Expect little logic but lots of laughs in Neelam Muneer, Syed Jibran’s comedy Eid telefilm Bhoot Bakra

There’s something new to add to the list of Eidul Azha releases this year — Neelam Muneer and Syed Jibran’s telefilm Bhoot Bakra. The film is a horror-mostly-comedy you can laugh with your loved ones over this Eid.

In a conversation with Images, Jibran explained the premise for the film. “It’s a comedy telefilm so there’s no logic in it — there are ghosts, goats and a family. A father’s relationship with his son is one [theme] that has been touched beautifully. It’s a complete family entertainer for Eid.”

“I always come to entertain you on Eid — feature film on choti Eid [Eidul Fitr] and telefilm on bari Eid [Eidul Azha],” he chuckled. “I’m happy I have something on every Eid to give to people.”

The actor said the concept is different and though it has got an element of supernatural in it, it is more funny than scary. “It’s called Bhoot Bakra so there are ghosts involved in it but it’s purely comedy. That’s the difference, it’s not that they bought a goat because the girl and guy can’t get married and then tie the knot on Eid — it has got nothing to do with that, it’s very different.”

He said it was a pleasure working with Muneer again. “It always is. She plays my character’s wife. We come back to Pakistan after many years to our old home where we’re confronted with these things,” he explained the plot. “Basically, there’s something that’s left unfinished I’m supposed to do and the story revolves around a spirit and a goat — it’s a very different concept and very interesting.”

Jibran commented on the state of the film industry in Pakistan. “First of all, I always tell people this and will say it now as well — later I might change my statement,” he laughed. “At this time, we need comedy, we need entertainment — we don’t want experiments. We are not at a stage where we can experiment and expect awesome results.”

The Ranjha Ranjha Kardi actor addressed filmmakers and content makers and said, “This is the time to play safe and play sensibly. Safe doesn’t mean you produce trash, no, make wholesome entertaining products so that everyone goes and watches them.”

He traced the need of the hour which was to bring people back to cinema through television. “We have to develop their temperament towards it. We can do this through television by making good telefilms because when the same people make movies, people will say their work on TV was good so they’re going to do something good in films as well.

“We need to make entertainment projects for everyone — we don’t need to unnecessarily become [American film director Steven] Spielberg. We need to do good work, simple work that people understand, that’s it.”

Jibran said though he doesn’t think he’ll make a production house, he might be involved in the production of a film. “I don’t see myself producing dramas but I maybe part of the production of a feature film some time in the future — let’s see. Let’s hope.”

The Dil Ruba actor said the director and director of photography (DOP) duo was the surprise element for him in this project. “I was pleasantly surprised. Bilal [Atif Khan] — I’d already seen some of his work before doing this telefilm but when I worked with him, I thought Fahad was hidden a diamond. He needs to be unveiled.

“He’s a very talented man and our DOP is also fantastic so that was the actual find of this project. Neelam I already knew — she’s Neelam Muneer — but these two I didn’t know about so they surprised me. Fantastic guys.”

Muneer told Images she was very grateful for a breezy project. “It feels great when you get to take a break from serious work and switch to something that’s not stressful and has fun situations. I enjoyed the dialogue delivery and the scenes are really good so it was super fun.”

She said she picks her characters wisely. “I choose [my roles] after going through the script to see if it fits my margin. The telefilm that we’re shooting today, if I say it is no less than a film, that is correct because it is a telefilm and has been shot in an amazing way — the scenes and situations are great.”

The Mohabbat Daagh Ki Soorat actor said she enjoyed working with Jibran and compared her previous experience costarring with the Tarap actor and her current one. “In that [previous drama] our characters were quite contradictory so whenever we’d meet, there’d be [clashes] in the form of anger. In this film, my character’s name is Hania and Jibran’s is Faraz, they’re husband and wife so they have lovey-dovey scenes.”

Muneer thinks it’s very important for your work to align with what you believe should be prevalent in society. “Because it’s been so long, I’ve built an audience and have people’s trust in me. I want to value the audience’s time so whatever work I do should be of a certain caliber.”

She believes viewers will really enjoy characters like daadi [grandmother], the child, the bakra [goat] and the couple, and get lots of laughs out of it.

The Qayamat actor has loved working with Big Bang Entertainment. “My experience with [them] has been great — I’ve worked with them before as well. It’s a very comfortable environment, great food, the shooting starts and packs up on time — [there’s] no stress.”