Fawad, Urwa and Mikaal are going behind the camera. But why?

Islamabad: With local cinema on an uphill struggle, good scripts are few and far between. Only a handful of movies are released every year and even these are constantly in danger of going extinct. Many are too haphazard to be accepted by an audience that is increasingly fickle, having gotten jaded after watching a slew of substandard productions.

Even relatively good movies find it difficult to break even given the limited cinema screens available to them. Adding to this, the inevitable clash when every movie aims for an Eid release tends to limit profits. In these dire circumstances, filmmakers tend to veer towards a few 'favourite' actors, refusing to take a risk with many others.

What does a film actor do in such hard, hard times?

For one, he or she pursues a career simultaneously in the much more thriving TV industry. That's an intelligent move. Many actors also decide to create opportunities for themselves by going behind the camera as producers, directors, scriptwriters - and sometimes, all three.

Jack of all trades?

This is hardly anything new. Cinema industries the world over feature successful actors who also moonlight behind-the-scenes; among them, George Clooney to Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Drew Barrymore, Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma.

Pakistani film's nascent landscape is dotted with its own coterie of multitaskers going behind the scenes as well as starring in their own movies: Humayun Saeed, Sheheryar Munawar, Ali Zafar, Hareem Farooq and Adnan Sarwar, among them.

Many others continue to join the fray. Urwa Hocane, for one, will be releasing her first movie as a producer, Tich Button, this Eid-ul-Fitr. Actor Mikaal Zulfiqar is co-producing upcoming movie Money Back Guarantee which will be actor Faisal Qureshi's directorial debut.

Also, Fawad Khan is said to have taken a 'special interest' in the script and financing of upcoming movie Neelofar, which will feature him opposite Mahira Khan.

The audience can't wait to see these two reunite.

"Even when I am acting in a movie, I never want to take over the spotlight completely. The movie in its entirety should be successful which means that every character needs to be well-developed and get the required screen time. In Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2, I felt that Fahad Mustafa's character needed more scenes than mine and I followed this through."

Knowing Fawad's penchant for perfectionism and the fact that Humsafar fans all over the world are still enamored by...