Journalist Zain Khan interviews #hollywood actor Faran Tahir on the topic of his film #umroayyar Release inside #pakistan !
Editor Diplomatic Affairs ( #minutemirrornews ) Zain Khan interviews Actor Faran Tahir on UmroAyyar film release. Exclusive talk on Daily Minute Mirror News. #podcast #podcasting
Editor Diplomatic Affairs ( #minutemirrornews ) Zain Khan interviews Actor Faran Tahir on UmroAyyar film release. Exclusive talk on Daily Minute Mirror News. #podcast #podcasting
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00:00Farhan bhai, people go from Lollywood or Pakistani cinema to Bollywood.
00:04You have earned such a big name in Hollywood that you are now launching your project in Pakistani cinema.
00:10Your new film is coming out on Eid.
00:12Umro Ayaar. Tell us a little bit about its background story.
00:15What's so special about the project?
00:17It's a very special project.
00:19Again, these are the stories that I have read and read.
00:24Umro Ayaar, Tilsam-e-Hoshoba, Dastan-e-Ameer Hamza.
00:30These are the stories that have been in our literature and our culture for the past 600 years.
00:36But there is also a tragedy.
00:39The tragedy is that one generation and a few generations know these stories very well.
00:46But the younger generation does not know these stories at all.
00:51This is a problem for us.
00:54We do appreciate the outside world.
00:57But when we talk about our own thing, we ignore it.
01:01We say Bollywood, Bollywood, Bollywood.
01:04I say Bollywood is doing a very good job and it should be.
01:07And we should see it and appreciate it.
01:09But not at the risk and price of our own culture.
01:17Let's not ignore our own culture.
01:20This does not happen anywhere else in the world.
01:22Except in our country.
01:23And we have to change this.
01:25In China, they know their culture, their literature.
01:30Yes, they do other things too.
01:32In Italy, they know their culture, their literature.
01:38And they appreciate other cultures.
01:40They own their culture.
01:42They own it. We are not doing it.
01:44And this is a big dilemma for us.
01:47Anyway, it is easy to say and difficult to do.
01:50And to say that our new generation is not watching and not doing.
01:54Who is responsible for that?
01:56We are responsible for that.
01:58If we did not show it, then we should show it.
02:01So that is why Umro Aiyar is such a story.
02:04Now there are small examples.
02:06Now you see Harry Potter.
02:09You also see the invisibility cloak in it.
02:11You also see the hat in it.
02:14You also see Hermione's tote bag in it.
02:17What is that tote bag?
02:19If you read Umro Aiyar,
02:21which was written 600 years ago,
02:23that is Zambil.
02:25Everything can come out of Hermione's bag.
02:28Okay?
02:30Zambil, which was written 600 years ago,
02:34Umro Aiyar's Zambil, everything can come out of it.
02:37Invisibility cloak.
02:39The hat in it.
02:41These are the things that have been present in our culture for a long time.
02:45But now we are ignoring them.
02:48We are ignoring our own language.
02:50What do we do?
02:52If I am sitting and I say to someone,
02:54I will go and brush my teeth.
02:56People laugh and say,
02:58will you go and brush your teeth?
03:00No, I will go and brush my teeth.
03:02What has happened is that we have forgotten our own language,
03:06that we don't even remember it.
03:08Colonial mindset.
03:10So I say, yes,
03:12you can praise other things,
03:14but
03:16what is our own identity?
03:20Let's look at that.
03:22I always say, let's not live in the shadow of other people.
03:27Let's bask in our own sunlight.
03:31So as long as we are not confident in our own culture,
03:35in our own language,
03:37in our own literature,
03:39I think we are not anchored then.
03:44So the biggest reason for bringing this story was that
03:48we wanted to bridge those gaps.
03:50Now you go to watch cricket.
03:52Elders go, kids go, everyone goes.
03:55It's a family event.
03:57And after that a topic is raised about cricket.
04:00Similarly, we are never raising that topic about our literature.
04:04The rest of the world is raising it.
04:06We are not raising it.
04:08So the basic idea was that
04:10let's bring this kind of content to Pakistani cinema.
04:15For many reasons.
04:17One, to introduce this kind of storytelling
04:21to the younger generation.
04:24Because of that,
04:26we have modernized the old way of storytelling.
04:34To make it relatable.
04:36So that was one reason.
04:38Another big challenge was that
04:40people used to say that this kind of film is not made in Pakistan.
04:43We made it.
04:45We didn't do much in it.
04:47Wherever we felt there was a gap,
04:49all our stunt trainers,
04:54stunt trainers of that level,
04:56because films of that genre are not made,
04:58they were not there.
04:59So we brought those people who trained Game of Thrones.
05:02We trained Jack Reacher.
05:04We brought that team.
05:06Our production designers came from Italy.
05:09Our cinematographers were those who did Fast and Furious.
05:13So wherever we felt there was a gap,
05:15we brought those things from outside.
05:17Western technicians brought it.
05:19But what was the benefit of it?
05:21The benefit was that now that knowledge,
05:23to some extent, exists in Pakistan.
05:26Another example,
05:28all the VFX you see in that film,
05:33all done in Pakistan.
05:35We established a whole studio.
05:38So that all the VFX,
05:40so we went and chose people,
05:43called people and made them sit there.
05:45Now that studio is in existence.
05:48We will do it.
05:50Hopefully the next person or the next group,
05:52whoever wants to do it,
05:53they also have the facility.
05:55That's one side of it.
05:57The other side of the film is that,
06:00we don't have our own heroes.
06:03We always see foreign heroes.
06:06Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man, Hulk.
06:09These are good heroes.
06:11But these are those heroes
06:13whose origin is somewhere else.
06:17We don't have our own heroes.
06:20That's why making a hero,
06:23its biggest message is
06:25that there is a hero in all of us.
06:28And we have to awaken that hero.
06:30So anyway, for these reasons,
06:32we made this film.
06:34The genre honors that genre.
06:37We hope that people will go and watch it.
06:40And we hope that people will go and watch it
06:42because of nostalgia.
06:45And the younger audience will go and watch it
06:47because it's a new thing.
06:49Then to say again and again that
06:51Pakistan's film industry doesn't move forward.
06:53So until we don't do this kind of work,
06:56until we don't explore this kind of talent,
06:59Pakistan's industry won't move forward.
07:01So this is also a hope.
07:03Because before this, Maula Jatt came.
07:05He did a good job.
07:06Now this has come.
07:07After this, we hope that something else will come.
07:09So in this way, our industry will start working
07:12that caters to younger audiences.
07:15Our biggest problem is also that
07:17the content that we are making
07:19is not made for the younger audience.
07:21It's not made for their interest.
07:23And this is a big problem.
07:25We have to make content for them.
07:28If we have to give that generation the pride
07:32that we are Pakistani,
07:34then we have to get those stories and heroes
07:36from within us.
07:37To be indigenous.
07:38Exactly.
07:39Farhan bhai, mention Star Trek, Jungle Book, Iron Man.
07:43My favorite movie of yours is Jinn.
07:47I have a question for you.
07:49You are doing Umro Yaar.
07:51It also mentions Jinn.
07:53Jinn are villains.
07:55What is your obsession
07:57with South Asian, Middle Eastern folklore?
08:00What is your interest in Jinn and the paranormal?
08:03My interest is not that I am obsessed with it.
08:07But I think fantasy is something
08:11that opens up your creativity.
08:13Things which you can't imagine
08:16happen in that fantasy.
08:18I think imagination or fantasy and dreaming
08:20is very important.
08:22If you don't think big, you won't make big.
08:25You need imagination for that.
08:27I find it really exciting
08:30when there is somebody flying in air
08:33or when there is Jinn coming out or something.
08:36Magic.
08:38It's entertainment but it's opening up your mind.
08:41Thinking of the unknown, of the impossible.
08:45Seeing it happen gives you that hope
08:48that I can do things
08:50that might not be easily doable.
08:54Maybe I can reach for the stars.
08:56Maybe I can do things
08:58which puts me on the edge for a little bit.
09:00I think that creates an adventurous spirit
09:05and adventurous feeling in you.
09:07I think that's a beautiful thing.
09:09Especially for younger generations
09:11to expand their minds,
09:13give them the idea that anything is possible
09:15if you put your mind to it.
09:17Mainly that's why I enjoy all of this.
09:20Have you ever had any paranormal experience?
09:23Do you believe in the paranormal personally?
09:26Look, I think it would be very arrogant of us
09:29not to believe in other forms of life.
09:32Even the Quran has Jinn.
09:34It would be really arrogant of us
09:37not to believe.
09:40Just to say that because I can't see
09:42that thing doesn't exist.
09:44There are atoms too.
09:46The whole universe is based on atoms.
09:49We can see them but they exist.
09:51So just because we can't see that
09:54and it doesn't exist is not true.
09:58It's not a good argument.
10:00So I think it's important
10:02to believe in these things.
10:05Paranormal?
10:07It happened to me once.
10:09I don't know if it was paranormal
10:11or an illusion or something else.
10:13It was in Lahore.
10:15We were sitting on a canal
10:17and the Pole Zafar Ali Road was nearby.
10:19It was about that.
10:21It was a long time ago.
10:23Me, my father and my mother.
10:25There was a driver.
10:27It was 10 in the night.
10:29We were having Nihari.
10:31So we stopped at a light
10:33on the right side of Zafar Ali Road.
10:35On the canal.
10:37Suddenly someone came
10:39and knocked on the door.
10:41On the window.
10:43My mother was sitting next to me.
10:45She saw a woman standing there.
10:49So she opened the window
10:51and asked, what is it?
10:53What do you want?
10:55Should I drop you somewhere?
10:57She looked at my mother and said
10:59there are no homes like ours.
11:01As soon as she said this
11:03a chill
11:05group of people
11:07came.
11:09So my father asked the driver
11:11to start the car.
11:13It's possible that
11:15people do this
11:17to rob you.
11:19But there was something.
11:21We were half way there
11:23and I was looking behind.
11:25And that woman
11:27she was not there.
