gopal Singh is an Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyglot. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi while on leave from Satyawati College, where he taught English literature. Son of well-known Punjabi poet Harbhajan Singh, Madan Gopal Singh has written and lectured extensively on cinema, art and cultural history besides performing the world over as a singer with his ensemble Chaar yaar.
Osman Khalid Butt is a Pakistani film, television and theatre actor, writer and choreographer. He is best known for his role as Wali Sohaib Khan in Diyar-e-Dil (2015), Faaz Ibrahim in Chupke Chupke (2021) and Malik Shahzain in Ehd-e-Wafa (2019). He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Hum Awards, an ARY Film Award, and has twice been nominated for a Lux Style Award.
Samiya Mumtaz, is a Pakistani film and television actress. She has performed in several TV dramas. Her accolades include two Hum Awards and three Lux Style Awards nominations.
Zinda Bhaag is a 2013 Pakistani Punjabi-language drama film co-directed by Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, and produced by Mazhar Zaidi. The film focuses on the issue of illegal migration. The film had a premiere on 19 September 2013 and a theatrical release on 20 September. The film was selected as the Pakistani entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, the first in over 50 years. The film was made as part of a project on masculinity titled Let's Talk Men, affiliated with United Nations agencies for the prevention of gender-based violence.
The 13th Lux Style Awards was a 2014 event presented by Lux to honor the fashion, music, films and Pakistani television of 2013. Ceremony was held on 4 December 2014 in a private ceremony, for the first in the thirteen years of LUX, event wasn't televised.
Amna Ilyas is a Pakistani film and television actress, and model. She is the younger sister of models Salma Ilyas and Uzma Ilyas. Amna began her modeling career at the age of twenty, and a few years later, she moved on to acting in 2013. She is known for her leading roles in several films, including Zinda Bhaag (2013), Good Morning Karachi (2014), Saat Din Mohabbat In (2018), Baaji (2019), and Ready Steady No (2019). Ilyas has also starred in a series of television shows including the romantic drama Tum Mere Paas Raho (2015).
The 1st ARY Film Awards or AFA'14 ceremony, presented by ARY Digital Network and Entertainment Channel, sponsored by Nokia, powered by ZONG and L'Oréal and took place on 27 April 2014 at the Golf Club, DHA Phase VIII, Karachi. The ceremony was held recorded and televised on 24 May 2014. During the ceremony ARY Digital Network and Entertainment Channel presented ARY Film Awards in 29 categories and 4 special awards honoring the actors, technical achievements and films of 2013. The ceremony, televised in Pakistan by ARY Digital and was produced by ARY Digital Network chairman Salman Iqbal. ARY Film Awards became the most expensive event held in Pakistan.
Mazhar Zaidi is a British Pakistani film producer, artist, journalist, columnist and documentary director. He has produced several issue based documentaries and campaigns. He has developed, managed and delivered large international projects on CVE and produced digital campaigns on rights based issues for leading international non-governmental organisations including UKAid, IRC, CWS, creative Associates and Asia Foundation. He is best known for producing the 2013 Pakistani film Zinda Bhaag, which earned him international recognition and accolades and became the country's first entry to Academy Awards after a gap of over 50 years. The film also won many international awards. One of his films Gardaab which was set in extremist violence prone neighbourhoods of Karachi, screened at London Indian Film Festival in June 2017 and Jeewan Hathi was screened at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in August 2017. He along with his partners Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi also recently curated an art exhibition titled Art SabKa focussing on contemporary art inspired by Pakistani Cinema.
Farjad Nabi is a Pakistani writer, film producer, director, cinematographer and documentary maker. His 2013 feature film Zinda Bhaag, co written and co directed with Meenu Gaur, became the first Pakistani film in over fifty years to be submitted for Oscar consideration in the 'Foreign Language Film Award’ category at the 86th Academy Awards He rose to prominence in 1997, when his debut film Nusrat has left the building...But When? won the Second Best Film Award at Film South Asia, Kathmandu. In 1999 his second film No One Believes the Professor entered the Film South Asia festival and won the Best Film Award.
Tara Mahmood is a Pakistani actress and singer. She rose to prominence by playing supporting roles in high-rated films, Seedlings (2012) and Good Morning Karachi (2013). Her performance in drama serials Muhabbat Subha Ka Sitara Hai (2014) and Diyar-e-Dil (2015) earned her a wide spread acclaim. Tara joined the band Rushk in 2014 after five years long hiatus, as its lead vocalist replacing Nazia Zuberi. She has played a role of Masooma in Hum TV's acclaim Ramzan series Suno Chanda and its sequel Suno Chanda 2. She, alongside her sister Beenish Mehmood are the daughters of veteran politician, Shafqat Mehmood, the former Federal Minister of Education and National Heritage.
Jeewan Hathi is a 2016 Pakistani dark comedy film directed by Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi and written by Fasih Bari Khan. Shailja Kejriwal and Mazhar Zaidi have produced the film. The Film has Samiya Mumtaz, Hina Dilpazeer, Naseeruddin Shah, Saife Hassan and Adnan Jaffar as lead cast in the film.
Shatrughan Kumar Yadav, known professionally as Khesari Lal Yadav, is an Indian actor, singer, dancer and model who primarily works in Bhojpuri cinema. Also known by the Initialism KLY, Yadav has appeared in more than 70 films, and performed as vocalist in more than 5000 songs. Apart from Bhojpuri, he has also worked in Hindi, Awadhi and Haryanvi languages.
Jabar Abbas is a Pakistani singer-songwriter and musician who started his career in 1997 as child artist. He gained notability during his presidential tenure of Nazir Ahmed Musical Society at Government College University, Lahore from 2003–2007. He then appeared in the political satire show Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain where he recorded more than three hundred parody songs. In 2012, he released his first single "Chan Mahi".
7 Din Mohabbat In is a 2018 Pakistani romantic comedy film with fantasy elements. It was directed by Meenu–Farjad under Matteela Films. Written by Fasih Bari Khan, the film features Mahira Khan and Sheheryar Munawar in lead roles and also stars Amna Ilyas, Mira Sethi, Hina Dilpazeer and Javed Sheikh. It was released on Eid al-Fitr, 16 June 2018, under the production banners of Dawn Films and IMGC Global Entertainment, and has been distributed by Distribution Club in Pakistan and by B4U Motion Pictures internationally.
Faiza Gillani is a Pakistani television, theatre and film actress known for her character roles. Made her on-screen debut in 1996, and her notable supporting roles were in Ullu Baraye Farokht Nahi, Sannata, Deewangi and Prem Gali. She made her cinematic debut with 2019 crime thriller Laal Kabootar.
Qatil Haseenaon Ke Naam is a Pakistani crime fiction drama original web series streaming on ZEE5. It is created and directed by British-Indian director Meenu Gaur and written by Farjad Nabi and Meenu Gaur. The series is produced by Hasan Raza Abidi and Shailja Kejriwal. This six-episode web series was released on 10 December 2021. It stars Rubya Chaudhry, Sanam Saeed, Sarwat Gilani, Eman Suleman and Faiza Gillani in the lead roles.
Muzaffar Hanfi was an Indian Urdu Poet, critic, writer from Madhya Pradesh.