Bilal Sami (born May 23, 1978) is a Pakistani born producer, writer, director, academic and media professional who started his career as a sitcom actor in Jutt and Bond - 2000-02.
Since then, he has worked on episodic dramas, films, documentaries and commercials in Pakistan and abroad. He was a Fulbright scholar for his MFA in Film (2012) from Ohio University. Dobara Phir Se (Again and again) - 2016, a narrative feature he wrote and co-produced, was commercially released in 11 countries.
He has also collaborated with interdisciplinary artists on projects including the short music documentary Dhun (Melody) - 2017 with the Pakistani music producer Mekaal Hasan, featured at the Alchemy Festival at the Southbank Centre, London; Stories We Tell (Aao sunain kahani) - 2016, a video-art project undertaken with the artist Rashid Rana for the Lahore Biennial Foundation, and the critically acclaimed thriller Laal Kabootar (Red Pigeon) - 2019 on which he was a consulting producer.
Sami has also taught film at the Beaconhouse National University (BNU), written lyrics for popular singers and created Geo Entertainment Television's New Media division.
Early Years and Television
Starting his career early while still an undergraduate student studying Computer Sciences at Lahore University of Management Sciences(LUMS), Sami found early success with his depiction of the goofy and maniacal Dr. Evil in the Indus Vision sitcom Jutt and Bond which also introduced notable luminaries including Fawad Khan, Ahmad Ali Butt and Vasay Chaudhry.
Soon after he and his business partner, actor and director Nadia Afgan formed a production company called KCGL Productions which produced sitcoms for Pakistani satellite channels between 2005 and 2010 including the sitcom Bhatti Ki Bas Ho Gai (Bhatti goes bust) - 2006 and the holiday telefilm Aap Jaisa Koi (Someone like you) - 2008 for ARY Digital; the sitcom Yassu Panju Haar (One two three) - 2009 and the episodic political satire Yes Sir! - 2010 for ATV; and the sitcom Dosti Aisa Nata (With friends like these) - 2009 for Hum TV.
Sami also wrote, directed and hosted the children's cooking game show Kung Fu Kitchen - 2007 for the short-lived children's programming channel WikKid Plus.
Film
During his time at Ohio University as a Fulbright Scholar, while writing, directing and producing a stint of short narrative and documentary films, Sami started a creative partnership with filmmaker and director Mehreen Jabbar which resulted in the feature film Dobara Phir Se (Again and again) - 2016. After considerable anticipation, the romantic drama written and associated-produced for ARY Films by Sami and directed by Mehreen Jabbar (Ramchand Pakistani) starring Adeel Hussain, Hareem Farooq, Ali Kazmi, Shaz Khan & Sanam Saeed was released. The film opened in over 250 cinemas worldwide including all major cinemas in Pakistan and select cinemas in 11 international markets including U.S.A. (New Jersey, Virginia, Detroit, Florida, Texas, Atlanta, California, Chicago, New York, Pennsylvania), Canada, U.K., Norway, U.A.E (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah) Alain, Qatar, Masqat and Bahrain.
The film was received well critically with the DAWN columnist Mehreen Hasan calling 'Bilal Sami's subtle subversion of widely held ideas about love and marriage' the film's winning attribute and Samaa TV's film critic Omair Alavi calling the film 'a game changer for Pakistani cinema'. Despite the film's warm reception and popular soundtrack, box office numbers were slow to pickup due to ongoing political tension with India at the time, resulting in a downturn in the cinema industry that lasted almost 8 months.
In March 2019, Laal Kabootar (Red Pigeon) a gritty crime thriller produced by Kamil and Haniya Chima of Neher Ghar Productions on which Sami served as a Consulting Producer was distributed by Footprint Media in partnership with GEO Entertainment. Directed by Kamal Khan and starring Ahmed Ali Akbar, Mansha Pasha and Rashid Farooqi the film opened to rave reviews despite slow box office numbers, once again because of political tensions with India.
