Ali Junejo is a Pakistani actor and writer. In 2022, he came into limelight in the Cannes Award-winning Lollywood film Joyland, in which he played the role of Haider.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Not much information is available about Ali Junjo’s education.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′5″
Hair color: black
Eye Color: Black
Ali Junejo with the cast of the Pakistani film Joyland; Image from the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival
family
Ali Junjo belongs to a Muslim family in Karachi.
wife
Ali Junjo is single.
Career
theater
At first, Ali Junjo started his career as a theater artist. According to Ali, he got his first break in a murder-mystery play, after which he decided to pursue a career as a theater artist. In an interview with Media House, Ali Junjo talked about his career as a theater artist and said:
I have been working with the theater for a long time. I auditioned for the play; It was like a murder mystery and then I hugged it. I spent some time out of the country, then I came back in 2012, and then I just continued working in the theater. I wrote, directed and acted and worked a lot with NAPA.
He has worked in various theater productions such as Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot (2013), Sunil Shankar’s play Dead End (2019) and Equus (2017). He also worked with the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. In an interview, he talked about his theater play “Waiting for Godot” and said:
What I was working on earlier involved a lot of personal effort because I, along with my co-director, were doing everything. This time, however, I am at the complete disposal of no one except Zia Sahab himself. Zia Sahab’s training and experience as a director only makes me more confident [in the faithful adaptation of this play]. He knows a lot about the background [of the play] And has a very clear picture in mind, but at the same time gives us room to add our own flavor. As long as you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t suffocate.”
Amed Raizi as Polo (centre), Faris Khalid as Estragon (left) and Ali Junjo as Vladimir (right) in a scene from Samuel Beckett’s classic play, directed by Napa’s Zia Mohyeddin.
Lollywood movie
Ali Junejo made his film debut with the award-winning Pakistani film Joyland opposite Alina Khan and Rusty Farooq, in which he played the role of Haider. In an interview, Ali Junejo talked about his role as Haider in the Lollywood film Joyland and said:
It was quite difficult. I did the audition and I was last, maybe that’s why I got there because people ran out (laughs). I had read the script, so my curiosity was driving me crazy; When I spoke with Syme, I realized that he would be open to discussion and debate about the character’s intentions. The challenge was that nothing is black and white in Haider’s life, so I realized it would take a lot of work and I loved it.
Ali Junjo as Haider and Alina Khan as Beba from Lollywood movie Joyland (2022)
award
In 2022, Ali Junjo won a Special Mention Award at the 46th Sao Paolo International Film Festival.
An Instagram story shared by Joyland director Saim Sadiq about Ali Junjo’s Special Mention Award at the 46th International Film Festival
Facts/Trivia
- Ali Junejo’s debut Lollywood film Joyland became the first Pakistani film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The Lollywood film also received acclaim after screening at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival, winning Cannes’ Queer Palm prize for best LGBT, queer or feminist-themed film.
Lollywood film Joyland (2022) received a standing ovation from the audience at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
- Initially, Ali Junejo’s critically acclaimed Pakistani film Joyland (2022) was banned by the Pakistani government, claiming that the film contained “highly objectionable material”. Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting spoke about the film in an interview and said:
Writ complaints have been received stating that the film contains highly objectionable material which is not in accordance with the social values and moral standards of our society and is clearly against the norms of ‘decency and morality’ as contained in Section 9 of the Cinematography Ordinance, 1979.”
However, on 16 November 2022, after the Pakistani authorities faced severe consequences for their decision to ban the film Joyland, the authorities decided to lift the ban. In a tweet, Salman Sufi, an aide to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, announced the government’s decision to lift the ban on the film Joyland. He tweeted,
The film #Joyland has been cleared for release by the Censor Review Committee set up by the [Prime Minister Sharif]. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and should be protected within the law.”
- In an interview, Pakistani director Saim Sadiq talked about his film Joyland and shared how he chose Ali to play the role of Haider in his film. She said,
We had a casting for the role of Haider and auditioned about 600 actors. It was crazy! I wasn’t there for all 600 auditions, but my casting director was. And we don’t like anyone. There were actors who said they couldn’t do the role. I knew I needed a brave actor. I almost gave up and we wouldn’t have made the film if we hadn’t found the right lead. Ali walked into my living room and within 10 minutes I decided I was going to cast her. Before reading the script, I liked something about it. He made the film in many ways. “
- Ali Junjo does not use social media platforms. According to Pakistani director Saim Sadiq, the only place where Ali exists is the stage (theatre). Saim Sadiq spoke about this in an interview and said:
I almost gave up and we wouldn’t have made the film if we hadn’t found the right lead. But then someone advised me to watch this theater actress who had no Instagram, no social media presence. He did not exist except on the stage.
Categories: Television
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
