It was in November last year that Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza’s Khel Khel Mein hit cinemas, eventually resuming movie screenings after almost two years. Come 2022, and we saw the release of Mansha Pasha and Junaid Khan starrer Kahay Dil Jidhar, which failed to impress critics and audiences.

However, things seem promising as we are now looking forward to the release of the much anticipated movie, Ishrat: Made In China, which marks actor Mohib Mirza’s directorial debut. The film, co-written by Mohib, was shot in Thailand and we know that the cast and crew were stuck there for a while because of severe travel restrictions following the Covid-19 outbreak.

Despite all the delays, we were more than glad to hear that the film was all set to release in theatres on March 3, in collaboration with Geo Films. Moreover, the official trailer of the film was released earlier this month in which Mohib Mirza can be seen in action with some comic elements thrown in.

While we see glimpses of Sanam Saeed looking absoultely stunning, in a never-seen-before avatar as Akhtar, we are introduced to various other characters including HSY, who essays the role of an antagonist, Sara Loren, Shamoon Abbasi and Rahat Kazmi amongst others.

Though the action comedy is said to be a spin-off of Mohib’s satirical TV show Ishrat Baji, and we will see Mohib essaying Ishrat’s character, we got in touch with the cast of Ishrat: Made In China to learn more about the movie, whether it is an adaptation of the TV show and most importantly what makes it a must-watch…

Mohib Mirza

Director, lead actor and co-writer

Talking to Instep about the overall experience of Ishrat: Made In China being his directorial debut, Mohib shares, “The toughest part of the job as a director was to give life to the script. You have a specific image of your movie in mind, you have written the screenplay accordingly, but to execute it as per your visualisation, combatting all uncertainties every single day was the most challenging for me.”

The actor-turned-director went on to say, “people consider pre-production to be the most important part of any project, and that’s true, but I had to spend a lot of time in post-production due to the pandemic.”

According to Mohib, there was a huge gap created by the pandemic so he spent a lot of time in post-production to stay focused on the script and make sure the final product is at par with the visualisation.

“Making a directorial debut with Ishrat: Made In China has been the best decision of my life. It gave me the opportunity to explore my storytelling capabilities, challenge my limits, project my approach towards acting and much more,” he adds

Speaking about co-writing the movie with Ahsan Raza Firdousi, Mohib reveals that he wrote the screenplay, while the script has been penned by Ahsan. “All I can tell you at this point is that the movie is a rags-to-riches story, but told in an unconventional way.

The upper layer is comedic, yet the backbone of the story is very serious with a lot of constructive life lessons, especially for the youth,” he shares.

Mohib has donned three caps for the movie: director, writer and actor, so when asked how difficult it was to manage all the three roles, he responds, “initially, it was challenging to switch off from one mode and enter the other. However, after the first spell, I got the hang of it. Moreover, I had the support of my associates and co-directors all along.” He continues, “having said that, it was definitely a challenge because I couldn’t ignore my acting to concentrate on direction. Similarly I couldn’t over indulge in my performance thinking it will save the film from any loopholes.”

This brought us to the question of how it was working with Sanam Saeed once again? “I had to work really hard on myself in order to work with Sanam Saeed in Ishrat. We have mostly seen her in serious roles but while working with her in Bachaana, I realised she has great comic timing. Her character in the movie is funny and vivacious, and there is no doubt that she is an outstanding actress. She pulled off her character with ease and gave the movie strength. It was extremely amazing and fun to work with her.”

As for how is Ishrat differs from the previous characters that he has portrayed, Mohib is of the view that Ishrat is his dream character.

“It gave me the opportunity to express the most shades any actor could bring to life. It’s an entire cycle of the character from his childhood to where he reaches eventually, keeping in mind the graph of his growth as well as the commercial aspect of his delivery. I worked extremely hard on the character to make it relatable and it gave me a broad spectrum to perform,” he elaborates.

When asked how difficult is it to do comedy, he shares that comedy is very closely connected to rhythm. “If someone is involved in serious roles, it doesn’t mean they can’t pull off comedy. I have done comic roles in the past. In fact, my first theatre show was a comedy, so it was not new for me.

In real life, as well, I like satire and I consider myself quite a stand-up comedian so Ishrat’s comic timing was second nature to me.”

So how different is the movie from the TV show, Ishrat Baji? “It is completely different because movie and television are two completely different mediums altogether. For television the approach, storytelling and the shot compositions are completely different,” he asserts.

We futher went on to ask Mohib about his views regarding TV shows being made into movies, as internationally we have often seen that the movie doesn’t turn out to be as successful as the television shows. “Well, I don’t think that is the case. Take Bean for example, it was a series that was converted into a movie and it was a hilarious two-hour ride. And that is exactly what we have tried to do with the movie. We have made sure that Ishrat: Made In China is treated in a fashion that people will remain glued to their screens their hearts entire duration.”

