Of endless laughter and sweet reunions: 'The Legend of Maula Jatt' cast talks about magnum opus

“He’s lying!” I overhear Hamza Ali Abbasi’s thunderous laughter from behind as the actor takes a jibe at Bilal Lashari who was already in the middle of a recorded interview with a local magazine. “Whatever Billy’s saying isn’t true.” The filmmaker rapidly jokes back, “Hamza is a terrible actor!”

The atmosphere at The Legend of Maula Jatt’s promotions is electrifying as the duo then sits together for one of many interviews scheduled for the evening. Moments later, Lashari’s Mukkho arrives. Mahira Khan looked breathtaking in her true Jattni ensemble; with long tresses adorning her waist and chunky silver jewellery coupled with a plain black outfit. Sitting alongside producer Ammara Hikmat is Nasir Adeeb, the writer of Lashari’s magnum opus.

The return of Maula Jatt

“It’s a very different evening than what I am used to,” he tells me as we sit for a chat. Adeeb, who has a glittering career of over 50 years, has written 412 films so far. But 1979's Maula Jatt remains a timeless classic that would always be touted as his best work.

“Bilal came to meet me and told me that he wants to make a film. And not just any film, he wants to make Maula Jatt. I was silent for a while. He asked me the reason. I told him that people in India must have thought about remaking Sholay. But they didn’t because they must have thought about who could nail the role of Gabbar Singh, Jai and Veeru,” Adeeb comments.

“Similarly, if you’d make Maula Jatt, fans will think about Mustafa Qureshi and Sultan Rahi. But Bilal was adamant about working on the idea of Maula Jatt. He told me that the characters would be the same, but we will build a new story. We worked on the story together, but once we finished the script, I thought to myself that this story wouldn’t attract the audience,” he further elaborates.

The playwright then comments that he was shown a rough idea of where the film will be shot and what the get-up actors would do. “Bilal’s attention to detail for the film was impeccable. He is a genius when it comes to filmmaking and there was no doubt about it. I knew we had a good project on hand,” Adeeb smiles.

The writer adds how the ideation of his characters from the 70s came alive with Lashari’s brilliance. While there’s no Mustafa Qureshi or Sultan Rahi this time around, Adib is confident Fawad Khan plays a convincing protagonist while Hamza Ali Abbasi is his perfect nemesis.

The jitters set in

“I’m kind of nervous and excited,” the Ms. Marvel star chuckles, as he sits comfortably in an all-black shalwar kameez with a matching waistcoat. The actor, who has been swamped with one interview after the other, looks at ease, even though promotions aren’t his favourite part about the film, he tells me.

“Well, I am more nervous than excited. I have been away from a Pakistani screen for a long time. Not just cinema but just about any medium. I did a few cameos here and there, but I didn’t have to face the music after that. But this is big! I am one of the main casts here, so the pressure is definitely there.”

Breathing life into characters

Talking about his character and how he prepped for it, Khan goes on, “There was no inspiration behind it. And I will tell you why.” He elaborates, "Maula Jatt came out in the 70s, we are now sitting in 2022. The audience is very different as well. The taste has changed and evolved – for better or for worse. So, yes. Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi are veterans and to emulate what they did would be near to impossible. Especially for a person like me, who’s not fluent in Punjabi and really had a task on hand. I had to learn the language, which I have really forgotten now.”

For his arch-nemesis, nailing the language was the easier bit in the process of getting under the skin of his character. “I was part of this project from the very beginning. I was very excited to do this. I was very excited about Bilal’s vision of executing his idea of Noori. It was easier for me to do this role because I was a part of this project from the start,” Abbasi shares.

Talking about Noori, Abbasi asserts that contrary to the popular belief, the antagonist of this film isn’t as violent or gory as it might seem. “He keeps violence as last resort,” the actor tells me. However, it was very challenging, still. “The get-up of Noori was exhausting, with Lahore’s heat, the beard, the hair. Filling the shoes of Mustafa Qureshi Sahab was an added pressure. I can call it the most challenging character of my career,” Abbasi adds.

