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The hotly anticipated Humayun Saeed-Mehwish Hayat starrer Punjab Nahi Jaungi is in cinemas this weekend, and initial reviews have already given the film a thumbs-up.

Coming after a slew of disappointing films that released this summer, PNJ is definitely a pick-me-up. But just how did this film come together in an entertainment industry that has seen as many misses as hits?

Also read: In Punjab Nahi Jaungi a wadera tries his luck at modern love and wins us over

We spoke to PNJ's director Nadeem Baig to find out.

Images: Your first film Jawani Phir Nahi Aani (JPNA) is one of the most successful Pakistani films ever. How did that happen?

Nadeem Baig: Yes, it has fetched close to Rs50 crores, including international theatres.

Like most of my contemporaries, I was a director working in television and was directing mostly comedies like Family Front, Dolly Ki Ayegi Baraat and even Begum Nawazish Ali. But I have directed some serious TV serials like Pyarey Afzal, ManJali and then Dillagi.

I was working at Geo TV when I was asked to direct one of the Tarang films, Abhi Tou Mein Jawan Hoon. I thought that comedies might be my forte and asked Vasay Chaudhary to work with me on its script and screenplay. Humayun Saeed was one of the producers of the film and when this film premiered at Atrium Cinema, he was so taken by the audience's response to the film that right after the film he told me that we're doing a comedy film and JPNA happened.

Images: Recently Pakistani cinema has seen a string of flop films. But you and Humayun Saeed and Fizza Ali and Nabeel Qureshi are two successful filmmakers who know how to make hit films. Why is this?

Nadeem: The main factor could be the director-producer equation. But you also can't ignore the importance of a fine writer. Fiza and Nabeel work together on a script and when Nabil directs it, Fiza plays the role of an ideal producer, so they end up creating a fine product.

"If someone comes to me and Humayun with a bad film concept, we genuinely advise them against it. It's very sad to see people investing and losing money by making the wrong films."

Similarly, Humayun is one of the finest producers and luckily we are on the same wavelength. He wants to produce the kind of films that I want to make and at Six Sigma when we decide to make a film, I sit with him and we both take decisions as a producer first as to how to make a good successful film. So maybe the producer-writer-director equation is the ideal one.

Similarly, if someone comes to me and Humayun with a bad film concept, we genuinely advise them against it. It's very sad to see people investing and losing money by making the wrong films.

Images: So Vasay Choudhry and Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar are your favourite writers to work with?

Nadeem: Not just them, I have worked with other writers like Younis Butt, Mohammad Ahmed and Faiza Iftikhar. But the most important thing is what is it that you want to say. Even in a comedy film, like JPNA, I knew I had to make people laugh but at the same time I never wanted it to be a shallow comedy, it had to have some substance.

I met the famous writer Fouzia Saeed who has written the book Taboo and she said that she wanted me to do a serial on her book. I asked her 'Why me?' and she replied that she saw Dolly Ki Ayegi Barat and admired its strong female characters taking command over their lives and making decisions, although it was a comedy play.

So yes, both are important: who is writing for you and what. I believe in working with the writer through every step of the way.

Images: Your film Punjab Nahin Jaungi written by Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar in in cinemas now, starring Humayun Saeed and Mehwish Hayat. Are they your favourite lead couple?

Nadeem: Well, we were initially considering Iman Ali but it didn’t work out, so Mehwish was finalised.

Humayun and Mehwish have a certain chemistry on screen and the audience has always loved it. Plus both of them are such accomplished actors… so why not use them together? But having said that I will only take Humayun if the character suits him and not because he is the producer.

Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar wrote Pyarey Afzal with Humayun in mind but I refused and insisted on taking Hamza Ali Abbasi because the character suited him more.

Images: But Hamza is not a part of JPNA 2 anymore, right?

Nadeem: Yes, we have signed Fahad Mustafa and Syra Yousuf with the same team and are looking for another heroine for the film. We have developed an even more interesting story with Vasay and are shooting it in London next month and it will be released next year.

Images: Most of our film directors today are coming from television (like yourself) and so are the writers and actors. Is that the reason why most of our films look like glorified TV dramas?

Nadeem: One has to conceive and produce a product according to the needs and scale of its medium. I had to undo a lot of practices as a director while making JPNA as I never wanted it to look like a telefilm and when people saw it on the big screen they enjoyed it as a cinema film.

As of stars, I agree that we don’t have film stars but we are making them. I personally believe that films are bigger than stars. However, an actor can make a character look bigger and better than what the writer or director conceived. Like Ranbir Kapoor always amuses me as an actor. In Tamasha and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Im certain that he went way beyond their imagination.

Recently Humayun did a scene, and like always, he would look at me for a reaction or comment and when I praised him for his performance because he has had done a great job, he was so surprised because I have hardly praised him for his talent ever.

So he is one actor in Pakistan who knows what he is capable of. Mahira, I believe, has great potential. She is getting better with each film. Similarly, Shehryar Munawar and Sohai Ali are absolute film stars and so is Mehwish.

Images: If you were to make films some 20 years ago in the old Lollywood tradition, who would you work with?

Nadeem: I have always admired Syed Noor sahab. I think he was the best director who has done some remarkable work. If I was working then, I would have loved to cast Saima in one of my Punjabi films, She is one of the finest actors that we have. Even today as a director, it's my dream to make a Punjabi film. In fact, I am working on something with Khalil sahab and it's going to be my dream project, which I will do only for myself.

Images: Which Pakistani films have you watched and liked recently?

Nadeem: I liked Actor In Law... I think Nabeel and Fizza did an excellent job. Picking up such a serious subject and making it so enjoyable… keeping the interest of the audience with an equal dose of glamour, humour and romance, what a complete package.

Pakistani audience can ignore a few flaws if they see a good film. I felt that the film’s climax could have been stronger, but overall I liked it. I'm sure that they will live up to the expectations with Na Maloom Afraad 2 too.

Images: What about the other directors?

Nadeem: Asim made a good film, Ho Mann Jahan. Good story, good actors and very well shot, which is his speciality. But I believe the screenplay could have been better. He told a story and people liked it and that’s why the film was a success but I guess his next films will be far more better. As a producer I would like to hire him as a director for one of our films.

Images: You are also a trend setter on television with hits like Dolly Ki Ayegi Baraat, Begum Nawazish Ali, Pyarey Afzal and most recently Dillagi… what is the formula for making a hit television drama?

Nadeem: I was in India once to attend a conference where Viddhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani were asked the same question for making hit films. They said, “Actually there is no formula, no matter how many formuals you will make, someone will come and break them and will create another formula. So you should keep creating good cinema and let people decide what they like.”

"Content departments are killing drama with stagnancy. Back in the PTV times, Shahzad Khalil and Hasina Moin used to sit together and work on a script for months. There were no content departments who would decide kya chalega aur kya nahin."

The power of television has grown tremendously in Pakistan over the last two decades. Whenever a play was a hit, we thought that this is what the audience wanted to see and every channel started making similar plays... that nobody wanted to see! Thanks to this ratings race, what I want to show and say as a director has been superseded by what the audience wants to see. So what is lost in the process is the importance of the art of storytelling.

Back in the PTV times, Shahzad Khalil and Hasina Moin used to sit together for months working on a script and look at their scores. There were no content departments who would decide kya chalega aur kya nahin. Today these content departments are deciding the fate of our drama industry. You will be amazed by their [lack of] vision. They have killed drama with monotony and stagnancy. They have their own set of rules, So when we take a new story to them, they blatantly say, "No, yeh toh nahi ho sakta, isme toh rating nahi ayegi". So where's the room to improve and evolve?