Sanam Saeed

Lead actor

This is not the first time that we will see Sanam Saeed alongside Mohib Mirza in a lead role. We have seen great on-screen chemistry between the two in the movie Bachaana as well as their last drama serial Deedan.

On how the experience of working with him again was, Sanam tells Instep, “Previously I’ve worked with Mohib just as a fellow actor, even then his technical knowledge and passion for his craft was obvious. This time working with him as a director was very different. He’s tough! He pushes his actors to break through any inhibitions and helps them overcome their fears.”

She furthers, “he knows exactly what he wants from the actors and how to extract it from them; and I feel this made acting under his direction quite effortless and efficient. In fact, I think all the actors in the film would agree that Mohib got the best out of them.”

Talking about her character Akhtar in Ishrat: Made In China, the actress shares, “Akhtar is completely outside my onscreen comfort zone . I’ve played many a firecracker roles on stage, but celluloid was different. My previous roles on TV and film had set a precedent for serious, composed and understated characters.” Sanam went on to add, “The audience began to have certain assumptions and expectations about my roles and my performances. But after being what I felt like was stereotyped, I wanted to challenge myself and remind the audience that I am an actor capable of adorning many faces. I wanted to show my versatility and explore the sassy feminine side of a female character on screen this time.”

According to the Zindagi Gulzar Hai actress, she started her passion for acting doing comedy and was a stand-up comedian for almost three years. “I performed in comedy plays all throughout school and also hosted a funny music show as a VJ. Comedy was my forte, so it wasn’t that challenging pulling off a comic role,” she shares, adding that she chose this role to make sure that she still had it in her as an actor and comedian to over come inhibitions and take on all kinds of characters.

“Moreover, by essaying the role of Akhtar I wanted to shake my image off as the plain (serious) Jane. I wanted my fraternity and audiences to see how dynamic I can be and to remind viewers and myself that I am a versatile actor, not limited to a certain type of character or script. This is my first time doing an all out commercial film and I chose this script to explore that genre at least once!” she stresses and hopes that her exciting film will bring the crowds out to the movie theaters too.

Ahsan Raza Firdousi

Writer

When we got hold of Ahsan Raza Firdousi, who has written the script for Ishrat: Made In China, we couldn’t help but ask how the idea to turn a TV show into a movie came about. “The idea was never to turn the TV show into a movie,” he clarifies, adding that the script is very different.

“It’s slapstick, a contemporary story and you’ll find nuances that reflect the flavour of Karachi. To be honest, the idea was to tell a good story with a strong message. We wanted to tell a story packaged in a way that it appeals to a younger audience and that was the whole idea behind it. All the characters, the storyline, the theme and the universe are completely different from the TV show. Yes you will see some nuances and traits in Ishrat that resemble the character in the TV show, however we have taken those elements and created a completely different universe. The characters are new, very strong and innovative.”

To elaborate the idea further, Ahsan says, “adaptations are challenging and there is no denying that, but in this case we didn’t have much to adapt. It is an original story in its own right. Apart from incorporating a few character traits, we have worked really hard on Mohib’s character. In fact, all the other characters, the plot as well as the theme is completely original. In short, it was a creative process that we all really enjoyed.”

As for the message he wants to convey through the movie, Ahsan shares, “I wouldn’t want to give away the message of the film before its release. However, all I can say is that the message is very relevant to the youth. The time and age we live in and the kinds of distractions that surround us hinder us from focusing on the important things in life.”

He continues, ”throughout the film we want to make the youth realize that achieving your dreams is the way to go forward. We understand that there is a lot of information and stereotypes in the times we are living in, but how you can achieve your dream is what we have tried to portray in the movie.”

On what was the most challenging aspect of writing Ishrat: Made in China and how the team managed to overcome it, he responds, “the most difficult bit was writing the action sequences, the stunts and the choreography which is part of the whole film. Conceiving the entire action process was the real challenge, because over here action comedy is not made on TV and in films it is very conventional.”

The writer further went on to say that since this film is exploring a completely new avenue for filmwriting in Pakistan, a lot of struggle went into thinking how to develop it and whether we’ll be able to pull it off. “A lot of VFX is involved and as I mentioned earlier, it is a larger-than-life presentation, so thinking, then writing and designing it were quite tough.”

“My expectations [from the movie] are larger than life, since this film is larger-than-life,” responds Ahsan. “I hope it will leave an impact and I am sure it will be a gamechanger, raising the bar for local cinema.”

– Ishrat: Made In China will be releasing in cinemas across the country on March 3, 2022.