Lashari's Mukkho Jatti shares similar sentiments as her Humsafar costar. The Raees diva plays Maula’s love interest in the film. But it wasn’t the most difficult role she’s played so far. “I think this character was difficult for me because of the language as well. But I learned it. Bilal just wanted me to be myself. He told me to be the girl who’s at her happiest. And when I started speaking Punjabi, my body language changed. I became more robust, more inhibited,” she laughs.

Humaima Malick’s Daro, as per the actor who essays it, is fearless. Malick shares that Lashari got her onboard around the time she was working on another project. Once signed, the Arth star reveals she was asked by her director to not watch the previous Maula Jatt so as to not be confused with the 1970s Daro.

“My inspiration was Eva Green from 300,” Malick comments. “But since I was playing a Punjabi jattni, the challenges were very different. I was always a very slim girl all my life. But I was asked to put on some weight on the film. I enjoyed the process. Daro’s fearless, she’s fire! There’s a difference between being bold and being fearless. She’s confident of her sensuality. She’s proud of it. She’s not auctioning it, she’s owning it!”

Like Malick, Mirza Gohar Rasheed was also instructed by Lashari to not watch the original Maula Jatt. While many might think Makha is more suited to Rasheed’s career graph, the actor doesn’t believe it to be so.

“There’s this idea in the country that if an actor is good while portraying a role, he or she gets stereotyped for it,” he says. “Every character has its own challenges and the same was the case with Makha and with Bhatti (Rasheed’s character in his last offering, London Nahi Jaunga). They were not easy roles to play. I received a call in 2013, Bilal told me that he wants to cast me for this character, Makha Natt, Noori’s youngest sibling. I was more honoured about being a part of Bilal’s dream project other than being a part of this magnum opus. The process of transforming myself into Maakha Natt was easy, thanks to Bilal. He has this utmost clarity on how he wants all his characters to look, to speak. I just submitted myself to him, I was just following his lead.”

He adds, “One thing I did know after understanding Bilal’s vision of Maakha Natt, is that he is nowhere near the classic character. Muzaffar Adeeb was the actor who played Maakha in the original film. I can’t reveal much but little that I can tell you is that he’s the most mischievous and the naughty one. The weirdest bit was that Bilal wanted me to grow out my hair for the role. And it took a long time to do that and then another three years to keep my hair of that length. God bless women, truly.”

While most of the cast of the film are seasoned actors, there’s an artist who’s set to make his big-screen debut. The moment Faris Shafi stepped into the venue, the cast erupted in a cheer. Rasheed, Abbasi along with the director, Lashari, invited the rapper to join them in an ongoing interview.

“This is exactly how he’d walk into the sets every day,” Hikmat, who was witnessing the reunion, laughs. “He’d come in for shooting the goriest scenes with this infectious energy, a backpack and sunnies on, laughing, meeting everyone on his way in. He brought in so much joy, the swag we needed.”

Shafi, at this point, shakes his head. “She’s telling the truth. I had to bring in my laid-back attitude. But it’s been a lot of fun!” the Muaziz Saarif singer chuckles. Shafi then notes that despite the fun on sets, he does realise it’s a herculean project to take up for a debut. “I would say that it was Bilal and Ammara’s trust in me that they cast me in this huge film,” he says. “It’s been amazing from the beginning. But I wasn’t nervous about nailing Mooda. When I started shooting for it, Bilal had already laid out the plan for me. I just had to follow. When I got on board, the planning stage was already at a very advanced stage. Bilal lets you play around with the character, there are no restrictions."

The focal point

The chemistry between Maula and Noori must be the focal point in the film, Lashari had previously shared. And Khan concurs. The Khoobsurat star adds, “Well, Hamza and I haven’t really known each before Maula Jatt. There was social acquittance, but I didn’t know him very well. Maula and Noori’s relationship is purely antagonistic. It kind of helped that we didn’t know each other too well. I am a bit of a shy, intimidating person while he’s a loud and happening person with being charming at the same time. It just worked.”

Abbasi adds, “It was important for me that the actor who plays Maula be really good at it since Maula and Noori have such an intense relationship because I would feed off of his energy. Fawad has worked so brilliantly that it just worked for us. I think Maula Jatt is also his best performance so far.”

The Verna actor comments that she is very glad to not be headlining this film. “I am glad that the weight of carrying a film isn’t on my shoulders this time. I’m not the main girl, I just know that I gave my all for Mukkho,” she concludes.

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