By Shabnam Mahmood
BBC Asian Network

Director Hammad Khan says filming in Islamabad is now very difficult because of heightened security measures

Islamabad is the setting for British director Hammad Khan’s first film Slackistan, a low budget independent feature looking at Pakistan’s young and privileged as they drift around in a world of dating, drinking and parties despite the terror attacks on their city.

“On a personal trip to the country I realised this was a story right under our noses to tell about young people out there,” says Khan.

Khan’s wife Shandana Ayub, from north London, has co-written and produced the movie.

“For someone who doesn’t know Pakistan at all, the images they’ll see on TV is of bombs and bad people – but that’s not the kind of Pakistan we know,” she says. {Read More…}

Slackistan: A new look at Islamabad,

indie music and individuality
Instep Today speaks to Hammad Khan,
the director of the upcoming film Slackistan

Saba Imtiaz

The Slackistan trailer has been discussed and dissected widely. The story of young adults trying to discover themselves in a rapidly changing Islamabad has garnered a lot of interest in Pakistan and abroad. Directed by the London-based Pakistani filmmaker Hammad Khan, Slackistan may just be the most relevant film for young people who find themselves searching for their identity in the socio-political climate.  Instep Today speaks with the filmmaker… {Read More…}

We all know about the legend Rohail Hyatt for the services he has provided to the music industry of Pakistan since the times of Vital Signs. The Vital Signs which gave us one of the best patriotic songs of the world, Dil Dil Pakistan (ranked 3rd in BBC Top ten list) and Rohail Hyatt which gave us Coke Studio, another reason to be proud of Pakistan. The son, Danial Hyatt continues what Rohail had started. We had seen Danial Hyatt doing the animations and visuals for Coke Studio but this is the first time the music by Danial is coming out and that too for Pakistan. Slackistan is a film by Hammad Khan & Shandana Ayub to  revive the image of Pakistan. The film will be featuring tracks by Mole, Kominas, Adil Omar and Uzair Jaswal. OST of the movie is going to be “Pink Moving Objects” by Mole, a band by Danial Hyatt, Faizan Riedinger, Amman Mushtaq and Habib. The track is amazing and goes to one of my all time favorite tracks. I am trying to get the track for you folks really soon.

Copyrights: Slackistan

See All The Pictures

By Riazat Butt

A few hundred miles from Pakistan’s Badlands, Islamabad is the setting for Hammad Khan’s new low-budget indie flick. So why does it feel like smalltown America?

Aisha Akhtar and Shahbaz Shigri, just - you know - hanging

Visitors to Islamabad, the small but perfectly formed capital of Pakistan, could be forgiven for thinking that the only things to rock the place were terrorist attacks. {Read More…}

For other information, please see this

‘Slackistan’ is an independent feature film by Hammad Khan about a group of twentysomething friends desperately stuck in angst and confusion in their hometown of Islamabad.

The sensation of Islamabad, Uzair Jaswal and the only internationally recognized Pakistani rapper Adil Omar are teaming up for the soundtrack of the film.

The film is being directed by the award-winning filmmaker Hammad Khan, whose short films have been screened, nominated and awarded at film festivals around the world.

Slackistan stars some of the freshest, most talented and downright cool personalities you could expect to be introduced to namely:

Shahbaz Hamid Shigri
Ali Rehman Khan
Shahana Khan Khalil
Osman Khalid Butt
Aisha Linnea Akhtar

For more details on the film, see the Facebook group.