Syed Noor

Syed Noor (Punjabi, ) (born Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin Noor) is a Pakistani film director based in Lahore.

Early life and education Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin Noor was born on 21 February 1950 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He completed his schooling in Lahore and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Government Dyal Singh College, Lahore.

Career

Screenwriter In 1970, Syed Noor joined the Pakistani film industry as an assistant to director S. Suleman. Noor assisted S. Suleman for 18 feature films, after which, he penned his first script for the film, Society Girl (1976), which was considered the best film of the year. After the success of his first film, Noor became the prime screenwriting talent in the Pakistani film industry and worked with all the prominent directors of the time.

Director In 1993, Syed Noor made his directorial debut with the movie, Qasam, which was successful at the box office. During this time, Pakistani cinema was ruled by Punjabi films. Syed Noor began to make films with the intention of reviving Urdu cinema, and his second film Jeeva (1995) and third film Sargam (1995) realized his intent. Noor also introduced a number of new actors in his films, who went on to have illustrious careers in the film industry. With the success of Urdu movies, now Punjabi films began to disappear from cinemas, especially after the murder of Punjabi film superstar, Sultan Rahi. At this point, Noor announced that he would work on Punjabi films and gave his first Punjabi directorial, the super-hit Choorian (1998), which is considered one of the most successful films of Pakistani film industry. The vast success of Choorian was followed by another Punjabi film by Noor, Majajan (2006), which ran in cinemas for even longer than its predecessor.

Media education With the intent of teaching filmmaking to a new generation, Syed Noor launched Paragon Studios and Paragon Academy of Performing Arts. Partnering with the Mass Communications Department of Punjab University, Noor began to teach film as a subject. During this time, multiplex cinemas began to be built in Pakistan and film became digitized, which gave new filmmakers excellent opportunities for new material and projects.

Awards and recognition After writing nearly 300 films, directing 55 films, and winning more than 10 National Awards and many other honors, Syed Noor was awarded the highest civilian honor of Pakistan, the "Sitara-i-Imtiaz" (Star of Excellence) Award by the Pakistani government in 2013.

Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2013

Filmography Screenwriter Syed Noor was the screenwriter for film director Sangeeta's successful film Society Girl followed by over 250 more films.

Director