The drama just called it a day but the dialogues, characters, conversations and scenes will linger on. Whether you are getting fatherly feels from Bhoora, romancing Meenu and Dr. Nofil’s love story, or simply smiling at the courage that is Afzal chacha and Nasreen, Zard Patton Ka Bunn offered smile-worthy moments coupled with sheer heartbreak in practically every episode. Here’s our conversation with director Saife Hasan.
So buckle up as the man in the hot seat, director Saife Hasan takes our questions on none other than Meenu, Dr. Nofil, Afzal Chacha, Kaiser Kala, and more.
Casting Sajal Aly with Hamza Sohail. What made you see Meenu and Dr. Nofil in them?
Saife Hasan: “Sajal was the name that was always on our minds from day one, for the entire team. Because Sajal, …” The director breaks off, then continues. “Her acting style, she is a hard-working actor, and she can push herself. We knew what kind of work we had to take from her. We have very few such actors. So, Sajal was there from the first day.” Saife Hassan mentioned affirmatively. “The best person to do this character – Meenu.” He added.
And Hamza Sohail? We inquired, curiously.
“I remember that Momina suggested Hamza’s name for the first time.” Saife Hasan disclosed on Dr. Nofil’s casting.
“And then, we felt that Hamza Sohail is a person who likes to do offbeat things. And there is a background to that. Muneeza Apa and Hamza’s father Suhail Sahib have a good friendship. So Muneeza Apa offered that she will bring him over and not to worry. But as it happened,” explained Saife Sahab, “Hamza just came over for the first time and said yes to the role. Although he didn’t have the dates, he had to travel in between. But anyway, he managed. So, these were the first two characters who were asked and both agreed. I am very grateful to them. The Kashf Foundation is involved, but these two leaders have cooperated with us.”
He went on to add: “In the rest of the casting, Momina Duraid also plays a big role. Momina is involved in the casting of her prime time serials. So, we had her advice as well.”
We couldn’t help but ask… before we get on to all our questions…
The scene that hit our screens in the final episodes; Meenu’s tearful eyes and Dr. Nofil signing “I Love You”. Tell us about that scene please.
Saife Hasan was all praises for his team: He revealed that “Sajal performed with a lot of heart, we rehearsed the scene for a long time with both Sajal and Hamza, a lot of thought went behind it as a team. And then after that, Sajal performed. They didn’t use any glycerine, the tears were real, they flowed in sync with the scene. And when they were performing, we all had tears in our eyes, the cameramen, myself, everyone on set was crying.”
Oh well, all we have to say is, we were not alone watching onscreen, and if you, like us, had to wipe a tear while watching Meenu and Nofil perform, yeh tau hona hi tha!
The director continues to tell us: “The scene wasn’t done in a single take though. But there were 2-3 such scenes in which we were crying when the scene was shot. Such was the emotion running through.”
Director’s message to the entire Zard Patton Ka Bunn Team
Saife Hasan went on to lay credit and praise for all the wonderful work we saw onscreen to fabulous teamwork, where each member was hugely invested in the outcome. He clarified that: “When I say “We” I mean the entire team behind the project, especially my friend, colleague, writer Mustafa Afridi, whose thoughts on Zard Patton Ka Bunn you can find here. But that’s not all, both Roshaneh Zafar and Muneeza Hashmi from Kashf Foundation were heavily involved in the shoot, with us every step of the way.”
And on a side note, it was great to see them onscreen in the final episodes. (Did we miss Saife and Afridi Sahab?) You bet we did!
In Saife Sahab’s own words:
“If I say that Mustafa and I write and edit together, it would not be wrong. We are so involved in everything throughout the project. Mustafa is involved in everything with me; casting, editing, directing… everything.” Explains the director, with huge gratitude for a writer who goes above and beyond to tell his story.
On supporting cast and their stories: Ek gaon kay saare masalay: Population, women education, child labour, politics, romance, drugs, healthcare and Roshan’s dream to become a traditional singer.
Saife: “As far as Roshan is concerned, we used him for comic relief, and also for supporting Meenu. He has his own love interest. But basically, he is not a major part of the story. He will keep coming, and he will do his work in the end as well, and will provide you with comic relief. He gives you breathing space. Such characters are added for this purpose. You know the story of Roshan. The audience knows it. It will stay to that extent. The story is actually of Meenu and Nofil.” The director replies decisively, no confusion there.
“Fundamentally, the story is of Meenu, a woman-centric story.” The director reminds us. “This is a drama about Meenu. Roshan is a support for her. If someone likes this character more, then that is a good thing. Roshan did a good job, maybe that is why you like him more.”
“You see, we made a mini Pakistan.” Explained the director, and his ethos behind the storytelling, continuing to shed light on his support cast.
