Namak Haram has audiences in its grip. From the tough on the outside, soft on the inside Mureed played by Imran Ashraf, to the passive-agressive and calm Asma essayed by none other than Sarah Khan, the drama has fans contemplating what happens next? Sit back and take a look as Asma and Mureed take our questions on the sets of Namak Haram!
Has Mureed fallen in love with Asma and if yes, then why is he betraying her?
Sarah Khan: “Yeh audience ko Mureed ki aankhain dekh ke pata nahi chala?”
Imran Ashraf: “You are forgetting one thing. It is by Allah’s grace that this entire chemistry between Sarah Khan and Imran Ashraf is such that you have forgotten that this is a revenge story.”
“And if he fails in his revenge, then it is a betrayal.”
“What Mureed is doing is not a betrayal. He has given his wife the freedom to love her father.” Imran explains, totally in character.
And is Asma in love with Mureed, we ask?
Sarah Khan: “Asma has forgotten her pain by this point. She is in a state of confusion. She’s not sure whether she’s in love or not. Or she likes him, or she feels sorry for him.”
What is Mureed’s end game?
Sarah responds philosophically: “I think Mureed has a very long term planning, but it was a go with the flow kind of plan. He didn’t really want to hurt Asma so much. Or Aiman. He just wanted to take revenge from Amin Qureshi and the other people just came in between his plan.”
Imran Ashraf clears the picture, as Mureed should: “Mureed actually wanted to take his mother’s revenge. But the entire world knows, that when people hate intensely, but they are confronted with love, love wins. Love has a lot of power in it. But … “
“Asma is the power of love.”
“I have to tell you though,” continues Imran, adding suspense to the debate, “that you never know what’s going to happen. Anything can happen. You can’t even imagine what’s about to happen in the end. Will Mureed and Asma be able to stay together. This is a revenge story. You never know what’s going to happen!”
But then, the question on top of our mind, and many fans, most probably…
Why didn’t Mureed marry Aiman, who was already in love with him? Why choose Asma?
Imran Ashraf responds with a chuckle: Because Sarah Khan was cast in the other character!
But then, on a more sober note: “Because deep down inside, Mureed is a good human being. So, he thought that if someone in this house has cared for him all his life, then that is Aiman. So, I don’t want her to be hurt. Now, the Mureed who is here, first he was Namak Haram’s Mureed, …now he is Asma’s Mureed.”
Whew, that was dramatic, but aren’t we here for the drama? And on that note, we move on to Asma…
Is it Asma’s faith that is going to help heal Mureed?
Sarah Khan: “Asma is the one. From episode 1, it is Asma’s faith that has made her so powerful. I think love can change a lot. Mureed was always alone. Maybe Asma can change Mureed? Maybe Mureed will change Asma?”
Imran Ashraf, now quite energized by Sarah’s quizzing game: “Mureed can get Asma out? You are saying things that are not going to happen. Oh man! Sara, you are giving such signals.”
And then he decides to join in the banter …
“Yes, what is possible? What is possible? That there will be a bomb blast, the whole house will explode. Or maybe a flood will come. What do you know what is happening in the drama?”
Imran recovers from his conspiracy theory mood to give us some insights though:
“I want to tell you that there was a very thin line in that scene – Cleaning shoes. My favourite was the scene where Asma takes care of Mureed that night after he cleaned Amin Qureshi’s shoes and Sara’s performance in that scene was amazing. I want to tell you one thing. It’s very important. If you like my work even a little bit, then it is because of Sarah’s contribution 100%. I always feel confident when Sarah is with me in the frame or in the drama.”
Mureed aka Imran explains further:
“That scene, because Amin Qureshi always makes me clean his shoes, that was not a new thing, right? So why was he crying so much? Because deep inside, Mureed is also thinking that I am the son-in-law now, not just a servant. He was broken…”
And with that, Imran’s voice trails off on a serious note, as we quiz further … till he flips again to a new theory:
The end game (according to Imran Ashraf): “There will be an election. Asma might become the Chief Minister. She is going towards politics for sure.”
Sarah quips in her bit: “Prime Minister!”
Hmm, as these two try to detract us, we keep the pressure on, perhaps, and ask …
Will Asma save Amin Qureshi?
