Lahore’s 5 A Waris Road proved to be an academy for this puppeteer who handles puppet strings from behind the camera. From wanting to join the army, to doing CSS, Anjum Shahzad, an actor-cum-director never thought of entering the field of footlights.

“I was not recommended twice; then I wanted to do CSS, but soon dropped the idea,” he speaks of how he was never fond of doing a 9 to 5 job.

A Masters in Economics, Anjum also did an acting course for a year, along with many workshops – “theatre acting, theatre direction, TV direction and film screenplay writing.” Anjum spent his childhood in Islamabad, which for him was a “party place”. And the fun spree revolved around “climbing trees, playing hide and seek, badminton and football. We played all night long during summer breaks and also loved to hike,” he shares memories from schooldays.

But acting traced out a route for him. “I was in my second year when Lahore Drama School was started by Shoaib Hashmi, Samina Ahmed, Salman Shahid, Ustad Paras and a few others. Usman Peerzada along with many other senior actors used to take our classes. It was there that I did an eight months course,” Anjum reminisces. “There I met Zain Ahmed, Samina Ahmed’s son and became friends with him and we made our theatre group, Daastan.”

What this student of the dramatic arts didn’t know was that he was being groomed. “I used to sit on 5 A Waris Road and got small roles which I did for fun.”

Gradually his interest in acting developed, and soon Anjum was exposed to the real dynamics of this world of entertainment. “A TV show by the name of Family Front started.” For all those who followed the sitcom religiously will have a lucid picture of the classic Bobby in mind. What created the hype-ripples? And the man, who played the character, muses. “How do I explain it? Bobby simply happened. Meera Hashmi, who was playing my sister’s role in it, was carrying a pair of glasses on the set one day. I asked her for the specs and started doing ulti seedhi harkatain and all those around me started laughing,” as he recalls, he continues how there were two ways to portray the character. “Bobby could have been smart or dumb; I felt with a dumb feel, innocence will pour out.”

After a year-and-a-half of being immersed in the character, Anjum realized that “a lot of effort is required for acting. One needs to be fully prepared for it, you have to get ready for it and life needs to be planned out accordingly.” It was actually direction that was shouting out to him. “I felt that the person who is standing behind the camera is the real puppeteer and his job is more interesting.”

And from there on there has been no turning back for him. “I started taking interest in the editing (of Family Front), its script discussions along with how a screenplay is made.”

Having done theatre direction earlier, Anjum listened to his heart’s call. “I realized I wanted to be a director.” It was during the same time that the actor who was being pulled towards direction started Kyun? along with Asim Baig – it was a piece based on true stories which he used to host as well. That was followed by Double Trouble, another sitcom and the cycle spun in full motion for him. However, he still would want to act.

For a script to suck him in, Anjum talks about the brass tacks. “The basic concept should be powerful. To support a good script, a fine concept is needed for which you need a good story and a sound screenplay along with relevant dialogues,” he lays it out in black and white. What if any of the elements lack? “Balancing out each is utmost but that can only happen if the concept is good enough.”

With the mass media revolving around films and television in the current era, each has a distinct quality for Anjum. “Films are like books which you can either get from a bookstore or a library. But the reader has to put in an effort by going out and getting them. TV on the other hand is easily available and that’s why we don’t value it that much, but its impact on the society is imminent,” he expresses, emphasizing on the impact TV has created. “It’s like a newspaper. It becomes habitual for a reader to go through his/her favourite columns every day.”

But the levels of appreciation or disappointment vary between the two. “In TV you don’t have to make an effort as a viewer, however for films, you have to make up your mind and that’s why you come out of cinemas elated or feeling let down.”

But then a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover. Is it the same for films? “It all depends on the packaging which I believe is strong now. Similar to a book, films and TV serials/dramas should be packaged intelligently and wisely.” Having debuted as a movie director with Mah e Mir, Anjum isn’t pleased the way films are being reviewed. “I think at this stage our films are being judged over-critically. For a critic, it’s very important to differentiate between a good and a bad film, rather than judging it over a hit or a flop one. Understanding the genre is important along with the resources on the basis of which a reviewer is basing his critique,” the director opines, coming out with: “It’s like who you think is a role model – Misbah-ul-Haq or Shahid Afridi? Now, Afridi’s packaging is very nice, no doubt he’s good but what Misbah has done in the past seven to eight years even after so much criticism can’t be put aside too, right?”

For Anjum, the script of Mah e Mir “was a difficult one; it was challenging for me. Secondly, it was a film on Mir Taqi Mir, portraying a point that was very close to me – differentiating between consumer art and pop art.” But then are the audiences ready to digest films of such genres? And the director strikes a question in return. “If one space is airing a dance routine while the other has a person involved in shairi – what are the people going to watch?” Of course it’s a no-brainer, but then Anjum reiterates that “this doesn’t mean we don’t have an audience who wouldn’t want to listen to poetry.” With mixed reviews about his first film project, Anjum shares how Badar Ikram along with him thought the film will be out of cinemas within a week. “It was up for eight weeks. We’re content with the kind of work we did for we were expecting it’s going to generate criticism, but what we were not expecting were the pleasantries.”

With Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai up for release, another feature film of Anjum, he lets the scribe in on how “it is an emotional roller coaster with good songs. It is a musical, romantic, family film about how life is beautiful in togetherness.”

The most cherished moments for this director, who recently was awarded his third Lux Style Award, include his “first take for TV; the first thunder clap after performing in theatre; and as a director the first ‘cut’.”