Faisal Saif
Faisal Saif (Arabic: فئصل سئف), is a Indian film director, film critic and writer. He mostly chooses controversial themes and stories for his films and gained notice with the movies Jigyaasa, Main Hoon Rajinikanth and Amma.
Career
Saif started his career as an independent music video director. He directed videos for Catrack Music and Vital Records.
Saif made his first feature film Come December in 2003 which received the International Special Award of Cultural Vision in storytelling from the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival. He then made Jigyaasa (2006). India media believed that Jigyaasa was based on the life of the sex symbol Mallika Sherawat, but Faisal has denied this. He made the film Paanch Ghantey Mien Paanch Crore with Pakistani actor Meera
Faisal is also co-editor of Global Movie magazine and a film critic and feature writer for Bollywood for a number of news portals.
During creative sessions with veteran filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh while he was directing Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish in 2012, Saif discussed having a transgender antagonist dealing their gender identity with Ghosh, something which Saif later incorporated in his upcoming film Amma. The character is played by acclaimed actor Rajpal Yadav.