11:29I don't know
11:31if it was night or day
11:33but her chill
11:35was like
11:37there is something supernatural happening here.
11:41That was interesting.
11:43A little scary.
11:45And I am glad it's over.
11:49What was your most memorable
11:51moment on set or behind the scenes
11:53in Umroh Ayaar?
11:55Again,
11:57the first thing
11:59we talked about was
12:01the stories I have read.
12:03First of all, the 10 year old
12:05who is sitting in front of me
12:07woke up.
12:09That was an exciting moment.
12:11But the biggest excitement
12:13was that we were doing something
12:15that Pakistan has never done before.
12:17And we all had a special
12:19energy to do this
12:21as well as we could.
12:23And we did it.
12:25What was the benefit of it?
12:27This was the first film
12:29that was selected in America
12:31in WonderCon.
12:33And the trailer premiered there.
12:35The fun of the film was
12:37that it was happening
12:39in Pakistan.
12:41People ask me
12:43if I like working there
12:45or here.
12:47And I will give you an example.
12:49Eating in a restaurant is fun
12:51but cooking at home is different.
12:53So for me,
12:55it was exciting
12:57that we are doing this here.
12:59We are making something here.
13:01And I hope people
13:03will like it.
13:05We are making the best quality
13:07that we can.
13:09Again,
13:11it was a new experience for everyone.
13:13Everyone worked like a family.
13:15Many times,
13:17Usman Mukhtar,
13:19who is playing Umroo Yaar,
13:21is afraid of heights.
13:23And there were many fights
13:25between him and me
13:27when we were
13:29fighting in the air.
13:31One time,
13:33he was given a leg.
13:35There was a big cauldron
13:37and there was fire in it.
13:39And the fire was rising.
13:41He was hanging on the cauldron
13:43and I thought he would be roasted.
13:45So I held him and put him aside.
13:47There were many interesting things.
13:49We had a lot of fun
13:51doing this.
13:53And the environment
13:55was so good.
13:57We bought a warehouse
13:59in Islamabad.
14:01We cut it.
14:03We set it up.
14:05We put a green screen.
14:07It took us 4 years to make this film.
14:09The shoot
14:11duration was 48 days.
14:13But in a film like this,
14:15it requires a lot of
14:17effects and CGI.
14:19It takes a lot of time.
14:21But I think
14:23the product is good.
14:25It is so good that
14:27this is the first film
14:29that we are releasing in
14:31500 theatres across the world.
14:33Which theatres apart from Pakistan?
14:35Pakistan, UAE,
14:37England, Australia,
14:39Canada, America,
14:41Asia.
14:43It is in Asia.
14:45Across the world.
14:47There are 2-5 countries where it is not.
14:49But it is everywhere.
14:51You talked about special effects and stunt doubles.
14:53About Umroh.
14:55When I saw the trailer,
14:57I thought it is a hybrid of Game of Thrones,
14:59Spartacus and also
15:01Jinn the movie.
15:03There are a lot of action scenes
15:05where it looks like Jinn the movie
15:07and also a mixture of Game of Thrones.
15:09I would take
15:11it away from that.
15:13Because again,
15:15it is a content
15:17that stands on its own.
15:19You can say that
15:21in Game of Thrones,
15:23if there is fantasy, it is a genre.
15:25But we also have
15:27Kulhari.
15:29Game of Thrones did not invent Kulhari.
15:31We invented Kulhari a long time ago.
15:33We do not have to compare
15:35with them.
15:37Genre is there, I agree.
15:39But the story is different.
15:41In the same way,
15:43you do not compare Mad Max
15:45with Game of Thrones.
15:47You do not compare Harry Potter
15:49with Game of Thrones
15:51or Mad Max.
15:53Because those are different stories.
15:55Genre is there.
15:57You can say that it is gladiator.
15:59Again,
16:01that is us being affected
16:03by the outside cinema.
16:05Let's look at it from
16:07the perspective of what we have.
16:09You will see those similarities
16:11across the board.
16:13You will see those similarities
16:15in Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
16:17Because that is the genre.
16:19But I think this film and other films
16:21stand on their own.
16:23That's the way I look at it.
16:25Last question.
16:27Please tell us about future projects.
16:29Are there any other projects?
16:31I am going to release two films
16:33in America.
16:35Koo,
16:37which is set in 1918
16:39during the Spanish flu
16:41in New York.
16:43A really good film.
16:45It will be released.
16:47One of my films is
16:49releasing on 26th in England
16:51called Paper Flowers.
16:53It's an emotional family drama
16:55about I play
16:57the father and his son
16:59is dying of cancer.
17:01That's a very different kind of a film.
17:03Koo is a very different film.
17:05It's a period piece.
17:07It's about the Spanish flu
17:09in New York.
17:11Again, a very different kind of a thing.
17:13I have made two or three films
17:15in Pakistan.
17:17They will also start releasing soon.
17:19By the grace of God,
17:21there are a lot of varied and different projects.
17:23Supernatural, superhero,
17:25emotional drama,
17:27period piece,
17:29detective story.
17:31I hope it's all
17:33a nice variety,
17:35a nice bouquet
17:37of entertainment
17:39that people will get to see.