As the line between real and unreal blurs, Pakistani filmmaker Muhammad Umer Gulzari is redefining storytelling. The director and founder of Age Films fuses generative AI with cinematic craft to create work that feels both real and futuristic. In this conversation, he reflects on AI’s promises and pitfalls, the challenge of winning over brands, and why it’s still all about emotion and story.
Synergyzer: You have spent over 15 years in film, direction, and production. What first drew you to storytelling, AI filmmaking and the founding of Age Films?
Umer Gulzari: I have known since I was a kid that I wanted to be a director, long before I understood what that even meant. Life took me through detours, fashion design, video production, and even makeup for film and TV. At the time, it felt scattered, but looking back, it was all training, every piece adding up to the storyteller I have become.
I spent years inside Pakistan’s entertainment machine, from Main Hoon Shahid Afridi and Jawani Phir Nahi Ani to Hum TV and MD Productions. I was part of Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo, Pakistan’s first Netflix Original, a project that was in development for years before it finally reached the camera. Around that time, AI started creeping into my process.
It began with something as simple as building mood boards and finalising characters, but soon it became a new kind of filmmaking. I realised I could merge my cinematic instincts with this evolving technology to create worlds that did not yet exist. That discovery became Age Films.
Today, we work in a hybrid space, shooting live footage, layering AI visuals, and designing realities that bend both art and code. I do not see AI as a shortcut; it is a tool like a camera or a brush, powerful, unpredictable, and only as good as the hand that guides it. What drives me now is that intersection where imagination meets innovation, that is where the future of storytelling lies.
Synergyzer: From blending Qawwali with rap to creating Haye Garmi and AI ads like Toyota’s Aik Pal Ki Laparwahi, how do you come up with such unique ideas?
Umer Gulzari: Ideas are everywhere; you just have to be awake enough to notice them. Haye Garmi began on a brutally hot day when someone on my team joked about the pain of sitting on a sun-baked motorcycle seat. That one line turned into a whole world, melting ice creams, sweating crowds, and the chaos of a Pakistani summer — and we built it like a short film rather than a meme. I always try to give my work that cinematic texture, even if it’s made entirely with AI.
Some projects are born in-house, like Haye Garmi or the Qawwali-rap experiment. Others, like Toyota’s Aik Pal Ki Laparwahi, come through agencies. That one was developed by M&C Saatchi for World Road Safety Day, and we handled the entire AI production process, including revisions.
Whether it is a joke, a brief, or something overheard at a dhaba, I treat every spark the same way, build the concept, script it, refine it, and design a world around it. The tools may change, but the process remains cinematic.
Synergyzer: Your AI-generated ads look almost real, and you have even reimagined yourself across eras to test AI’s limits. How do you turn a blank prompt into something cinematic, and what have these experiments taught you about blending reality, performance, and technology?
Umer Gulzari: For me, AI filmmaking is not about typing a clever prompt, it is about directing, just with a new kind of camera. The process still begins the same way it always has: with a script, a storyboard, and a sense of rhythm. We map every shot, the wide, the close-ups, the inserts and then use AI to visualise those scenes instead of sketching them on paper.
Once the world and characters are built, we breathe life into them, adding movement, dialogue, sound, and the flow of the edit. It’s everything traditional filmmaking demands, just without the physical shoot. And sometimes we still shoot, when I need a real human gesture, a blink, a moment of emotion. That footage becomes a guide for the AI, helping it understand nuance.
The video where I step into different characters was not vanity, it was a demo. I wanted clients to see how a real performance can merge seamlessly with AI visuals, how we bridge those two worlds. The goal is not to replace what’s human, but to extend it to let technology amplify storytelling instead of stealing its soul.
Synergyzer: With Step in the Light, you are not just showing what AI can do; you are making a statement. Does “stepping into the light” mean embracing the future with AI, and what bigger message were you hoping to share?
Umer Gulzari: Honestly, there wasn’t some deep manifesto behind it. Step in the Light was an experiment, a way to push the tools, test transitions, and see how far AI could go in creating a sense of pace and energy.
But over time, the phrase “step in the light” started to feel symbolic, not just for the audience, but for us as creators. It is a reminder to keep moving forward, to stay curious, and to work in the open rather than hide from what is new. For me, that is what this film really means: staying in the light…always learning, always evolving, always creating.
Synergyzer: How challenging is it to run a frontier AI company out of Pakistan, where infrastructure, client budgets and digital literacy often lag behind global markets?
Umer Gulzari: To be honest, things have changed a lot. COVID, in many ways, was a turning point. It pushed the world online and made geography almost irrelevant. As long as you have the tools, the talent, and a strong online presence, you are not working from Pakistan; you are working for the world. Today, we have clients in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. Basically, we are no longer limited to the local market. Pakistan is just our base, and not a boundary.
Synergyzer: What is the one thought you would share with young filmmakers and creatives in Pakistan, whether about how AI will shape their future or a lesson from your own journey?
Umer Gulzari: The world is changing faster than ever, even faster than it was a year ago. In this new reality, you can’t keep blaming the system, the government, or your surroundings. If you are not keeping up, it’s time to look inward.
We all need to step out of the darkness and into the light by taking ownership of our own growth. There is a huge vacuum right now: no degrees, no formal training, it’s all self-taught. The tools are out there, the tutorials are free, you just have to be hungry enough to learn.
Do not wait for someone else to build the path. The government will catch up eventually, but you don’t have to wait. You are already ahead; you have the technology, the curiosity, and the opportunity.
Change doesn’t simply arrive; you create it. That is what I’d tell anyone starting out today.
