The Jami we know from various commercials and videos is broody, elusive and has some phenomenal projects to his credit, like Pal Do Pal, Chaye Chaye, Ankhiyan, Chal Dil Mere, Dhanni, Anjaane and many more. The Jami we don’t know is the man, who likes to speak up his mind, digs movies, is laid back. We take a peek on the other side of this director’s fence.

How does it feel to be known as the best video director in Pakistan?

I’m trying to enjoy it. Because when you’re at the top, people want you to fall down, which is why I get scared of being called that. But honestly speaking, we are not doing that well. Abroad, there are so many good short films being made by the kids. We’re doing commercials to run the kitchen, making music videos, and we try to balance both, which is why we try not to sell our souls in music videos. We should do justice to the song. In commercials, the clients will listen to you to an extent. Like in the Indigo commercials, they’ve given a very free rein, but you know that you have to sell something.

As a six- year-old I could hardly understand music. But there was one tune, which I still remember humming in my class when I was in grade one. The song had a distinctly catchy tune and had taken the Pakistani Pop scene by storm. It started off as Sar kiye yeh pahar. Then suddenly the band who sang this song vanished. And when after eight years the Strings launched their smash hit album called Duur I realized that they were the same guys whose tunes infused a craze of music in me at a very young age.