Asim Raza (; ur, ) is a Pakistani film and

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and producer. Asim began his career as an architect and worked with the architectural firm Arshad Shahid Abdullah (PVT) LTD before venturing into film production and direction. He made his debut as a film maker in the mid 90s, he worked in all visual mediums from TV commercials to music videos, long plays and feature films. In 2004, Asim won the

Lux Style Award The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The awards celebrate "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, and it is the oldest event dedicated to cinema, television, fashion, music and film industry ...

for Best Music Video Director for " Mahi Ve". In 2013, Asim directed a television film, '' Behadd'' which won the Hum Award for Best Television Film. Asim marked his feature film debut with a

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...

drama ''

Ho Mann Jahaan ''Ho Mann Jahaan'' ( ur, ) is a 2015 Pakistani coming-of-age musical drama film, written and directed by Asim Raza at his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Rashna Abdi, Imtisal Abbasi and Asim Raza, while dialogues were written ...

'', Asim Raza owns a production company called The Vision Factory.

Career

1994–1996: TVCs and music videos

From 1994 onwards, Asim worked on many commercials and videos as a producer/director. He also directed a magazine show for television based on advertising and marketing called ''The Big Idea''. Between 1994 -1996 Asim continued making commercials for big brands like

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...

, Sprite,

Lux The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by th ...

, Olay,

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Ma ...

Mobilink Mobilink ( ur, ) was the trade name of Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL), a mobile operator in Pakistan providing a range of prepaid and postpaid voice and data telecommunication services to both individual and corporate subscriber ...

Sunsilk Sunsilk is a British hair care brand produced by the company Unilever. The brand was introduced in 1954 in the UK and available in most countries globally. It is a hair care brand in Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, an ...

Pantene Pantene () is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1945 by Hoffmann-La Roche, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient. It was purchased by Procter & ...

, Head and Shoulders,

Garnier Garnier () is a mass market cosmetics brand of French cosmetics company L'Oréal. It produces hair care and skin care products. Launch ''Laboratoires Garnier'' was founded in France in 1904 by Alfred Amour Garnier. The company's first produ ...

and many others. He has also worked with musicians from Pakistan such as Junoon,

Junaid Jamshed Junaid Jamshed Khan ( ur, ; 3 September 1964 – 7 December 2016) was a Pakistani singer-songwriter, television personality, fashion designer, actor, and preacher. After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of Enginee ...

Najam Sheraz Najam Sheraz (Urdu: نجم شیراز) is a Pakistani pop singer and songwriter. Early life Najam Sheraz was born in Multan, Pakistan on 2 August 1969. He played professional cricket. He graduated from the University of Engineering and Technolo ...

, Abrar-ul-Haq and Hadiqa Kiani.

1997–2012: The Vision Factory and music concerts

In 1997, Asim started his production company, The Vision Factory. Under this banner, he made the music video for the single " Sayonee" for the band Junoon. It stayed at no. 1 on both

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...

and

MTV Asia MTV was a pan-Asian music pay-television channel which launched on 3 May 1995 as a standalone pay television channel. It was owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA. History MTV Asia was officially launched on 3 May 1995 as a 24-hour English-langua ...

for over eight weeks. Asim then attended various short courses, workshops, and seminars including one at the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, t ...

. On 4 May 1997, Asif Jamal filmed and directed the last concert of

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes c ...

, before his death on 17 August 1997, known as "The Pakistan 4 U Concert" aired on

at Karachi Gymkhana. The concert was televised internationally, marking the first ever Pakistani music production which was broadcast beyond

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. ...

. The concert was made into live album named, "Swan Song-His Final Performance". Following that, Asim filmed the concert performed by Junoon at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 4 ...

, known as "A Tribute to

– Junoon Live at Central Park". Asim also directed the 2nd Lux Style Awards ceremony in 2003 and short documentary about

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern In ...

dance called ''Raqsan'' showcasing the talent of Pakistani classical dancer Fasih Ur Rehman. In 2008, he became an external board member on the board of studies for the communication design department at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.

2013–present: ''Behadd'' and ''Ho Mann Jahaan''

In 2013, Asim directed a telefilm '' Behadd'', written by

Umera Ahmed Umera Ahmed ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a Pakistani writer, author and screenwriter. She is best known for her novels and plays ''Shehr-e-Zaat'', ''Pir-e-Kamil'', ''Zindagi Gulzar Hai'', '' Alif'', '' Durr-e-Shehwar'', ''Daam'', '' Man-o-Salwa'', ''Q ...

under MD Productions for

Hum TV Hum TV is a 24-hour Urdu General Entertainment TV channel based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was founded by Sultana Siddiqui and Duraid Qureshi. It is owned by Hum Network Limited and traded on Pakistan Stock Exchange as (HUMNL). Hum Network L ...

. Starring

Fawad Khan Fawad Afzal Khan ( ur, ) (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter, model and singer having received several awards including a Filmfare Award, two Lux Style Awards and six Hum Awards. Khan began his acting career ...

, Nadia Jamil and Sajjal Ali, ''Behadd'' premiered 23 February 2013 on

. The telefilm went on to win Best Television Film award at

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

Hum Awards ceremony. Asim marked his directional debut in the film industry with ''

'', which Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui co-produced with him.

is a

drama film, starring

Mahira Khan Mahira Hafeez Khan (; born 21 December 1984) is a Pakistani actress. She started her career as a VJ in 2006. Khan is best known for portraying the role of Khirad Hussain in the romantic-drama ''Humsafar'' for which she received numerous acco ...

, Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui,

Adeel Hussain Adeel Husain ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actor and director. He is best known for his roles in '' Daasi,'' '' Mata-e-Jaan Hai Tu'', '' Mohabat Subh Ka Sitara Hai,'' '' Jackson Heights'' and ''Mera Naseeb''. Early life and education Born on 30 June ...

and

Sonya Jehan Sonya Rizvi ( ur, ; born 24 April 1980), better known by her stage name Sonya Jehan, is a Pakistani film actress who predominantly works in Urdu and Hindi-language films. She is the granddaughter of legendary singer Noor Jehan and filmmaker S ...

i The film was released on 1 January 2016. The film opened to great critical reviews and proved to be a huge commercial success at the box office. Ho Mann Jahaan was distributed by

ARY Films ARY Films ( ur, ) is a film distribution and production company in Pakistan, part of ARY Digital Network. 35 films including 11 Urdu, six Punjabi and 17 Pashto films have been released by ARY Films since 2013. Among them, '' Waar'', '' Jawani ...

. Asim also wrote three songs for the Film that were heavily praised by critics. In an interview with ''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the ''Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Internat ...

'' Asim Said, "One should tell a story which is real, relatable and true to life, which is why I opted for a more content-driven film which would touch hearts."

Personal life

Asim Raza is married to Ayla Raza, daughter of former army chief and president of Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

. Also an architect by education, Ayla Raza is working for the promotion of traditional performing arts as the director at a not for profit organization, All Pakistan Music Conference (APMC),

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

. Together they have two daughters, Maryam Raza and Zainab Raza.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards

Lux Style Awards

References

External links

*
Asim Raza
at The Vision Factory * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raza, Asim 1966 births Living people Muhajir people People from Karachi Pakistani television commercial directors Urdu film producers Pakistani music video directors Alumni of University College London National College of Arts alumni Pakistani film directors Pakistani film producers Pakistani television directors Lux Style Award ceremonies directors Lux Style Award winners Pakistani architects