Sami Rehman

filmmaker and co-founder of Bekaar Films

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Sami Rehman is a storyteller, filmmaker, YouTuber and co-founder of Bekaar Films. He was born and raised in Karachi. He has a channel called Imagination Pictures, on which he mostly creates web series, and he released a web series called Introverts.

Early life and background

Rehman was born and raised in Karachi. He grew up in Gulshan, a neighbourhood of Karachi. He is the middle of three children, with an elder brother and a younger sibling. [1]

His mother studied up to intermediate and his father did a diploma. His family includes many bankers, chartered accountants, doctors and engineers. He and his two siblings had the freedom to do whatever they wanted to do, and he describes his father as always supportive. [1]

He says he spent four years playing games heavily at gaming zones. He was an avid cartoon watcher as a child. [1]

Education

Rehman matriculated, then went to a government college. His intermediate studies were in the medical stream, and he passed intermediate with 49 percent. He says he was not good at typical studies and that he never failed a final exam. He says his English was poor during college. [1]

He opted for a Bachelor's in game development and media interactive. That program was offered by a Malaysian university. He opted for animation, as the field closest to gaming, and he left animation because he preferred telling stories to working frame by frame. [1]

Rehman studied at the College of Media Arts at PAF KIET. He changed his degree from Bachelors in Computer Arts to Bachelors in TV and Film Productions. He ranked in the top ten of his batch by the end of the semester. He says he failed English in his first semester. [1]

Career

Rehman says he was learning while studying. He says he turned down an offer to work on a project he did not want to make. [1]

Bekaar Films

Rehman and his collaborators came up with the idea of a video called Happy in Karachi. They created Bekaar Vines. He says one of his group's videos was shared by the US Embassy. Bekaar Vines was renamed Bekaar Films because the group made longer sketches. [1]

He says he and the group realised they were making enough money to leave and work on Bekaar Films full-time. He says his group does not earn as much from YouTube and relies more on brands. He says brands took a considerable jolt when the economy fell, and he describes the period from June-July 2022 onwards as a free fall. He says the brands are not in for long-term contracts. He says the group's office was in Clifton and was shifted from one place to another to cut costs. [1]

Rehman says Bekaar Films plans to become a web series platform. He says it is not shelved but is taking a break. [1]

Imagination Pictures

Rehman has a channel called Imagination Pictures, on which he mostly creates web series. He released a web series called Introverts. [1]

Views

Rehman says a web series cannot be produced in two months. He says there are many good writers, both new-age and older. He says writers do not travel because they cannot afford to, and he believes their lack of travel experience leaves their writing somewhat limited. [1]

He says English is a form of communication. He says Indian audiences have matured. He believes ages 29 to 33 are the most confusing age. He thinks many people chose Dubai because it was the fastest place to relocate to. [1]

Personal life

Rehman describes himself as an introvert who dislikes fame. He describes himself as a casual gamer, not a professional one. He says he started watching Friends after realising that everyone around him was watching it. [1]

Timeline

2022
He describes the period from June-July 2022 onwards as a free fall.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2024-01-10 Why Pakistan's web series can't get past the campaign cycle Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Sami Rehman?

Sami Rehman is a storyteller, filmmaker, YouTuber and co-founder of Bekaar Films. He was born and raised in Karachi.[1]

What does Sami Rehman do?

Sami Rehman is a storyteller, filmmaker and YouTuber. He has a channel called Imagination Pictures, on which he mostly creates web series. He released a web series called Introverts.[1]

Where did Sami Rehman study?

Sami Rehman studied at the College of Media Arts at PAF KIET. He changed his degree from Bachelors in Computer Arts to Bachelors in TV and Film Productions. Before that he matriculated, then went to a government college.[1]

Where is Sami Rehman from?

Sami Rehman was born and raised in Karachi. He grew up in Gulshan, a neighbourhood of Karachi.[1]

What company did Sami Rehman found?

Sami Rehman is a co-founder of Bekaar Films. He and his collaborators created Bekaar Vines, which was renamed Bekaar Films because the group made longer sketches.[1]

Is Bekaar Films still active?

Sami Rehman says Bekaar Films is not shelved but is taking a break. He says it plans to become a web series platform.[1]

