Mushtaq Gazdar

Pakistani cinematographer and film historian (1940-2000)

Mushtaq Gazdar
Born	1937 Karachi, British India
Died	15 November 2000(2000-11-15) (aged 62–63) Karachi, Pakistan
Occupation(s)	Cinematographer Documentary film maker Film historian
Known for	Publishing the book Pakistan Cinema (1947-1997) Founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Awards	Pride of Performance Award in 1992 Won 2 Nigar Awards during his career

Mushtaq Gazdar (Urdu: مشتاق گزدر) (1937 – 15 November 2000) was a Pakistani film maker and cinematographer, who scripted, directed and produced around 190 short feature films, documentary films and newsreels on subjects including poverty-stricken women, especially those abused, bought and sold in open flesh markets as well as helpless children.^[1]^[2]^[3]

He was also a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.^[2]

He also "scripted, directed and produced more than 175 short feature films, documentaries, and newsreels in the 1970s-1990s".^[4]

Early life and career

Mushtaq Gazdar was born in 1937 in Karachi.^[4]^[2] He did his MSc. degree in physics from the University of Karachi. He held diplomas in film-making technique from London and Tokyo, and founded his own production house in Karachi. He also worked as Production Assistant with the UK-based TV film mini-series, the Emmy Award winner Traffik (1989).^[4]

He was a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.^[2] Mushtaq Gazdar also wrote articles on social issues for newspapers. Mushtaq personally had politically progressive ideology and associated with people like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sibte Hassan and Dorab Patel.^[2]

He also wrote a voluminous book Pakistani Cinema: 1947-1997, a historical and critical study of Pakistan's film industry, published in 1997 to commemorate Pakistan's 50th anniversary. Before he suddenly died on 15 November 2000, he was elected the honorary secretary of the Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi.^[2]^[4]

Family

Mushtaq Gazdar was married to Saeeda Gazdar, a short story writer and a poet, and together they had a son and a daughter.^[3]^[2] His daughter, Aisha Gazdar, worked with her father and became a short documentary film maker in Pakistan in 2010.^[3]^[5]

Books

Pakistan Cinema (1947-1997) by Mushtaq Gazdar (published in 1997, Oxford University Press)^[4]

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 1992^[2]^[4]
Won 2 Nigar Awards for his short documentary films^[2]^[4]
Won the grand prize at the Tampere International Film Festival in Finland for his docudrama 'The are killing the horse'^[2]^[4]

References

^ Nadeem F. Paracha (9 June 2012). "Smokers' Corner: Projecting the bizarre". Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Mushtaq Gazdar - Beyond the frontiers of film (Profile and obituary of Mushtaq Gazdar)". getPakistan.com website - source: Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Fahad Naveed (28 June 2019). "Exploring the history of Pakistani cinema". Herald magazine (Dawn Group of Newspapers). Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Book Review of Mushtaq Gazdar's book Pakistan Cinema (1947-1997). Oxford University Press, 2019 via GoogleBooks website. ISBN 9780199408528.
^ Saadia Qamar (4 December 2010). "The relentless filmmaker". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2024.