Civilisations must respect each other to survive, thrive: Mushtaq Ali

Noted filmmaker and alumnus Muzaffar Ali had a trip down memory lane during his recent visit to the Aligarh Muslim University campus here. Ali spoke about his memoir ‘Zikr: In the Light and Shade of Time’ and various shades of his artistic endeavors. He also took part in interactive sessions at the Women’s College auditorium and Kennedy Hall of the AMU.
The maker of movies such as Gaman (1978), Umrao Jan (1981), Aagaman (1982) and Anjuman (1986), said, “Unless a civilisation respects other civilisations, it can neither develop nor survive.”
At the auditorium, Ambreen Khan, who’s the art and culture curator and a visiting faculty at Jamia Millia Islamia, posed some pertinent questions to Muzaffar Ali.
After the panel discussions, Prof M. Shafey Kidwai (Department of Mass Communication, AMU) quoted Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and said: “Autobiography is a wound where the blood of history does not dry.”
Vice-chancellor Prof Gulrez in his address highlighted the importance of autobiographies, adding that autobiographies portrayed the life experiences and achievements of the author that influence and, at times, guide the younger generations.
A panel discussion held on filmmaker Muzaffar Ali’s memoir at the Kennedy Auditorium was enriching for the attendees when he interacted with the students informally and took a range of questions on film writing, his films, his family, Lucknow, Aligarh, the title of his book and his Muslim identity.
One of the panelists, Prof Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, chairman of the Department of English, asked Ali if he was aware that he was making a masterpiece when he was making Umrao Jaan (1981).
Muzaffar Ali also spoke about his admiration for Satyajit Ray.
Presiding over the programme, Prof Shafey Kidwai remarked that the memoir was extraordinary in the sense that it’s written dispassionately, without a trace of self-love.