Instep catches up with director Wajahat Rauf, who seems to have a lot up his sleeve for the Karachi Se Lahore sequel.
After entertaining viewers with a fair share of comedy in his big screen directorial debut Karachi Se Lahore, Wajahat Rauf is all set to direct its sequel, titled Lahore Se Aagey. The rom-com is expected to be a musical journey with Saba Qamar playing a musician opposite Yasir Hussain, who won the hearts of many with his brilliant comic timing in the first installment. Hussain will reprise his role as Moti and set off to another road trip full of highs and lows. The film also stars Behroze Sabzwari, Rubina Ashraf and choreographer Hasan Rizvi, who will be making his acting debut with the film, in supporting roles. Here are excerpts from Rauf’s conversation with Instep.
Instep: How does the title reflect the story of the film? What’s the film about?
Wajahat Rauf: Since this is a spinoff of my first film (Karachi se Lahore), Lahore Se Aagey, like the title implies, is about another journey that starts from Lahore. The film takes off from the next morning from where KSL ended.
Instep: Was the sequel planned ahead of the first part?
WR: No, the spinoff wasn’t planned. It was much after KSL’s release when we thought about making this film.
Instep: Why did you opt for Saba Qamar instead of Ayesha Omar in the sequel?
Behind the scenes: Saba Qamar learning to play the guitar for her character in the film.
WR: I wanted Lahore Se Aagey to be a different film altogether. The only character I have retained is Moti, played by Yasir Hussain. I think our audiences deserve something fresh each time they go to the cinema. Getting the old cast would have made it too similar although they were great in their characters.
Instep: Why did you choose to continue with Yasir’s character? Is it because audiences appreciated his character more?
WR: The massive response we got on Moti’s character inspired us to do more with it. Since it was a supporting role in KSL, we couldn’t play around with it too much then. But now that Yasir is doing the lead, there will be much more to the character. But it will surely have Moti’s sharp and witty one-liners.
Instep: Ayesha Omar’s item song in the first edition got caught up in a bit of controversy. Do you plan to include an item song again?
WR: Ayesha did an awesome job with ‘Tutty Fruity’ but there is no item song in this one. There are out and out high energy performance-based songs though.
Instep: Earlier you told us that LSA would not look like a commercial due to excessive branding. How are you going to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?
WR: First, by not keeping a presenting sponsor. And secondly, one of the key lessons that I’ve learnt from KSL was that no one likes too much of ‘in your face’ branding. So even if we get sponsors on board, we will try and use them in a subtle and creative way.
Instep: Who is doing the music for the film? Saba is playing a musician so the quality of soundtrack must be strong…
WR: It is a film driven by music so it has to be really good. Shiraz Uppal will be doing the music and I trust him completely to come up with a soundtrack that will be remembered for a long time.
Instep: Why do you make comedies only and not try some other genre for your films? Are you currently working on any other film/s? Do they also belong to the same genre or are they going to be different?
WR: They won’t be road trips for sure. But then you never know. I have a desire to shoot a film in Los Angeles, where I went to college, so let’s see. I would like to continue doing romantic comedies for now as it is something that comes naturally to me and Yasir. And one should do the kind of films that he or she enjoys. I have produced enough rona dhona for TV. So when I direct, I want to stay connected with the youth and make films that are fun to watch. Maybe later on, I’ll do a cool action film.
Instep: Given the revival of the Pakistani cinema where both new and experienced filmmakers are experimenting with their scripts, what do you, as a filmmaker, aspire to achieve in this regard?
WR: The really amazing thing is that about 50 films are being planned as we speak. So there will be all kinds of genres. Some will be conventional, some experimental. It’s too early to say what will work but I think most of the people who are making new films are educated, have the exposure and the technical know-how so they can’t do a bad job. All we need are more screens in Pakistan. Personally for me, I’d like our films to be appreciated internationally so that the image of our country is softened. It is important for people to know that we are a creative and fun-loving bunch.