Other work
From 2009 to 2012 Sami intermittently worked for Partisan Picturesbased out of New York, appearing in and working on the production team of Blue Collar Dogs(2011)[31]a documentary hour for Nat Geo Wild[32]and Counter Terror NYC(2011)[33]a documentary hour for National Geographic[34]
After returning from the US, Sami joined Beaconhouse National University's 'Department of Television, Film and Theater'[35]where he taught film making from 2012 to 2017, heading the department in his last year there.
Collaborative Projects
In 2013, soon after joining BNU, Sami had the opportunity to collaborate with well-known Pakistani music producer and musician Mekaal Hasan. Their project documenting the collaboration between legendary Pakistani folk musician Attaullah Esakhelvi and the Cuban Jazz trio A1 resulted in a short rockumentary titled Dhun (Melody). The short was subsequently featured at the Alchemy Festival at the Southbank Centre in London in 2016.
In 2016 while at BNU, Sami proposed and then undertook as the Lead Artist, an audio-visual public intervention project titled Aao Sunayein Kahani (Stories We Tell) in collaboration with Beaconhouse National University and the Lahore Biennale Foundation with the support of the Center for Culture and Development, Denmark (CKU). The project executed with visual artist Rashid Rana collected over 8,000 stories through audio/video booths set up throughout Lahore. The resulting installation was exhibited as part of the ‘City in Context’ art symposium held at the Alhamra Arts Council in December 2016. The project also resulted in a self-titled publication as well as a website. Stories We Tell also became one of the pre-launch inaugural art projects to be undertaken by the Lahore Biennale Foundation leading up to Lahore Biennale 2018. In 2016-17 Sami also briefly headed the foundation as its Director Management and Coordination.
Lyrics
Sami started writing lyrics early, frequently collaborating with Zeb Bangash and Haniya Aslam of Zeb and Haniya. The collaboration led to a number of co-authored songs, notably Rona Chore Diya from the album Chup! which became popular when it was performed by the band along with the vocalist Javed Bashir on Season 2 of the live music platform Coke Studio Pakistan.
Sami's other collaboration with Zeb Bangash was for the lyrics of the song Jaise Milein Ajnabi for the Bollywood thriller Madras Cafe (2013).
Sami and Haniya Aslam's collaboration continued when she produced the soundtrack for Dobara Phir Se in 2015, co-writing the film's title track Dobara Phir Se sung by her and Ali Hamza of rock band Noori fame with Sami. Sami also co-wrote Hone Do, Woh Kaisi Ho Gi and Khamoshi with singer-songwriter Jimmy Khan for the film's OST.
In 2017 Sami collaborated with Executive Produced Sophia Ali helping with the lyrics and translation for her and Creative Director Michael K. Frith's (Fragle Rock, Sesame Street) series The Flying Tent, an audio/visual children’s educational program featuring musical nursery rhymes.
In 2019 Sami was hired by producers Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi to work on Coke Studio's Season 11 for lyrics and lyrical translations. He also co-wrote the anthemic Mein Irada with Haniya Aslam.
Personal Life
Born in 1978 in Lahore, Sami's father Sami-ur-Rahman was a policeman by profession as well as an international award-winning photographer, receiving the President's Award for Pride of Performance in 2004. His mother Mubushrah Sami is a well-known artist specializing in watercolor painting. Attending Crescent Model Higher Secondary School and then Lahore Grammar School, Sami did his A-Levels from LACAS and attended Lahore University of Management Sciences for his BSc in Computer Sciences, where he was also General Secretary of Dramaline, the university's dramatics society.
After working for a number of development organizations, Sami started in entertainment by being accidentally cast in a sitcom and developed that into an initial career in television writing, acting and production. Based on his work, Sami was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to complete his MFA in Film from Ohio University's School of Film in 2009.
Upon his return Sami became associated with the Beaconhouse National University while continuing to make films, documentaries and corporate videos. After the release of his debut feature, Sami started focusing on features, advertisements, corporate documentaries and script doctoring.
In 2018 he moved to Karachi and founded Geo Entertainment Network's New Media division which specializes in syndication and programming for streaming and digital services.