Gubbaare
| Gubbaare | |
|---|---|
| File:Gubbaare - Theatrical Poster.jpg Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Hammad Ul Hasan |
| Written by | Syed Saad |
| Based on | William Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Hammad Ul Hasan |
| Edited by | Syed Saad |
Production company |
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Running time | 25 Minutes |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Language |
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Search Gubbaare on Amazon.Gubbaare[1] is a 2016 surreal fantasy short film directed by Syed Saad and Hammad Ul Hasan, and produced by Creative Studio[2], Media Art Productions and Syed Saad Films. Based on William Shakespeare's sonnet Seven Ages of Man from As You Like It, the film compares the world to a stage and life to a play, and catalogues the seven stages of a man's life – infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, Pantalone and the old age that culminates into an imminent death.
Made in 2015, the film was made publicly accessible through an online release on August 27, 2016, across the social networking hub, Facebook. The film has received rave reviews in several international film festivals, notably highlighting a gripping screenplay, brilliant storytelling, and an effective mix of surrealism and reality.
Plot
Based on the sonnet Seven Ages of Man, the film draws parallels between William Shakespeare’s astounding poetry and everyday, ordinary events; showcasing how every human being goes through the motion of an entire lifetime in a single day through moments that seemingly look tedious, monotonous, and mundane.
Synopsis
A young man (Syed Saad) is patiently waiting for the arrival of his train. He is content in the isolation and buried in his book; William Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man until he's joined by a young woman (Aghmaza).
The two could not be more different. She is boisterous, emotional, and all over the place, while he's aloof and distant. An unexpected delay in the train sparks an unlikely relationship between the two, serving as a coming of age moment for the boy who experiences every stage of life in this turn of events while he continues reading the poem from his book at every juncture. The girl is a mere springboard for the boy's self-journey. Nothing about these two characters (their names, occupations, qualifications, or past) is ever revealed or explained, just lightly hinted through interactions, becoming the driving force throughout their journey.
The two tell little of themselves to one another and bond through basic human traits of hunger, panic, depression, and most importantly joy. The characters travel to a roadside eatery, sea, and amusement park; forming and cementing their friendship as they flit around until they come back to the railway station.
The boy undergoes an emotional maturity through the journey. In an unexpected twist, the film ends with not only the protagonist (the boy) ending his journey but also by introducing a new protagonist (the girl) who will now start hers.
Production
Development
The journey of Gubbaare began when Syed Saad came across Jane Armstrong's book series 'The Arden Shakespeare' through a common friend. As described by Saad himself, this was a turning point in his life as he was consumed in a nexus of depression, and the only way out was to get back to doing what he loved the most, i.e., filmmaking and acting. Initially planned to be a petite stop-motion music video, the script of a short film came into existence in January 2015 after observing life all around him that Saad describes as an emotionally uplifting journey that brought me closer to myself.
Writing
Having had the experience of making diverse genre student short films through the course of his filmmaking studies, Saad was extremely careful while writing that the film had to have its commercial elements in place as well as a thinking appeal, so that it reaches a far and wide audience while still having its roots in place. The writing was kept simple and subtle. In less than two months, the entire script of the film was ready, and it took him a further two weeks to develop the screenplay. The first screenplay draft spanned over 40 pages, making it a little unrealistic to be made on a shoe-string budget. After a series of revisions, the fifth screenplay draft was locked, which was based on 25 pages only.
Setbacks
As soon as the screenplay was finalized, the film was scheduled to be rolled in a week with Hammad Ul Hasan and his crew, but his last-moment back-out for personal reasons made Saad opt for another producer. The phase was short-lived as very soon a team came on board and the film began shooting with a two-member crew in February 2016. However, the plug had to be pulled yet again. The production crew bailed out for unknown reasons after the very first day, and the film never took off, resulting in an entire scrapping of the already shot footage. Glimpses of it can be seen in The Making of Gubbaare – a 17-minute behind-the-scenes look at the film, which was released online on Facebook on July 26. Saad took the project proposal to as many as eighteen teams, but to much of his surprise, nobody was willing to collaborate on an experimental storyline like this. Described as a phase of absolute dejection, discouragement, and desolation by Saad himself, the film found its bearings when Hammad returned to the project and took over the production. Initially, an entirely new cast was planned to be a part of the film since the earlier female protagonist was no longer available to work with, and Saad too decided to be behind the lens. However, the thought was soon overruled, and Saad retained his role as the male protagonist in the film alongside the now-replaced Aghmaza. Recce and permissions for shooting locations took the makers an additional month until it all came on board in April 2016. The filming successfully commenced within a week.
This article "Gubbaare" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ Syed Saad (2016-08-20), Gubbaare, retrieved 2016-08-29
- ↑ "Creative Studio". www.creative-studioz.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
