On a hot Saturday afternoon in Karachi, the charismatic pair of Parde Mein Rehne Do Ali Rehman Khan and Hania Aamir, director Wajahat Rauf and producer Shazia Wajahat gathered at Koel Cafe to promote their upcoming Eid film.
The conversation with team Something Haute starts with the burning question that why should people watch Parde Mein Rehne Do on Eid because this time they have four more films to choose from, namely Dum Mastam, Ghabrana Nahi Hai, Chakkar and Tere Bajre Di Rakhi.
“It is a different film for me as a director as well. I have made out-and-out entertainers previously, but this one has a deep social message in it wrapper in comedy and entertainment. The over-all canvas of the film has completely changed because of a different writer Mohsin Ali,” Wajahat Rauf said, adding, “The subject chose me and came my way. It was challenging as well as relatable in a sense that the issue is prevalent but no one talks about it. So, we can talk about it without preaching, in a light manner so people might understand it.”
Despite being important, it is a difficult time to tackle sensitive subjects through comedy because the level of tolerance and acceptance has changed over time. How difficult it was to maintain that balance to not offend anyone?
“I have removed an entire sequence of 4-5 minutes because it was actually becoming over-sensitive. Otherwise, it is a family movie that doesn’t have any lines that will make you uncomfortable, except one maybe. The dialogues are very PG13. I would want parents to come and watch it with their kids because it will create awareness,” he added.
The film isn’t your run-of-the mill romantic comedy with just lighthearted banter, songs and dance, but Hania insists that the subject is extremely necessary and important.
“It is high time that we start making movies that are not about one wedding or two weddings, or two mehndi songs. We’ve made the audience so accustomed to watching the same thing over and over again that they are ready for the adversity to come. We’re hoping there are like-minded people who will come to watch it,” she said.
Many thought after the trailer released that Parde Mein Rehnde Do is tackling the condition of impotency but that is not right. Ali Rehman Khan clarified the film is about infertility. So, what’s the difference between the two?
“When all physical relationships between a couple is fine but the they are unable to conceive because of a underlying medical condition. We’ve not revealed who is infertile but the film talks about all the social pressures of not having a child,” Wajahat explained while Shazia Wajahat added: “Our children are already exposed to so much information through the internet that they know more about things than we do. So, it is better to make them aware about these subjects to create a better society.”
We’ve seen in the trailer how Ali’s character Shani is suffering from all the societal pressures and struggling to save his marriage, but what about Hania?
“Nazo is a strong female who is humane and considerate. There is nothing pretentious about her. She is the ‘catalyst’ in the story and you’ll see how. She will stand by her husband given he stands by her too,” Hania shared.
Neither Hania nor Ali had any reservations to play these characters because they liked the roles. However, is it important to be friends off-screen to build a chemistry on screen or is it the opposite?
“I’ve realized that I do not need to be close or friendly with any actor to show good chemistry on screen. I have realized this by watching myself on TV that how did this happen? So, probably it’s just good acting,” Hania said.
The music of the film didn’t boasts well-known and expected music directors. Why is that?
“We had a falling out with the music director who was making the music for this film. So, my son Aashir Wajahat and his partner in music Hassan Ali got together to work on. So far, we’ve released two songs — Peela Rung and Chal Chalein Kaheen — and I really like what they have done. Yasir Hussain gave us the line ‘teray uttay peela rung suit karda’. Aashir and Hassan have done all the lyrics, compositions and production of the music album and it seems quite mature as their first,” Wajahat shared.
Read: Haute Review: Parde Mein Rehne Do trailer
How hard it was as producers to put your money into a film about a taboo subject in Pakistan?
“It is quite risky to make a film in Pakistan, however this subject is difficult considering many families might not be receptive to the idea of watching this film together, wives may not feel comfortable watching it with their husbands or vice versa. So, in case we don’t get returns through cinematic release, there is always digital to fall back on. We finalized our music deals, digital release and TV release to ensure returns,” Wajahat concluded.
Watch the full interview of the team of Parde Mein Rehne Do here:
