Pakistani drama serials are getting more realistic and deciding to showcase reality. With the power and politics with a strong storyline. That’s what you are going to get soon from the upcoming drama serial ‘Badshah Begum’.
Most of the people are waiting for this mega-buster drama, shot in Larkana at the Rafay Rashdi’s ancestral haveli that also makes you fall in love with the art direction of the drama. In conversation with cast, crew and got some real insights about the drama.
It has been clear, that makers don’t want any strings attached to a political or religious connection. According to the crew and cast the story mainly revolves around royal sibling rivalries and a battle over a fictional village made in the drama “Pirapur” with the main character of the drama played by Zara Noor Abbas.
In Conversation with the Badshah Begum cast and crew
The director of the drama serial Khizer Idrees shared the real reason behind shooting in choosing Larkana. As they wanted to ease things up and freedom to the cast and crew due to shooting at Rashdi’s haveli and his high influence in the area.
“We had no intention of showing the fictional setting as part of Sindh, Punjab, or Balochistan,” shared Idrees on maintaining that seemingly vital disconnect.
He further added, “We haven’t specified the location, or even religious sect in the case of the pirs,” explained the director, emphasizing the importance of the measure, deemed necessary to respect the political and religious sentiments of the viewers.
“Even if a local junior actor came in wearing characteristic clothing of the area, such as ajraks or topis, we’d have them remove them to maintain the detachment.”
The producer Rashdi thanked Khizer Idrees for his immersive contribution because Rashdi explained briefly that this drama nearly took six years in making. Badshah Begum got a new life and it happened with the determination shown by the young producer. Not only that one of the biggest supporters from Pakistani television’s biggest names, Momina Durraid.
Passion Project – Rafay Rashdi
No doubt, the script of Badshah Begum is very close to Rashdi and has personal attachment, while discussing the drama details, he shared “. “You need a feasible business model backing it up.”
Rashdi added, “This is very dear to me. I had almost completely left the industry. I’d left the country and moved away because I felt that there was no space for an independent producer.
But, I had committed myself that if I was to ever come back and make something, I would finish this first and then move on to other projects. And, quite frankly, I loved the idea of a woman sitting on the gaddi.”
Zara Noor Abbas on her powerful and important character in the drama serial “Jahan Ara” it’s a perfect balance act. Zara said, “I’m still trying to make sense of who this woman is,” she begins, expanding on the layered nature of her character. “She’ll be crying and wielding a gun at the same time. Her dilemma is between the good and the bad.”
She added, “When you’re running a system, sometimes you do the wrong thing, believing that it is right for the larger good. As grey as it sounds, in her head, some things are necessary evils.”
She continued with the novel’s perspective, “Once I got into character on set, that’s when I realized how multifaceted this character was. When I started holding the daggers and wielding guns, I didn’t know what to do next.
A gun is such a powerful weapon, it feels like a character in itself. Sometimes I’d pick up a gun and forget my lines. It was all so new for me.”
‘The role pushed me beyond my limits’ – Zara Noor Abbas
There’s no doubt that Zara is one of the finest actors in the drama industry, but this role is different from her usual ones. Surely this character pushed her beyond her limits, she elaborated “I find it increasingly difficult to just cry on camera.
If I’m going to shed tears, I need a valid reason for it. And after the crying, I need something to fight for. I need to understand what to do next with the emotion felt by my character.”
As mentioned above, apart from Zara other actors are also involved in the drama. Yasir Hussain who earlier rejected to be a hero in the drama serial and took the antagonist role.
He said, “There’s nothing to be done with positive characters in our industry. The hero never really has anything to do, even in this drama.”
He continued, “He’ll either come home from the office, where his mother or wife is waiting for him, or he’ll be a lover-boy were can’t do anything that hasn’t already been done by Shah Rukh Khan. In both comic roles as well as villainous ones, you have an end goal in mind.
In comedy, if you can’t make your audience laugh, you’re a failure. Similarly, if you’re playing a villain, you need to get the audience to hate your character.”
This might not be the first time that Yasir Hussain will be seen as a villain before Begum Badshah his latest film “Javed Iqbal” was released in which he played a serial killer role, Iqbal.
Further Yasir also shared that people have been asking me to do some negative roles for a long time. Even though I had already said yes to this role six years ago. “My character is also rather brilliant, so refusing it would have been idiotic.”
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