We’re living in digital times and as web content slowly seeps into our lives, Pakistani filmmakers get with the program for four web series that we can look forward to watching online.
Web series are growing by leaps and bounds globally and the local industry has now started to explore the digital medium as well. Earlier this year Wajahat Rauf’s web series, titled Enaaya, that featured Mehwish Hayat, Azfar Rehman and Asad Siddiqui in key roles, was released on Eros Now. And it seems like the trend is fast catching on.
Not only does web content allow producers to tell stories without any restrictions, it also allows storytellers to hone their craft and experiment with new and innovative stories that may not have an audience on TV or in cinemas.
With a growing interest in online content, different web series are expected to come out later this year. Instep gives you a low down on four of them.
Shameless Proposals
Sadia Jabbar’s seven-part web series, Shameless Proposals, highlights the process of desi proposal system, which is quite common in our part of the world.
Directed by Hunny Haroon and written by Saji Gul of O Rangreza fame, the official trailer of Shameless Proposals was released recently and gave a glimpse into the irony of arranged marriages. The web series sheds light upon the efforts a girl has to put in to get a decent proposal and how important it is for her to be perfect in order to get married. Treated in a lighthearted manner, Shameless Proposals depicts the dynamics that are necessary to get a marriage proposal and how typical demands and expectations are much more important than a girl’s educational or social background. The recently released trailer shows that the girl will come across seven proposals, each with a different demand, and her challenge is to pick one suitor out of the lot.
The first episode comes out on YouTube on March 29, 2019.
Badshah Begum
Badshah Begum is another high profile web series, which is being produced by Rafay Rashdi. The upcoming online series will feature Imran Ashraf, Iman Ali, and Gohar Rasheed in key roles. According to Rafay, the project, that has been in the pipeline since 2017, is not a period drama and the story is very much set in present times. In a recent interview with an online portal, Rafay shared that Badshah Begum is a story about a family and the power struggle that happens in it and that it has a profound message.
The project is all set to go on floors later this year.
Jan e Jahan
Udaari actor Ahsan Khan, who was part of the first few episodes in Mohammad Ehteshamuddin’s ongoing period drama Aangan, is all set to star in an upcoming web series along with Ayeza Khan. Produced by Sana Shahnawaz, the web series is titled Jan e Jahan and is all about family differences. A complete family drama, the web series highlights the politics happening within the family and features Samiya Mumtaz, Qavi Khan and Sohail Ahmed apart from Ahsan Khan and Ayeza Khan.
Djinn
Dubbed as a supernatural thriller, Djinn, will follow the story of a 17-year-old from the northern areas of Pakistan, who is on a quest to stop djinn from taking over the world. According to producer Ali Murtaza, Hollywood VFX supervisor Brian Adler (whose credits range from Terminator and Antman to Batman vs. Superman and Furious 7) has been roped in for the project.
The web series is said to feature Hamza Ali Abbasi along with Emily Blunt, Bryce Dallas and Katheryn Winnick.
Apart from these web series, ace filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar who has drama serials Daam, Mata e Jaan Hai Tu, and the ongoing play Dil Kiya Kare, as well as films such as Raamchand Pakistani and Dobara Phir Se to her credit is also set to venture into the digital space. For now all we know that she has joined hands with Umera Ahmad for the untitled web series, which will feature Bilal Abbas Khan in a pivotal role. Moreover, Jami Mahmood of Moor fame is also working on something with Netflix but no details have been revealed as yet.
