Friday 15 August 2014
Tuesday 5 August 2014
Bloody Nasreen is a street-fighting woman from Karachi - and she’s uncovered
Bloody Nasreen is the fictional character is a
contemporary bandit-queen, who fights against injustice and evil.
Bloody Nasreen is a street-fighting woman from Karachi
- and she’s uncovered
Blazing eyes, flying hair, looks that could kill. The main character of Shahan Zaidi’s English-language graphic novel Bloody Nasreen is 27, smokes cigarettes and kills without pity. Pakistan’s first unveiled heroine wields a gun in her right hand and a sword in her left, but her attire – she wears a shalwar kameez and sneakers – is not the image you’d expect of a ruthless crimefighter.
But there was a strong reason for
the Lahore-based Zaidi, 31, to dress the heroine of his 100-page graphic novel
this way.
“I wanted my heroine to portray a
regular girl-next-door from Karachi, someone every Pakistani girl could relate
to,” says Zaidi. He hasn’t endowed Nasreen with any superpowers, explaining
that she “picked up fighting skills along the way”.
Zaidi also wanted to keep the
character away from any religious activity or implications. So he chose to name
her Nasreen because “it is a very common name in Pakistan, it could belong to a
girl from any region or sect”. The 100-page novel is likely to hit the stands
late next month or August.
The idea
Nasreen was conceptualised long
before Burka Avenger, Pakistan’s first superheroine, who appears in her own
animated television series. But Nasreen languished in Zaidi’s sketch book for
four years, until 2009, when he shared his illustrations with friends and
noticed the growing interest.
“Men fell for her looks and women
loved her nerve,” says Zaidi, who chose to set the story in the 2030s, where
Nasreen fights issues such as human trafficking and corruption.
The inspiration
Zaidi grew up on a diet of Vertigo
and Constantine comics and says he is inspired by female-focused movies such as
Shekar Kapur’s Bandit Queen (1995) and Kill Bill (2003), starring Uma Thurman.
He was only 17 when he published his first comic series, Blizzard, in a popular
Pakistani weekly. Having found his calling, he educated himself in graphic art
by signing up for online courses, as well as a stint with www.itchyfingerz.com,
a leading mobile applications and game company in Lahore.
A growing fan base
Nasreen has attracted enormous attention
on social media and generated plenty of debate, especially over her outfit,
which does not include a dupatta (scarf).
But Zaidi is unperturbed. “How can
she keep a dupatta in place when she’s running or jumping off high buildings?”
he asks, saying he wanted his heroine to be as realistic as possible.
Nasreen on film
Bloody Nasreen has generated a great
deal of interest among Pakistani filmmakers, and The Crew Films company of
Karachi finally landed the deal. The writer and producer Faisal Rafi, who is
likely to produce the film, says: “There are hardly any stories being made into
films that are set in Karachi. In Nasreen, we see an opportunity to express the
deeper truth and lies about our city. It is a brilliant character with a unique
premise.” Pre-production is underway, but the main cast and the director of the
film have not yet been announced.
Bloody
Nasreen is the fictional character is a contemporary bandit-queen, who fights
against injustice and evil.
announced last week that film-maker Usman
Mukhtar would be collaborating with Zaidi, for a detailed plan to create a
full-length feature film based on Bloody Nasreen.
“I have been approached several
times, not only for movies but also for games and T-shirts, and many fans have
even purchased the posters,” says Zaidi.
“Usman showed great interest. I saw
his work and he seems to be passionate [about comics]. I hope he will do
justice to the character.”
The character Bloody Nasreen has
gained relative cult popularity via social media. Zaidi started out as
cartoonist in 1997 and is a painter and concept artist, who has worked in
several major production studios, but comics seem to have taken the forefront
for him.
“In 1999, when I was 17, I made a
comic for a local magazine called ID Magazine. It was about a superhero
fighting crime in futuristic Karachi. It was published, but I couldn’t continue
it due to my studies.” It was then that Zaidi decided that he would be making
another comic series based on local characters.
