Jawad Bashir confident of learning from past mistakes

‘Teri Meri Love Story’ director on lessons learnt from ‘Maya’, completion of latest shooting spell

KARACHI:

When musician-director Jawad Bashir first announced his cinematic debut with Maya in 2015, the news came as a surprise to many. From someone who is known as more of a comedy person, it was hard to imagine him experimenting with horror films.

What was even more surprising was how the film went unnoticed, virtually from the point of its production to the point of its release. Some would argue that making the film was risky business for Bashir right from the get-go. Even if little attention was paid to Maya and the film was taken down from cinemas without it disturbing the slumber of record-keepers at the box office, for the director it was a learning experience worth investing in.

“I have always taken pride in doing things differently and I was glad I started my career [in films] with a horror film because I always knew I would get many more opportunities to make comedy movies later on,” he told The Express Tribune. While his first outing may have been a blunder, Bashir remains unfettered and is hopeful of contributing to the cause of the film industry in the long run.

In a day and age where marketing and publicity are everything, Bashir feels a lack of hype for the film led to its failure. “People are not always willing to invest in horror movies so I had to produce Maya myself. I had exhausted all my savings during the production and since we had no money or media partners on board, we weren’t able publicise our product properly,” he recalled.



Having recently wrapped up the first production spell of his next feature film, Teri Meri Love Story, Bashir is confident he will not repeat the mistakes he made with Maya. “[This time] I have spent over three months rehearsing with the actors. We’ve had a very detailed pre-production for the movie. The preparation process has been very thorough as each and every actor and crew member has been briefed about their role in the movie,” he added.

Describing comedy as a genre that fits him like a glove, he said he felt more at home while working on Teri Meri Love Story. But for a movie that comprises a diverse cast of actors such as Mohib Mirza, Salman Shahid, Mohsin Abbas Haider, Uzma Khan and Ushna Shah, making humour work is the least of his concerns. “Fortunately there is excellent camaraderie between everyone, on and off the set. And since we had detailed rehearsals and reading sessions prior to the commencement of the shoot, everyone has gelled nicely; not only with each other but also with their on-screen characters,” said Bashir.

A notable name missing from the movie’s cast is Syra Shehroz. When the film was first announced a few months back, the actor seemed to be in the mix for the project but was eventually replaced by Ushna Shah. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with her as she had her own commitments; plus, we were also lucky to have found an excellent performer in Ushna [Shah].”

Unwilling to disclose the synopsis of the movie at such an early stage, Bashir remained tight-lipped about its storyline. However, terming it as a movie poking fun at the “irony of love”, he shared “It basically talks about the different shades of personality everyone has when they are in a relationship.”

Expected to release around September 2016, production for the movie will be completed in the next few weeks. The music for the film has been composed by Afzal Hussain.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2016.

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