Mashal Peerzada is from the creatively renowned Peerzada family. The daughter of Salmaan and Jabeen Peerzada, Mashal has been raised in one of the busiest, most influential families as far as Pakistani stage is concerned. Hard as it can be to carve out your own place in a medley of talent within your very home, Mashal's already beginning to shine as a new star within the clan.

Mashal's focus is both on stage - her first love - and film-making. She has studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles. She has a short film and several theatrical productions to her credit, including the foundation of a youth theatre festival in Pakistan.

If the family's talent and Mashal's determination are any indication, she will be reckoned as one of Pakistan's top film-makers and stage producers in the very near future!

Let’s start with introducing you to our readers …how would you describe yourself as a professional, your creative interests and current projects?
My interests lie in writing and directing for the stage and screen. At the moment I am working on a situational comedy for television, for a Pakistan-based production company “Talking Filmain” with producers Adil Sher and Nasir Khan. I’m also developing two feature length screenplays – one a life drama based on living in this bizarre, little city we call Lahore, and the other a larger scale adventure/fantasy film for the international market.

How would you describe the intellectual and professional journey to where you are today?
Well, at 26, when I look back on the twists and turns that have brought me to where I am today, shaped the things I want, and the standards that I want to achieve, in retrospect it all seems a bit helter skelter; but I guess that’s life. Essentially I’m a writer – I love words and characters, I love developing interesting people and throwing them into a world and situation of my own design. But I have such a definite vision of the material I write that getting into directing was the logical next step. Having studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles taught me how to execute that vision and create it as a reality. I love working with what I like to call ‘human drama’, the intimacies of human relationships. I find it to be the most universal content. I mean if you look at any of the great films/plays/books in history from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to something like Papillon or The Godfather, or even something as existential as Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, you find (no matter how elaborate the plot and setting) that it is always the human element that makes these great creative works so memorable.

You are part of a very accomplished and well known creative family – tell us how you fit into the clan and what is it like living among so many creative wizards?
Ah well! Growing up in the Peerzada clan is no ordinary experience. It’s a magical, mad, difficult, utterly magnificent journey in which you are forced to realize your goals, ambitions and a sense of self very early on in life. Someone once referred to our family as a tribe of madmen; I think it’s because you have to be a little crazy to fight for the performing arts in Pakistan and realize such incredibly large visions as my family has, such as the World Performing Arts Festivals, Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and ZarGul. In that sense we are all very much cut from the same cloth and I totally hook into that blind devotion that my family has to the arts, to Pakistan and to the state of the arts in Pakistan.

Living among ‘so many creative wizards’ is probably the thing I am most thankful for in my life. It creates such a wealth of support and encouragement that I think each one of us grew up firmly believing that anything was possible. It also makes you strive to raise the bar in whichever field you choose. In that sense one might see it as a great pressure that the standard, the norm, the ordinary is simply not enough. To me it translates directly into a great motivational factor. The only possible drawback is that this mind set slips into every element of your life and you find yourself in the position of always seeking the exceptional. Like they said in a film once ‘anything less than extraordinary is a waste of my time’. A hard mantra to live up to? Absolutely! Is it impossible to live up to? Well, we shall have to wait and see (laughs).

You say that stage is your first love – so tell us about your work on stage and Moonstone Theatrics?
Moonstone Theatrics was my amateur theatre company, founded in 1996 with the soul aim of promoting youth arts and culture. At the time I was 16 and surrounded by young, inspirational, greatly gifted individuals, all seeking a platform to project their talents. We started with a couple of stage plays at the Al-Hamrah Cultural Complex. The first was a situational comedy by the name of ‘All’s Fair in Love & Marriage’. What ‘All’s Fair’ accomplished was to break the mould of existing Lahori theatre – a mould in which schools and youth groups would perform renditions of Neil Simon and Oscar Wilde plays with no real understanding or connection to the material. ‘All’s Fair’ was set in Lahore and written in the bi-lingual style in which we all speak, a first in Lahore. The next significant project I did was a dramatic piece called ‘Can’t You See’, a play on honor killings, female oppression in Pakistan and the great double standard that exists in our society. It was the first ever youth production to touch on such current and controversial issues. The next big step we took was a project called ‘Xtravaganza’, Pakistan’s first youth performing arts festival.

What was Xtravaganza and what do you think it has done for theatre in Pakistan?
‘Xtravaganza’ produced by Moonstone Theatrics was a performing arts festival designed to bring to the youth talent of Pakistan the respect and recognition it deserved. I had just returned from London and the idea came to me like a light in the darkness. There was a way for me to put to use the invaluable skills I had learnt in England; to inspire my peers and provide that terribly essential platform! That idea was realized under the banner of ‘Xtravaganza’. Set on the format of the Peer festivals, ‘Xtravaganza’ hosted 16 plays in 15 days, plus a live, multi-band rock concert. The festival culminated in a grand award ceremony, marking the first youth theatre awards in Pakistan.