“Mairajuddin also, has a special work for a special issue. We thought of presenting Pakistan as a small-scale story, it has problems, good people and bad people. Good people keep doing their work, bad people keep doing theirs. And the problems are also being solved in their own way. But they also have to be made aware.” Caps the director. “We were showcasing a small picture of Pakistan to the Pakistanis.” Like a mini Pakistan in Kesar Kala, we mused? The good, the bad, and … the ugly? And now that we’ve watched the drama. we can safely fit in the pieces of the casting puzzle.
“The audience will decide whether they think something is missing or not but I think, on a large scale, this is the representation of Pakistan, the representation of a small village.” Saife Hasan refers to past stories that graced our screens: “Be it Sang-e-Marmar, Sang-e-Ma, or Ehde-e-Wafa. We have always made multifaceted stories. We are fascinated by them. We like to read them, we like to narrate them, and we like to tell stories. This is probably one of our most successful plays so I don’t think that the audience, the intelligent audience will find a missing link.” Explains the director, confident of his work.
“If we reference our old, well-made dramas, they were multi-track stories: like Waris, Khuda Ki Basti, how many tracks were there in it? And the feedback has been very good,” Saife Hasan speaks of the masterpieces that were, and… if you haven’t watched, now would be the time to search them up!
Meenu deewar phalang ke Nofil se milne gayeen. What response were you expecting from fans?
“I stand with Meenu!” Saife Hasan
Saife (responds with a staunch belief in his characters): “And why do we always want to show that our hero or heroine can never do anything wrong?” On scaling a wall at night to just see Dr. Nofil, fearing for him:” I stand with Meenu.” Replied Saife Hassan emphatically. “I don’t think it raises any moral question.” The director is very clear on his choices, so, we suggest, the moral brigade sit down please!
“We have shown Meenu as a human being who makes mistakes, atones for her mistakes, and also apologizes for them.” He continued. “And why do we always want to show that our hero or heroine can never do anything wrong? If she is helpless and if you see her situation, what can she do? If she loves a person and if he is accused of something so big (harassment), and she can’t meet him, how will she feel? There is no telephone contact, and she just wanted to touch his hair and she expressed her desire to do so. She did not do anything that the reader or the cast would have thought, “how can this be?” I don’t think it raises any moral question. If there was any actor, I would have made her do it too. I think she did it out of desperation and her desperation was very clear in the eyes of the audience. We just showed that Meenu is a candid, spontaneous, emotional girl. She did what her heart told her to do. I stand with Meenu.”
Now, continues the director, approaching the issue from all angles: “Yes, if someone has seen only that scene and commented about it, then of course, the villagers don’t know the context. The villagers will also call it bad. You will see. The villagers will also not be in favor of Meenu’s actions, but in that context, we feel that Meenu’s actions are right.”
Dr. Nofil ka rona: Meenu ke liye aur phir Rani ke liye. Script ka hissa ya director aur actor ka improvisation?
We asked about the scene that we cheered for, smiling through tears.
Saife: “Whatever we do, when I and Mustafa are working on a script, then Mustafa has his own directions and I have my own directions. We believe that everything should be written. So we write everything down, what I think of, what Mustafa thinks of. Mustafa writes it down and writes notes for the editor as well. So we discuss everything and try to write all the directions, all the inputs of our story in the script, when it was written, it was written that Nofil would cry, and Nasreen would cry, and he would go out and cry. Everything was written.” And that folks, is the backstory to Dr. Nofil forever endearing us with his compassionate tears.
The village of Kesar Kala and some background to the location?
Saife: “The village is Dehra Bakha, an area about 50 minutes away from Bahawalpur.” Revealed Saife Hassan.
“The shooting took place mostly in Dehra Bakha. Some of the shots were shot in Chak Saath, a village too. No, there were no phone signals there. And the village we used to live in, there were about 70-80 houses in that village. But Dera Bakha is a big area, it had a small village. I think Dera Bakha has a small school. The name of that village, we used to call it Dera Bakha, we named it Kesar Kala. There was no doctor or hospital even in the nearest area. It was a little far away. In fact, the hospital we showed you, the hospital where we took Rani, that too was 20 minutes away by car, that was the nearest hospital. The dispensary we had shown was the dispensary we had built.”
And we wanted to know more:
Koi aik khaas khana jo aapne wahan khaya ho, shooting kay dauraan?
Saife: “We started shooting in winter. So, there is a tree called Sohanjna. In fact, Meenu’s tree is the same as the tree of Sohanjna. The leaves and phali (fruit) of Sohanjna are very beneficial. It is eaten a lot. And it is usually made with meat. And it was very tasty. Sohanjna ki phali with bakray ka gosht, beef, chicken sub kay sath banaya jata hai. Explained the director. “Sohanjna ko kuch aur bhi kehtay hain, Moringa, I believe.”