Sarah Khan: We don’t know if Amin Qureshi will survive but …
Imran Ashraf cuts in to ask Sarah: “But as a girl, as a female citizen of Pakistan, what he has done, do you want him to survive?”
Sarah Khan, now on a serious note: “I think he should be hanged. Of course, all the rapists, all these criminals, they should be punished publicly. Otherwise, there will be another one.”
And that came from the heart!
On a lighter note, we asked the two love birds – Mureed and Asma, that is:
If Mureed and Asma, (because now they are falling in love), if they are listening to a song that represents their love, what song will it be?
Sarah Khan responds almost instantly: “I will tell you the name of the song! Not Namak Haram for sure! You can sing our other OST. Aaye, Qareeb Aaye!“
Imran Ashraf: “So, because Moosa and Zohra are in this too (From Raqs e Bismil). Imran refers to their previously hit and very popular pairing – Pehle bhi mein tum se mila.”
On what he will cook for breakfast for Asma, Mureed responds: “Mureed will cook all day for Asma. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Mureed will ask Asma what she wants to eat.”
Asma, with a mischievous smile: “Mureed seems like the ideal husband, wow!”
And finally, a message to their fans …
Imran Ashraf: “Thank you so much to all my fans. In the first 12 episodes, there was no drama with a mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and the sisters-in-law – they were all on holiday! Namak Haram was a different story, in which there was no commercial element.”
“You watched, because of Sarah and because of us together, because of our director, our writer and our ensemble cast. We have made a drama without commercialism, in which there is no mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and it has views on YouTube, and such a high rating on TV, only reserved for commercial dramas usually, and this is only because of the grace of Allah. You are our inspiration. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. If you like such dramas, we can make more such dramas.”
Sarah Khan continues to thank their male audience in particular: “I would like to thank our male audience especially, because usually male audiences are not so many. Mostly it is women. But whenever I have a project with Imran, our audience is mostly male. Because of course, there is action in it. The ones who don’t watch the dramas, they must have watched Raqs e Bismil and Namak Haram as well.”
Imran Ashraf: “So I would like to thank Sarah. She is very lucky for me. I always like working with her. This is a very respectable relationship and one that has given us immense love from audiences.”
And we agree!
We were lucky to get a word with director Shaqielle Khan on casting Sarah and Imran:
He responded by telling us: “I think this was an already established couple and Sarah was very good in the character as well. The chemistry.” No secret there, we agree!
On Sarah Khan, he continued: “It was a kind of a character which is not very… it’s a character which can’t take too much of a stand. She’s more religious and she’s probably a good child. And she’s not a rebel in front of her father or many other people. Whereas the other sister is a baaghi, she believes in individual freedom.”
“So I think Sarah’s entire demeanor of being a very passive-aggressive person, and it fits her overall appearance. You know, you look at her and feel that she’s very timid. In reality, she’s very timid. You know, we hardly hear her talking mostly on set. It’s us talking most of the time. I think Sarah has suited the character pretty well.” Shaqielle Khan rounds it up pretty well, and we tend to agree!
Shaqielle Khan continues to contemplate, quite humbly, if we may say so:
“I’m very unforgiving about my own work. Because I know that what we cheat and what we do. But if people are liking it, I’m glad that they’re liking it. The thing that I’m happy about is that I thought, I wish, and I hope that wish comes true, that I wish the drama changes the trend. And we do not present our viewers only with a housewife story. Those are very important too, right? Because there are so many other dynamics to it. You know, you can’t portray the same housewife in a slot of 7, 8, 9 o’clock every day. There has to be a bouquet of different stories. You know, so I hope this changes the trend.”
And that’s a wrap from the sets of Namak Haram. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. Do drop us a comment and tell us if you’re watching the drama!
The Namak Haram cast features, among others: Imran Ashraf and Sarah Khan supported by a stellar ensemble including Babar Ali, Sunita Marshal, Aniqa Zehra Khawaja, Mohsin Ejaz, Sajawal, Salma Asim, and Nabeela Khan, the series promises a riveting narrative. Penned by Saqlain Abbas and directed by Shaqielle Khan. Namak Haram is a captivating project by FARS Entertainment and Momina Duraid Productions.
