Tassaduq Mufti
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A profile
He's best known for his outstanding cinematography in Bollywood movies like 'Omkara' and 'Kaminey', but Tassaduq Hussain Mufti also happens to be the only son of late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Tassaduq has always been reluctant to join politics but now he is all set to play a bigger role in the People's Democratic Party (PDP) which is in a bit of a shambles after some senior leaders like Tariq Karra have resigned from the party.
Here are some interesting facts about him.
1. Tassaduk Hussain left Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 as a teenager, graduated from the American Film Institute and went on to become a globally acclaimed cinematographer.
2. Tassaduk has stayed far from politics all these years, and has been busy shooting and making commercials apart doing camera for the movies. Among Tassaduk's best-known commercials is the highly popular Google Search: Reunion, about how the Internet search engine reunites two friends separated by the partition. He also directed a promotional video for Jammu and Kashmir Tourism, which shows the state as an idyllic, beautiful place.
3. His transformation from a media professional into a reluctant dynast sounds distinctly Shakespearean, and it is therefore fitting that he was introduced into Hindi films through Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of the Bard's Othello (Omkara) in 2006. Tasasduk teamed up with Bhardwaj again for the grungy Mumbai-based Kaminey in 2009.
4. Apart from shooting Indian classics like Omkara, Mufti Jr has also shot two English short films - Monsieur Renaud and Strike!
5. Married to a Sikh woman from Punjab, Tassaduk had always maintained that his great passions are primarily apolitical - issues like the environment and the preservation of heritage and culture.
6. Throughout the late chief minister's political career, Tassduq was almost never seen in public with his father or his sister Mehbooba who eventually became chief minister. It was only after the death of Mufti Sayeed that Tassaduq made his presence felt alongside his family members.
7. Following his father's death, he tried his best to shield himself from the crowds and the cameras. During the mourning period of his father at the Mufti residence on Gupkar Road in Srinagar, Tassaduq came across as a shy and introverted young man but he is quite the opposite.
8. Though he was away from state politics and busy shooting around the world, Tassaduk had worked closely with his father in transforming Srinagar into a heritage city. He conceived of the idea and provided valuable suggestions to the late chief minist
9. iN 2016, he was introduced to the People's Democratic Party top brass by his elder sister Mehbooba. Since then he has been seen as the next in line for political succession.
10. Tassaduq formally joined the party at a function organised to commemorate his father and late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Family and early life
He won an award for Omkara, and remains very passionate about environment and the need to protect Kashmir's tourist resorts.
The lights and camera may be on Mehbooba Mufti for now, but it could be her shy brother who could emerge as the dark-horse, a real scion of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. And the family, including the current heir apparent Mehbooba, would have no problem with the son-rise. Or would there be issues?
Forty-four year old Tassaduq, the youngest of the four siblings, and only son among three daughters of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, is home and sticking. He hasn't moved an inch from Fairview since his father's death; when he did briefly on two occasions, he hand held a teary-eyed Mehbooba to Mufti's tombstone and again to wave at supporters in Bijbehara, family's maiden political turf.
In that sense, Tassaduq isn't a prodigal, he is not running away anywhere.
He has just met young entrepreneurs, boys and girls with start-up projects, coffee shops, boutiques, Kashmir arts, giving them tips on funding, packaging and markets. This follows a few 'political' ones, including the all important - the core group meet of PDP too functionaries. The acclaimed cinematographer - he won an award for Omkara- remains very passionate about environment and the need to protect Kashmir's tourist resorts. In a family outing to Pahalgam last summer, he rued the widespread construction at the health resort. "Don't get surprised if he gives you 10 ideas about solid waste management or how to keep the Dal lake clean. It has been high on his priority list," says one of his old friends. That way he has been his father's son.
Those virtues come not only through DNA but also on-field experience. Many of his media projects in fact have been on sensitising people about environment conservation and scientific disposal of waste. But it isn't environment that the family and party are talking right now.
Whether Mehbooba takes oath as Chief minister in next few weeks or not, the party weight could eventually fall on Tassaduq if not now but in the next 10 years. At 56, Mehbooba is getting no younger. She would be experienced enough but would require people - and those she can trust - to run its day-to-day affairs. Mufti's son may have been wet to politics, but trust him to know the ropes. A tiger never changes his stripes. A bit of grooming by sister, who has built the party brick by brick, would help too. Political expediency and not choice has ensured that. Speculations are rife that Tassaduq would be fielded from Anantnag, if at all Mehbooba makes up her mind to become the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Even if she won't, Tassaduq has arrived. He is here. The spotlight may be on Mehbooba's next move, but make no mistake, Tassaduq is the man of the house. He is no longer the kid he was many years ago.
A pampered child fed on Tintin comics and movies watched on vintage VCR, Tassaduq was a good student, a bit shy, innovative but restless - could be the thirst to explore beyond the routine and politics. He would evince interest in sport too, his passion hockey.
Those who know him closely say he was nicknamed Nikki or Nixon perhaps after the popular American President. Senior Mufti always had a keen eye for talent and great retention.
Doting dad made sure he got the pick-and-drop from his Tulsibagh government quarter to school though the son detested the 'old battered ambassador'. The girls would have to manage often in public transport. When Mufti was the union home minister, his youngest daughter Rubiya was brought down from a private matador and abducted while coming back from medical college by JKLF militants. Simply put, the boy was born with a silver spoon in mouth. In his friend circle, Tassaduq would never throw his weight around for being the son of a famous father.
The outbreak of militancy during his formative years perhaps weighed heavy on young Tasaduq. It was then the family shifted to Delhi, around the same time when Mufti was tourism minister first and Union home minister later. College done in capital, he started the FORE - Film Oriented and Related Expressions, a media outlet that churned out promotional capsules and short films on social themes and environment.
In between, he studied cinematography in US, returned to shoot for Omkara.
For someone who was mama's boy, his inter-community marriage came perhaps as a shock to the family. Here, Mufti Sayeed and Farooq Abdullah have much in common. Their sons seemed to have done what perhaps their families did not chose for them. Omar came back, now perhaps it is Nikki's turn.