References

  1. Why Pakistan's web series can't get past the campaign cycle . Thought Behind Things , 2024-01-10.
Show the source passages (50 statements)
  1. Sami Rehman was born and raised in Karachi. So I was born and raised in Karachi.
  2. He grew up in Gulshan, a neighbourhood of Karachi. Aur early life was in Karachi ka ek ilaka hai Gulshan.
  3. He is the middle of three children, with an elder brother and a younger sibling. No, there's one I have an elder brother and I have a younger. I'm the middle child.
  4. His mother studied up to intermediate and his father did a diploma. my mom was she did inter and my dad did a diploma in something.
  5. His family includes many bankers, chartered accountants, doctors and engineers. my family is full of bankers, chartered accountants, doctors and last of them are engineers.
  6. He and his two siblings had the freedom to do whatever they wanted to do. So all three of us got the freedom of doing whatever we want to do.
  7. He describes his father as always supportive. Uh my father uh he was always supportive but he said ke yaar dekho I can afford this so I can give you this.
  8. He says he spent four years playing games heavily at gaming zones. Yeh char saal main ne jo daba ke gaming zones mein jaake gaming ki hai.
  9. He was an avid cartoon watcher as a child. I was an avid cartoon watcher.
  10. He matriculated, then went to a government college. Main I was matriculated. Toh maine matriculation ki uske baad I went to a government college called Government Superior Science College.
  11. His intermediate studies were in the medical stream. Wahan se achcha meri inter tak ki jo history hai it's all medical.
  12. He passed intermediate with 49 percent. Inter mein bahut buri percentage se pass hua. I got 49% maashallah se.
  13. He says he was not good at typical studies. I was not good with typical studies.
  14. He says he never failed a final exam. I never failed in the in the finals.
  15. He says his English was poor during college. Abhi bhi bahut buri hai. But during college life toh bahut buri thi.
  16. He opted for a Bachelor's in game development and media interactive. I opted for something called Bachelors in game development and media interactive.
  17. That program was offered by a Malaysian university. It was a Malaysian university which was doing it.
  18. He opted for animation, as the field closest to gaming. so I opted for animation. That was the closest to gaming.
  19. He left animation because he preferred telling stories to working frame by frame. I realized I like telling stories rather than sitting and framing every single for single frame for animation.
  20. He studied at the College of Media Arts at PAF KIET. PAF KIET, Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology. Uska ek department tha College of Media Arts.
  21. He changed his degree from Bachelors in Computer Arts to Bachelors in TV and Film Productions. My degree was Bachelors in Computer Arts. I changed it to Bachelors in TV and Film Productions.
  22. He ranked in the top ten of his batch by the end of the semester. I would say by the end of the semester I was in top 10.
  23. He says he failed English in his first semester. Main kabhi fail nahi hua aur first semester mein angrezi mein fail hua.
  24. He says he was learning while studying. Yeah basically I was learning while while studying.
  25. He and his collaborators came up with the idea of a video called Happy in Karachi. And we thought yaar what if we create a video called Happy in Karachi?
  26. He and his collaborators created Bekaar Vines. Phir humne banaya Bekaar Vines.
  27. He says one of his group's videos was shared by the US Embassy. Abe hamari video US Embassy ne share ki hai!
  28. Bekaar Vines was renamed Bekaar Films because the group made longer sketches. then we transformed it into Bekaar Films because we were not making short vines, we were making more of three, four, five, seven minutes sketches.
  29. He says Bekaar Films plans to become a web series platform. So now what we have planned is to convert it into a web series platform.
  30. He says Bekaar Films is not shelved but is taking a break. No, not shelved, but it's taking a break.
  31. He says he turned down an offer to work on a project he did not want to make. So I was offered Superstar, I left that, I said no, I don't want to make it.
  32. He says he and the group realised they were making enough money to leave and work on Bekaar Films full-time. we realized ke we are making enough money that we can leave this and, you know, do full-time, full-time Bekaar Films.
  33. He has a channel called Imagination Pictures, on which he mostly creates web series. the channel is called Imagination Pictures. On that, I create web series, mostly.
  34. He released a web series called Introverts. I released a web series called Introverts.
  35. He says his group does not earn as much from YouTube and relies more on brands. hum YouTube se utna nahi kamate, hum brands pe zyada rely karte hain.
  36. He says brands took a considerable jolt when the economy fell. Ab brands ko brands ko bhi accha khasa jhatka pada jab economy giri.
  37. He describes the period from June-July 2022 onwards as a free fall. June July 2022 onwards was free fall.
  38. He says the brands are not in for long-term contracts. the brands are not in for the long-term contracts.
  39. He says a web series cannot be produced in two months. Ab web series cannot be produced in two months.
  40. He says there are many good writers, both new-age and older. new age ke bhi aur purani age ke bhi writer exist karte hain bahut acche.
  41. He says writers do not travel because they cannot afford to, and he believes their lack of travel experience leaves their writing somewhat limited. Hamare writers bechare na travel nahi karte. They cannot afford to. And because of lack of experience in their travel, I believe they they their writing skills are a little bit limited.
  42. He says English is a form of communication. bhai angrezi is a form of communication.
  43. He says Indian audiences have matured. Coming back to Indian audience, they have matured.
  44. He believes ages 29 to 33 are the most confusing age. the age of 29 to 33 is the most confusing age. I believe.
  45. He thinks many people chose Dubai because it was the fastest place to relocate to. I think a lot of people why they chose Dubai was because Dubai was the fastest to relocate to.
  46. He describes himself as an introvert who dislikes fame. I never wanted I am the everybody knows I hate fame. I'm a very introvert kind of a person.
  47. He says the group's office was in Clifton and was shifted from one place to another to cut costs. We we hamara office Clifton mein tha. Uh we shifted it from one place to another to cut the cost.
  48. He describes himself as a casual gamer, not a professional one. Not a professional gamer but a time pass gamer I'd say.
  49. He says he started watching Friends after realising that everyone around him was watching it. Toh wahan aapko samajh mein aaya ke yaar okay sab Friends dekh rahe hain main bhi dekh sakta hoon.
  50. Sami Rehman is a storyteller, filmmaker, YouTuber and co-founder of Bekaar Films. Sami Rehman is a storyteller, filmmaker, Youtuber and Co-founder at Bekaar Films.