Jalal Din
- Writer
Jalal Din was born and raised in Pakistan. He left the country to
pursue a career in medicine. However, his heart wasn't in it and, after
obtaining a pre-med and a masters degree in chemistry from UCLA, he
enrolled in creative and script writing courses at the Oregon State
University. As luck would have it, he managed to write a considerable
number of episodes of The Twilight Zone. In Los Angeles he met up with
the legendary director/producer from India, Mehboob who was there in
connection with the nomination of his classic 'Mother India' for the
Oscar Award. Mehboob commissioned Jalal to script 'Taj Mahal'.
Although, the film never saw the light of the day, the association with
Mehboob, whom Jalal held in high esteem, added a great deal of weight
and prestige to his name. Soon, word spread and offers for other
projects began filtering in. Actor Burt Lancaster showed interest in
this writer's next project, 'High Grass'. He bought the script to
translate it into the visual medium. 'High Grass' was to be shot in
Chittagong, former East Pakistan starring Roderick Crawford and the
estranged wife of Marlon Brando, Anna Kashfi. In 1965 Jalal's big break
came with 'Maya The Magnificent', an MGM production directed by John
Berry starring Clint Walker, Jay North of Dennis the Menace fame, Sonia
Shani, I S Johar and a young lad Sajid Khan. The film revolved around a
white elephant and his calf. The plot was laden with courage,
compassion and companionship between two boys, an American and a Hindu.
The film turned out to be a success establishing Jalal as a bankable
story writer. 'Maya The Magnificent' was shown on movie channel TNT in
1996 and 1997. A 26-episode television serial was also crafted out of
the script for NBC during 1967-68 season. The success of 'Maya' brought
Jalal's ultimate dream within the realms of reality: a joint
production, between Hollywood and Pakistan. He enhanced his efforts to
materialise his dream. Negotiations began with studios to film a movie
called 'Pakistan' and finally in early 1968 the project was given the
green signal. 'Pakistan', boasted of a dream team comprising
producer/director Arthur Lubin, actor Charlton Heston and MGM. The
paper work had been initiated and completed. The final approval of the
then government of Pakistan was required. Thus, began Jalal's ordeal.
He ran from pillar to post to get permission. Endless correspondence
with our government went into wastepaper baskets. In a letter to Jalal,
dated October 20, 1968, Lubin writes: "I am at a loss to know what to
do. I am at a loss to understand what has happened. Last March it was
you who suggested that I direct a picture in Pakistan on co-production
deal, that your country was anxious for an American producer/director.
Since that time much correspondence and telegrams have gone between us.
A contract was signed last July. Since that time I am waiting. .......I
am all ready to proceed from my end, but if I do not know from you
immediately, then the past six months have been a waste of time and
your company is not really interested in co-production deal even though
you have signed a firm contract." After much humiliation and heartbreak
Jalal learnt the truth. But Lubin who trusted him was a professional
completely unaware of a country known as Pakistan. He was never to know
that it wasn't Jalal who gave up on his dream but the then government
of Pakistan which refused to allocate foreign exchange for the film.
Bureaucracy, lack of vision and insecurities deprived Pakistan of a
golden opportunity. However, Jalal thought he had lost the battle not
the war. Upon his return, the rest of his life was spent in efforts to
build his own studio to achieve his goal -- work on a joint production.
A letter from Frank King of King International Corporation dated
December 4, 1986 shows that he had not given up his dream. But this
time also he met the same fate. His dream died with him on January 20,
1999.