Jinn Ki Shadi Unki Shadi delivers light-hearted moments – dabbling in the suprenatural, a hint of romance, some comedy of errors and a take on the humans vs superhumans ahem, we mean JINNS debate – audiences are taking this one as a moment to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Nothing too deep, but definitely worth a watch. We sat down with the director Saife Hasan to throw some light on the scenes that have pushed the envelope and turned this story into an entertaining watch.
Pakistani dramas can spin a romantic tale, joint families, sibling rivalry and even problematic parenting, everyone has had a moment onscreen, but what the Pakistani drama landscape lacked, was a dig at the supernatural with a healthy dose of comedy. What Jinn Mi Shad Unki Shadi is achieving is worth mentioning – a shadi between humour done right mixed with a walk in the world of the Jinns as they reside side by side with humans – all done with a humble flair – not too much not too little, just right – just like Nadia’s hairdo in one episode – achieving a memorable ‘hair raising’ that will inspire many more creators to get creative onscreen.
Director Saife Hasan revelaed at the outset that Jinn Ki Shadi Unki Shadi has been a team effort. Where some scenes were written in as they were screened, by the writer himself, with some, the visuals were adapted and Saife and the team played with different effects to create a certain look or moment onscreen.
A few moments onscreen where you pushed the superrnatural buttons to amplify the storytelling?
Director Saife Hasan pointed out that when Khushi and Ali C. embark on their signature walks along the scenic road, khushi motions to Ali’s car to follow them: Gari ka peechay chalna mera idea tha and it was not written in the script, responded the director.
But then again, Chamki emerging from Changesh Chacha as she left his body was very much a part of the script and e used VFX to depict that one. It was totally penned in by the writer.
Again, revealed the director, Changez Chacha ka naach was written by the writer and we merely executed it as is.
On the location, which is absolutely stunning, Saife hasan had this to tell us: “We shot the drama at Samarkand House in Muree.” So folks, if you want a healthy bite of nature, this is where you need to be, walking along the same paths as Khushi and Ali C. Just make sure your car is parked with all the power brakes on! If you know, you know.
The Ehd-e-Wafa OST?
That was my idea of course. Responded the director promptly. The whole scene in the car, where Ali says kay ye do takay ka director hai. And she says that he is the director of Ehd-e-Wafa. Of course, I had put it in. Actually, Wahaj had a great idea too… So Wahaj opined that the writer had written his character Ali C. as a singer. But we thought that a singer won’t be as much fun. Then Wahaj volunteered that why not make Ali C. an actor, and here we could have some fun. And then, from there on, we kept coming up with more ideas. From Wahaj, myself and Romaisa. So ended up doing a brainstorming session and decided to make him an actor and amended some scenes accordingly, and this is the final face you see of Ali C. in Jinn Ki Shadi Unki Shadi.
On the casting…
Saife Hasan: I decided to cast Irfan Motiwala for Changez Chacha. We wanted a definitive Urdu speaking character and Irfan Motiwala seemed to fit the look. I met Irfan at a wedding and came up with the idea.
On the Genius Arsalan Naseer and Wahaj Ali Casting…
Saife Hasan gives full credit to Mahesh Waswani: This casting was mostly done by producer Mahesh Waswani. Not only Wahaj and Arsalan, but the entire casting was done by Mahesh Waswani. Of course, with my opinion, added the director but the final call was his, because there are a lot of factors; dates, payments, coordination etc. So basically, all credit to Mahesh Waswani on this one.
On the comic moments. How much did the cast improvise?
Saife Hasan: When it comes to improvisation, wherever we felt as a team that the scene is not that funny or the scene is horizontal, then we would sit together and brainstorm. Wahaj had great ideas that were actually quite funny too. Arsalan is also very funny, revealed the director. Then I used to have a story in my mind as well. We used to brainstorm and come up with something so that the structure of the story doesn’t break and we can make something fun out of it. We have used this strategy in multiple scenes.
On Sehar, Tamkinat and Jibran’s JINN makeover, and of course, Romaisa’s Iconic Hairdo!
Saife Hasan: These makeovers were carried out by Danish Bukhari, our make -up artist and Aamir Khan, our get -up artist. Both of them have done a lot of hard work, both in the get-up and makeup departments. Nadia’s hair – at first they were very adamant that they couldn’t do it and they thought we would have to do it on graphic. But I felt it wouldn’t be realistic. We could catch the movement on graphic, but it would be problematic while she’s standing and talking. After a great deal of brainstorming, and a few bottles of hairspray, we managed to get the look we wanted and Alhamdulillah, it looked good!
On Nadia’s scene when she was possessed by Aazer
Saife: Actually, we had started with the idea that we will make Syed Jibran speak, but then when we added Aazer’s voice, it was taking away from the overall effect. I felt that it wasn’t really working. So, I treated her voice a little. Rumaisa also spoke with a strong tone which helped add to the final effect, then we added some filters etc. I actually didn’t want it to become too alien-like. If you make it seem too alien-like, then the audience can’t connect. So I have given subtle touches. Because of this, people are connecting with the screenplay.
And who was telling the most scary stories on set?
Saife Hasan: The interesting thing is that we used to be very scared on location anyway, but not because of any Jinn or ghost. In fact, there were a lot of insects, spiders and cockroaches in the area. The house had netting, but it didn’t manage to keep out everything. We were told the reptiles live in the walls, and they emerge from in between the walls. The spiders were as big as the sie of our hands. Revealed the director, going on to tell us that not just the spiders, but the cockroaches were twice the size of the ones one normally sees in homes. And a piece of information we didn’t see coming… They were green in colour too.
Wahaj, Sehar, Sidra, in fact all of us had severe phobia. So, we would be very scared throughout. Sometimes, I would just to cover my head with a blanket and sit down. Especially in the evening when there were outdoor shoots.
And that’s it from the director’s desk on Jinn Ki Shadi Unki Shadi. Tell us which scene you loved most and why, or which character is hitting it out of the park in Jinn Ki Shadi Unki Shadi.
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