I think ‘Xtravaganza’, at the time that it was held, breathed new life into the stagnating theatrical scene in Lahore. The central theme of ‘Xtravaganza’ still lives on, in the form of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s International Youth Theatre Festival (spearheaded by Alena Peerzada). Today the Youth Theatre Festival provides hundreds of young people from schools and colleges across Pakistan (and now internationally) with the opportunity to showcase their talent.

We saw an upsurge of independent theatrical productions in the late 80s/early 90s – how has that trend continued and how would you describe Pakistan’s amateur theater scene today?
For a time the whole concept of amateur plays seemed almost forgotten. After the boom of the late 90’s-early 2000’s, we went from seeing a spate of increasingly bad productions to seeing no productions at all. Wonderfully though, in the last year or two, we are seeing the re-emergence of theatre in Lahore, due largely to the annual youth theatre festival and a handful of dedicated individuals.

I think perhaps the worst thing to happen to the alternative theatre scene in Pakistan is plays like Moulin Rouge and the Phantom of the Opera. While on one level they have done a lot to gain the public’s attention and awareness, they have also succeeded in establishing abysmally low standards of creativity, originality and performance.

I’ll say here again that the idea of creating spectacles and making theatre larger than life is fabulous, but it is vitally important that our people develop their own original or at least well adapted material! As long as the people of Pakistan are out there copying musical movies from Hollywood and Bollywood on stage, without live music and attention to performance, there will never be a real standard or anything else real about the theatre in Pakistan!

You’ve studied film making and also written and directed a movie – tell us about it…?
I started film school to explore my feelings about working in film and has ended up being one of the best things I’ve done for myself. Though theatre will remain my first love, going to film school has changed not only how I look at movies, but everything else as well.

My short film ‘In Limbo’ is the story of a young couple recovering from the death of their child. It is only when they face their grief that they begin to rediscover one another. In their quest to rise above their desolation, above fear and anger, hurt and despair; their ultimate love brings them together and they attempt to remake their shattered lives.

This project was very dear to my heart. I loved the material and wanted so much to do justice to it. I was lucky to have a wonderful cast (Brooke Lyons & Greg MacTavish) and crew who loved the script almost, if not completely, as much as I did. The film will be screening at the World Performing Arts Festival this year from November 10th – 20th. It also ranked among the three best films of our year (‘04) at NYFA (LA).

What do you think sets you apart as a film maker?
In Pakistan? Well I think maybe the fact that the state of the film industry is really, really important to me. I would love to have the opportunity to revolutionize the film industry, to create a new standard, and to establish a new visual aesthetic. I am working towards that goal and Insha Allah, I’ll have that opportunity.

People in your family are known for producing TV serials and films that are not your usual, formula productions – they were intelligent, hard hitting, and almost a step ahead of the mass audience. Do you think now is a better time for the alternate, Off Broadway type productions in Pakistan?
Absolutely! With the amount of exposure people now have, they are absolutely ready for a higher quality of entertainment. And as the new media of Pakistan we have a complete responsibility to deliver that.

How would you summarize the experience of working in Pakistan after having studied/worked in UK and the US?
It’s interesting. The thing is that in television, and film too, until people are willing to invest more time and money into individual projects it will be very difficult for young, independent filmmakers to achieve anything of a higher quality both visually and performance wise. Also I find the dearth of ‘professional’ actors very troubling. For most people it’s just a hobby, something to do while they qualify for their ‘real’ jobs.

As a woman, do you face any particular challenges in the Pakistani media world?
Well it’s a double edged sword. On the one hand there is a lot of support for women in the media, especially in this day and age. But on the flip side when it comes to, say, technicians who have been in the business for years, they can be a little patronizing. Also you can see some backs go up when you’re a young woman educated abroad walking on set with ‘new fangled’ ideas. It’s a bit tricky but as long as you give people their due respect you can find a way to work together. And that’s one thing both my parents have instilled in me – an inherent respect for people, especially those you work with.

What are your ambitions when it comes to your career? What are the one or two most important goals you’ve set for yourself?
I would really like to make a successful Pakistani film of high quality with a strong story line, good actors, interesting visuals and international appeal. Also I want to publish a cook book among other written works.

Who are your role models within your family and outside, in terms of stage as well as film making?
Well definitely my father Salmaan and his brothers, especially Saadaan and Faizaan. They have taught me to work with honesty, integrity and truth to the arts. My mother Jabeen, who is an inspirational woman, has taught me that it is only our dreams and ideals that make us better than we are.

Other people I admire are Spielberg, Jim Sheridan, Peter Jackson, Coppola, Shakespeare, Beckett and Tolkien - especially Tolkien!

Any upcoming projects you would like to tell us about?
Well I am excited about this TV sitcom - it’s still in the very initial stages and will keep you posted as and when it transpires further.

Finally, what would you say to Pakistani audiences as to how they can be more supportive of good theater and films in Pakistan?

Demand more! Higher standards and more truth!