Having started his journey a decade earlier on television as a teenage artiste, Moiz Abbas Rizvi is now one of the emerging talents from Pakistan, making a big name for himself and for the country in the field of TV and film production and direction. Having grabbed many international awards and accolades at the age of 25, Moiz Abbas is the young gun behind such award-winning productions as ‘Keho Do’ and ‘Fruit Chaat’. With an eye to the stars, he is now vying to achieve more and go a lot further.

In this exclusive interview with BOLD, Moiz Abbas talks about his passion, ambitions and frustrations and reveals how arduous it is for an iconoclast like him to become a part of the showbiz industry, which does not move beyond portraying a saas-bahu narrative time and again and relishes entangling it with run-of-the-mill ideas and pedestrian themes.

How did you enter the field of film direction and production?

This was back in 2012 when I finally called it a day and decided to quit acting and focus on learning the art of TV direction and production. Getting down to the nuts and bolts, I started off my production journey as an intern on the set of ‘Who Dobara’, a Hum TV production. So that was my humble beginning and since that eventful decision I took almost a decade ago, a significant period of time has elapsed and as a dedicated and passionate learner, I feel I am yet a long way off to hone my skills in such a specialized field. Briefly put, my long yet brief journey as a producer speaks volumes of the fact that one can always cut the mustard through consistent hard work and determination. Achieving several international awards and recognition that too at the young age of 25 is easier said than done. For me, there are miles to go and now my eyes are on winning Oscars for Pakistan.

Having jumped on the production bandwagon, how do you find Pakistan’s entertainment industry?

As a rule, things are not as simple or straightforward as they appear to be. Frankly speaking, it’s quite tricky as well as challenging to work in the country’s entertainment industry which cannot be referred to as an industry in terms of copyright rules and regulations in particular. For instance, the industry has yet to make sure the rights of crew members and support staff,  a  depressing reality indeed. On the other side, however, Pakistan is globally known for its TV serials that predominantly excel in their creative and artistic genre.  When it comes to cinema,  we still have a long way to go and need to work hard to help the silver screen regain its lost glory. All in all, we need honest people to take the industry in the right direction.

In this regard, TV and film producers must be equal to the occasion and defy the commonplace norm by working on novel ideas and producing such stories that could bring in a positive change and add value to viewers’ lives. Here I would like to mention one of my recent projects ’Keh Do,’ a motivational series produced in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic. All praises to God Almighty, ‘Keh Do’ managed to bag the Zee5 Global Content Festival Award just because of its unique content, which was primarily aimed at providing the people a motivational aura laced with a feeling of hope to help them stay buoyant at the time of acute stress and depression prevailing all over the world. Also, that was my second consecutive award accorded by the Zee Entertainment Enterprises, making me the only Pakistani to have won two awards from Zee.

As you just mentioned that the real talent in Pakistan holds no value, do you have any bad experience in this respect?

I have not had a sort of bad experience with the industry, however,  both of my flagship projects that won global acclaim were initially rejected by producers and TV channels here in Pakistan.  As an example, I produced a short film titled ‘Fruit Chaat’, which featured a young, hijab-clad girl who is bound to a wheelchair but still defying all odds by completing her studies and living her life on her own. Though the film was all about women’s empowerment and education, but sadly one no expressed any s interest in it. In a word,  whenever one dares to get off the beaten path and endeavours to project an unconventional theme other than the humdrum saas-bahu saga one receives an outright rejection, which is really unfortunate and demotivating.

In your opinion, what are the advantages of working in Pakistan’s entertainment industry?

It’s fun.  Working in the entertainment industry allows you to meet lots of new people regularly and this helps you learn different things from them. You also get a chance to travel a lot. In fact, working in this field tends to be a joyride because of huge monetary returns.

Tell us about your productions so far and the awards that you have won?

As of now, I have grabbed 4 awards. ’Keh Do’ won an award from Zee5 and the Fruit Chaat, a short film, achieved three awards:

Zee5 Global Content Festival 2021, MIFF 2021 (UK) and BDB IFF 2020 (Russia).

What are you planning right now?

We were planning an 8-episode sequel of Fruit Chaat but then decided to produce a full-length feature film for the international market. Currently, we are working on its script and storyline while its official announcement will be made soon. The plan is to cast top-tier actors and actresses from Pakistan and here I can give you a strong inkling that we the cast will include a leading Indian actress as well.