Humayun Saeed and Mehwish Hayat unite to recreate their on screen chemistry for television.
INSTEPREport
Scheduled to air very soon, Nadeem Baig’s new outing sets its eyes on recreating the Humayun Saeed-Mehwish Hayat magic for the small screen.
Karachi
We saw Humayun Saeed and Mehwish Hayat spin some on-screen chemistry in Nadeem Baig’s hugely successful Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, and cashing in on that, the troupe is coming back together for upcoming TV series, Dillagi. With the new age of ‘film stars’ gravitating towards cinema, it is refreshing to see Humayun Saeed committed to Pakistan’s biggest medium, television. He is selective about his small screen projects but hasn’t abandoned them altogether.
After a four-year break, we will be seeing Humayun Saeed in Nadeem Baig’s upcoming play Dillagi, which has already created much hype around its teasers (on TV), and its full-fledged promo that was unveiled at the press meet-up, held on Wednesday evening, at New York Coffee Karachi.
Riding high on romance, emotions and drama, the promo is quite impressive and provides a lot to look forward to. The play has a grand setting with strong powerful characters, making it look more like a film because of its splendid visuals. Setting a new trend for others to follow, Humayun said that they have tried to make the visual as well as the content of the play appealing, so as to lend it a larger than life scale that we normally associate with cinema.
Director Nadeem Baig at the press conference. (Right) The drama appears to have a grand, filmy feel as seen in the BTS shot.
“It is a very special project for me. The script is beautiful and the role is written for Humayun,” said the director, Nadeem who is also working with Humayun on JPNA 2.
“The story is basically a journey of two people, where a single misunderstanding gives rise to the events that unfold,” Humayun revealed at the press con. “I fall in love with Mehwish at first sight and she hates me (which is quite obvious in the promo) and I have to win her over.”
There’s the obvious romance but unexpectedly, Humayun is also seen in an action mode with a gun in hand. One wonders whether his character has a negative streak; he might be playing an anti-hero or something. However, he said it is not what it seems and he is a good guy in the play. He only uses weapons for a good cause.
Talking about his comeback to the small screen (after working in films) Humayun said, “I have a different way of moving in the industry; I made Main Hoon Shahid Afridi when nobody else was making films. After doing two films last year - JPNA and Bin Roye - now when I see everyone going towards films, I thought I should do a play.”
“I had never lost connection with the small screen; after Kaafir and Ijazat, I took a break because my production house needed me,” the actor said on why he initially took a break from TV.
“The script was good, Nadeem was there and Faiza Iftikhar was writing the play - these were enough reasons to do it. Not that I would be doing plays every now and then but I want to stay connected to the small screen,” he added.
Mehwish Hayat, who will also be seen on television after more than a year, is very excited on working with the same team and playing a different character than ever before. “This is my second project with Humayun and it is very close to my heart. This is an ideal team to work with,” she expressed.
“I will not be playing that typical damsel in distress kind of role and so I had to say yes. In this one, I am a strong girl similar to what I am in real life,” she added.
Playing Humayun’s mother in the play, Saba Hameed appears to have a very influential role. Talking about her character, she shared, “The character is so different and the woman I am playing is not a typical mother-in-law. It’s a very powerful character with quite complex emotions. At times you will love me; at times you will hate me.”
Dillagi certainly does give TV addicts something to look forward to. It has the making of a hit serial but only time and the first few episodes will tell whether Humayun, Mehwish and Nadeem Baig can recreate the JPNA magic that they hope to cash in on.