It's a big thing to conceive and realise the kind of filmmaker you can become. It's very hard. The reason for that is because first you will come face to face with the kind of person you are. The process of telling a story is the process of self discovery.

My story begins in childhood where I watched films on rented VCRs and they were all action films. My first movie stars were Stallone and Jacky Chan. And I was mesmerised. I thought what you needed to make a film was a man with a certain physical presence. So as a child I kept looking for people around me who went to the gym and who could be cast. So it could be said that I started out as a casting person.

There were no film schools in Pakistan. And my film culture was heavily influenced by Bollywood. And middle class boys have to make the intelligent choices so they can get jobs. So at age 20 I was getting a business degree. That is when a cousin introduced me to Brando and Pacino and Deniro by showing me the Godfather films. A door was opened that hasn't closed since.

After business school I joined advertising to be able to tell stories through the audio visual. A few years later, I left a Creative Director Post at JWT Lahore and went to study film in the US as a Fulbright Scholar.

Now I have a small film company. Through the flms I write and direct, I am still in the process of exploring myself and my relationship to the world around me in a better way. But it isn't easy.

What if the cinema you were drawn to that fascinates you was very rare or almost non existent in your culture. Then your struggle would be bigger. I embrace that struggle when I insist on writing stories and making films from the heart.

I have written and directed short films which have travelled the world through some very respected film festivals. That gives me hope and reassurance that my voice matters. I have now graduated to writing and making features.

The journey goes on and I find that the only place where I can be truly honest about how I see things and what's close to my heart is on the screenplay and on the screen and through the characters I am able to create.