Hits after hits on individual levels, we get another super hit film ‘Tich Button’ featuring the biggest stars of our industry. ‘Tich Button’ is very close to our hearts as it is the first movie Urwa ever produced, Iman coming back on the big screen after years, and Farhan’s first silver screen debut. Last but not the least, the backbone of any movie, the director Qasim Ali Mureed, didn’t let any challenge come between his way to success. The cast and crew talked to us exclusively about their upcoming movie which released this month. Read on...
URWA HOCANE
This is your first time producing a film, how was your experience in a nutshell? What made you make the switch from acting to producing?
It was a passion for cinemas that made me switch. Whether it is acting, producing, storytelling or any other department of a film, we all are trying to dictate our stories, and everyone has a role in it. When I was on my set too as an actor, I had an aptitude for knowing what was behind the camera. I was always all ears about what was happening in other departments. I always learned from my films and applied to my set of ‘Tich Button’. There were hardships too on our film sets, there were a lot of things which we had to solve and move forward - I learned a lot every day.
What was the reaction of the cast when you approached them for ‘Tich Button’, did it come out just as you imagine?
When we started working on this film, everything was so magical, everyone said yes when we pitched to them. It’s been a magical journey in terms of getting what we want as a location, song, or team. I am very excited to show this whole process to the audience.
As a producer, it was full of learning, and I’ve felt a lot of growth as an actor too. As a human being, I think my spirits are much higher to make more films in the future
As the person who is making this film, I feel we have been very lucky as everyone fit in perfectly just as we imagined.
FARHAN SAEED
You’ve taken our social media as the most romantic actor for the past few months and viewers can’t get over you; can you tell us a bit about your character in ‘Tich Button’?
My character in ‘Tich Button’, people have not seen me like this before. People might see some resemblance, but I’ve never done any character like this before
It’s a role of a village guy, a fun-loving guy but actually, there is an arc with the change of emotions and everything. People will have something new to see. I’ve never done any character and getup like this ever before. The audience will enjoy, I hope.
You’ve touched all the genres; we’ve seen you do comedy, serious roles and you’ve skipped our heartbeat with your romantic acting too; what are you planning to do next? Are we going to see you in another project soon?
Actually, I think when some actors do all these things, he doesn’t get typecast that they can’t do romantic, comedy or action. That’s the point of doing a film because it is a whole journey, not a story of a day or two and we’ve to dictate the whole story in two hours. In my character, there is everything I’ve done to date. After ‘Tich Button’, yes, I want to do more projects, could be a drama or a film, a good script is what it is. So yes, this movie has everything.
IMAN ALI
We’ve noticed you’re picky in selecting your scripts and we don’t see you in movies/TV series most often; what made you say yes to ‘Tich Button’?
I think people will start writing good scripts if actors are picky. I’m not saying this to everyone, there are some good scripts too but that’s why I am picky. I said yes to this, although I’ve been told not to say a lot - primarily Farhan said to me that you can’t say no, friendship was the biggest element for me, it is a weak point for me. Other than that, it was a very different role from my previous work.
We will be seeing you on the big screen after years. How did it feel like to be finally on set and do what you’re born to do? Is there any other project in your pipeline?
I think I opened my eyes on set because my father was from this business. It felt natural and normal, it felt like being in a different home altogether once again.
I just hope something good comes along and then you’ll see me in other projects.
I think I’ll have to make my own script, make a movie on my own script. I’ve written many scripts, three or four so hopefully, it will be best if one of them turns into a movie
QASIM ALI MUREED
A film is incomplete when the cast doesn’t cooperate with the director, even best of the best director can’t come up with something good; did you face any challenge like this during the shoot of ‘Tich Button’?
No, it wasn’t anything like this. Everyone played their character in a very good way. Since it’s a collaborative art, people suggest things. There are a lot of concerns of the actor, and we come on one page and execute them.
‘Tich Button’ is close to our hearts as all the characters are unique and I’m hoping you’ve never seen characters like these before
We can see some of the finest superstars in the movie, what has been the most satisfying part of directing this movie? What was the biggest challenge you faced?
The best part of our work is that whether it’s TV or a film, it is a challenge, and you accept it and try your best to make it as good as possible for the people. The challenges were action sequence, and weather conditions because we went to a very small town where there were not a lot of resources. So, we had to face this challenge that we had to spend 30-40 days there, it was the most difficult time.
INTERVIEW: MARYAM ZUBERI
PHOTOGRAPHY: SM UMAIR
ON-SET COORDINATION: SANEELA SWALEH