So all you folks, sipping Moringa tea, this is where you can source it. Be Pakistani, but Pakistani and shop local! Head over to Bahawalpur for the real thing!
On casting and auditions for ensemble cast:
“If you want to get a good performance with a supporting cast, then audition is the best way.” Responded the director.
Saife: “Yes, yes, I do auditions. All the characters you see in this drama, almost all of them have auditioned. This is the only way to cast, there is no other way.: Explained the director. “I have worked with Rehan Sheikh many times. I know his range, his weaknesses, his strengths. I don’t need his audition. I have worked with Tipu many times. I don’t need his audition. But all the other actors I have worked with for the first time, all of them have given auditions and all of them have worked very hard and because of them this play is being liked so much Alhamdulillah.”
The scene that was hard to shoot.
“The dance where Meenu and her father and sister-in-law were dancing, and the hen fight in such a big field, were hard to shoot… and here’s the insight into those two scenes,” offers Saife Hasan, quick to tell us how crowd control is a real thing.
Saife: “I always find shooting to be a difficult task. But the scenes in which there are more actors, you find it difficult to do them, because you have to get everyone to act. Like the dance where Meenu and her father and sister-in-law were dancing, there were so many people in that scene, and handling them, making them play the drum, making them dance to the beat of the drumsticks, those are the kind of things where crowd control is a big problem.”
Saife Sahab went on to explain his challenges:
“Like the hen fight in such a big field, in such hot weather, in a period of fasting, controlling 150-200 people, not only controlling them but also making them act, and in between, 20-25 chickens, sometimes a chicken is being chased, sometimes something else is happening. So sometimes a small scene gets stuck, scenes with kids get stuck. So yes, crowd scenes are hard to pull off.”
On something special about the real life village they named Kaisar Kala?
Saife revealed something really special here: “Every village has a wadera right? He explained. “So Dr. Amjad, the local wadera, is not just a doctor, he is a general surgeon, he works in a hospital in Bahawalpur. He is a very good, great, God-fearing man. The people who work on his land, who have set up a village there, are extremely happy with him and are ready to do anything for him. I was very happy to see that all our landowners are not like the cliched landowners we show or expect. He is an educated man, very hospitable and a very good person – Dr. Amjad.”
And that was a story we’d love to hear more about. Hope is always in short supply!
On how long it took to shoot the drama?
Saife: We completed shooting Zard Patton Ka Bunn in 7 months.
“The shooting of Zard Patton Ka Bunn was an overall enjoyable experience for me. The reason for that was that all the actors had a great camaraderie going. Hamza, Sajal and the rest. So, there was always a gathering of friends there I didn’t work with strangers, we were all friends, and this was special.”
The best feedback on the drama so far?
“I was in London at the time of HUM Awards, a lot of people came there and gave me lots of feedback. People even said that they have never seen such a drama. But, obviously I didn’t believe it.” Responded the director humbly, but you like such comments and your heart grows larger.”
“Whenever you are praised for your drama, you always like it. I am very satisfied with this drama because I give importance to the feedback of all the people.
Aapka sab se pasandeeda charácter aur kyun?
Saife: “My favorite character is Chacha Afzal. The first reason is that I have not known Chacha Afzal since today, I have known him for years. Because there was a man from the village of writer Mustafa Afridi, Dr. Afzal, and I have heard many stories about him. I am very happy that Tahir played this role. He is a friend and he played this role very well, with a lot of hard work and with a lot of heart. I will give my favourite role to Chacha Afzal.”
A message to your fans and audiences of ZPKB?
Saife Hasan: “I have more than one message in this drama and all the messages that were given, I strongly believe in all of them. I want to convey all these messages to my viewers, to the world, whether it is about population control, about girl-child education, about general education, about child labour, about drug addiction, all these issues are close to my heart. I travel a lot and I see my country, my countrymen, surrounded by these issues. And I feel that it is very important to address them. So, I want that all these messages to reach the people. May Allah enable our people to work on these issues and improve them. We can only send a message. May Allah change this.”
And that’s it folks, our conversation with director Saife Hasan of Zard Patton Ka Bunn. We hope you got some insights into the story we grew to love. Tell us what you loved best about Meenu and Dr. Nofil’s story.
The talented duo of Mustafa Afridi and Saife Hasan pen Zard Patton Ka Bunn. Momina Duraid Production and Kashf Foundation produce the project. The cast includes Sajal Ali, Hamza Sohail, Rehan Sheikh, Samiya Mumtaz, Ali Tahir, Adnan Shah Tipu, Saad Azhar, Syed Tanveer Hussain, Chaudhary Muhammad Usman, Mubashir Mehmood, Adeel Afzal, Najma Bibi, Zaryab Haider & others.