The comic book culture isn’t particularly prevalent in Pakistan, but we have
had a number of movies based on comics that have released in the past few
years,” says Zaidi. The artist believes that people have now become familiar
with the medium, and more artists are releasing comic books in the country. “I
think social media has played a big role, particularly Facebook, and also, the
revival of cinema has helped,” says Zaidi.“I grew up reading comic books and graphic novels, I think it’s the second best way of telling stories, after movies,” he adds. Another reason for producing a graphic novel was that Zaidi didn’t have the resources to make a film. “Since I am not a professional writer, I haven’t yet finished the novel, but much artwork has already been produced,” he shares. Now, Zaidi will be involved in the creative aspect of the film, and that is something he is very excited about.
“I am sure if it is made right, this movie will be fun to watch. I think a cult audience will like it, just like Tarantino movies. Of course, if someone goes to the cinema with a Godfather type drama in mind, they will be disappointed,” says Zaidi.
Regardless, Usman Mukhtar says that the project was a dream, since he is a comic-fan, who has been searching for the perfect Pakistani superhero. He is expecting a two-year production time, in which they plan to complete the film. The two have already begun creating a screenplay and storyline.
“The challenge is that we have to create an entire world!” says Mukhtar. “We do not want to exaggerate it, but keep it very close to reality, so the challenge will obviously be finding the right creative team, since nothing like this has ever been done before.”
The challenge of finding an actor who can easily fit into the role of Bloody Nasreen, a powerful female character, will be challenging. But Mukhtar says they plan on doing all their homework before making a decision on the casting.
“We live in a male-dominated society, and generally, most superhero films have male leads. I think it will be interesting to see how this turns out,” says Mukhtar. “The challenging part will be finding someone to play Bloody Nasreen. If you asked me right now, I would say the only person I can think of is not from Pakistan but India. We will need to conduct local auditions, and the character will require a lot of dedication in terms of time, training and diet which most likely will affect other projects.”
We look forward to seeing not only a female protagonist in a film, but a crime-fighting one at that.
2016 is gearing up to be the year for Bloody Nasreen!
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.
Female fictional characters conceptualised in the Muslim world are either veiled or portrayed as meek and oppressed in the public eye. However, Lahore-based Shahan Zaidi’s debut superhero can finally help combat these stereotypes.
The main character of Zaidi’s English-language graphic novel Bloody Nasreen is a 27-year-old girl from Karachi who wears skull-printed kameez with churidar and sneakers – none of what girls her age would wear. She’s an anti-hero you’re not supposed to like. Her smoking habits and aggressive nature are aimed to p*** you off.
Zaidi doesn’t think cool names can make a character cool. Hence, he chose to give her a common name that everyone can relate to.
Ruthless but not cruel, Nasreen fights a war against terrorism, human trafficking, corruption and injustice, and thinks that stupid is more evil, than evil.
With exaggerated action and violence, Nasreen fights without super-powers.
“I’m always more into humans than mutants or aliens,” said Zaidi. “I like Batman for that matter. How can I connect to a hero who is not from my planet? Or who has super powers beyond my thoughts?”
Born in Zaidi’s sketchbook, Nasreen was one of his many characters that he planned to make a graphic novel on back in 2009. It was only recently that Zaidi shared the idea on social media forums, which led to Nasreen going viral, and finally getting a chance to live outside of Zaidi’s sketchbook.
Zaidi hopes to publish the novel by October this year, while the film is already in the pre-production phase.
Zaidi grew up reading Tarzan, Mandrake and Phantom comic strips, and was later introduced to the world of comic books. His core interest, however, has always been in movies.
“Comic is a cheaper way of making a movie, you don’t have to cast or record, all you have to do is make your characters and environment believable and make a very good story out of them,” said Zaidi.
He further added that this thought was the beginning of his interest in comic and graphic novels.
Unlike Burqa Avenger, Pakistan’s first superheroine who wears a burqa as a disguise to conceal her identity while fighting villains in the animated television series, Nasreen is oftentimes seen without a dupatta.
“Nasreen has nothing to say about this, its her own choice,” Zaidi said, smiling.
This has led to mixed responses on social media, but it doesn’t seem to bother Zaidi. He feels only a true comic book reader will understand the value of “exotic, hard boiled full of action girls in comics.”
When asked what he expects his readers to pick up from the novel, Zaidi said the story is only meant for entertainment.
“Since its for adults – and adults already know too much about life – who am I to suggest anything?”
Bloody Nasreen is a 27-year-old
girl-next-door from Pakistan who dispatches villains with sword and gun while
tackling corruption and human trafficking. Courtesy Shahan Zaidi
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