Faryal Mehmood says “Wakhri” is a tribute to Qandeel Baloch

KARACHI:

Sitting comfortably in a chair, Faryal Mehmood smiles as she answers questions, dressed in an oversized blazer and floral skirt. Her hair is done to perfection and her make-up meticulously done – quite a contrast from the last time I saw her rehearsing for her performance at PISA in Dubai.

Mehmood is currently engrossed in promoting her upcoming film Wakhri, fully embracing her role in it. In 2021, she had taken a break from acting, citing the poor quality of the scripts she had received. However, this year marks a strong comeback for her with three noteworthy projects: Zaheer Uddin Ahmed’s crime drama Chikkara cameo in Umair Nasir Ali’s Yumna Zaidi starrer titled Nayaband Iram Parveen Bilal’s Wakhri.

While enjoying a cup of coffee, Mehmood spoke The Express Tribune on her decision to star in a film inspired by Qandeel Baloch, the importance of women-centric films and her thoughts on why the drama industry seems to have lost its former allure.

Express Tribune (ET): The last time we spoke, you said that you are not finding scripts that you would like to work on. What changed with Wakhri?

Faryal Mehmood (FM): I continued! I received a good script – not just a good script but a great script – it was everything I expected. He came and saved my life. It was quite a time-consuming process [to be cast in the film]; there was an audition and it took us two to three months for the makers to finalize my choice. A lot of work was done before the film even went on floors.

ET: How inspired is Wakhri by Qandeel Baloch?

FM: The story is about a single mother, who is a teacher. Her sole aim in life is to teach these young girls and she wants to establish a school to achieve this. However, he is having trouble finding the funding for it. Since we know that women rarely pay attention in any patriarchal society, she becomes more and more frustrated. One day, she dresses up in drag and ends up performing at her friend’s drag show, saying anything to Noor [Mehmood’s character in Wakhri], was held. Since she seems so mysterious and irrepressible, she does not condone her opinions. the night ends with many documenting her passing and she wakes up the next morning to be branded as the latest social media sensation. Her videos went viral on the internet!

This is how the film relates to Qandeel. she was our first influencer when we had not defined what an influencer is in Pakistan. When I was preparing for Noor and listening to Qandeel’s interviews, I realized that she was deeply misunderstood. Everything she said was not far from the truth, but no one listened. I was horrified because I didn’t hear her either. We just kept judging her. her clothes, her accent. We couldn’t pass it up.

ET: How important is it to tell stories that may fear backlash from certain quarters? What kind of response do you expect from your Pakistani audience? How did you get into the character of Noor?

FM: That was actually my first question once I was done with the script. I asked my producer Abid if the censor board would allow the film to be released in Pakistan. Will people watch it? They told me we will manage it, so we shot the film in a certain way. When I was telling Wakhri, I kept asking myself, how sexy is too sexy? Which dialogues could the audience tolerate and which would they reject outright? This was a very fine line for me to walk. So finally I used my inner Wakhri and it just worked.

I didn’t imitate Qandeel, I didn’t act like her. I made it my own, but some dialogues were taken from Qandeel and the audience could recall them. You see, the character itself is not cute. Coming from a middle-class background, there’s so much she can dress up for or rock her accent. I just tried to show it as beautifully as possible. So I would like our Pakistani audience to let us know if they were able to digest it.

ET: This is the first time you are working with a female director on a feature film. Tell us how you found working with Iram Parveen Bilal.

FM: If they asked me what kind of cinema I would like to work in, I would say something along the lines of Joyland. something considered serious, something dark, something real. I wouldn’t want to beat around the bush, I wouldn’t want the film to have songs, I’d just like it to have a message, however difficult the message may be.

I came on set for the first monologue we shot for Wakhri and Iram informed me that she would be asking for retakes until they got the stage right. As soon as the first take was over and I was done and cut called me, he said he didn’t have any notes. This is exactly how he envisioned me working on stage. I realized that I understood Wakhri. I can maneuver her from here.

On set, we never felt unheard. The creators were all there to listen. The DOP and editor were women. Aarti Bajaj, the editor-in-chief, had edited Tamasha and Highway. There was Kanwal on the set. I was very proud of what we had made and then we would talk about it too. It was so well executed.

ET: You were one of the stars who had talked a lot about their journey and personal life. Does this also affect project options?

FM: By all means. I wouldn’t even take the script if I didn’t think it resonated with me or if I was honest with myself. I did some projects right at the beginning of my career that I took on under pressure. I would do it for someone, not for myself. I think I’m now at that stage in life where I would never do that. I would take on a project for myself and no one else. I haven’t done a script in three years. I only worked on Wakhri because I wanted to work on it.

ET: What kind of stories would you like to see in Pakistani cinema? We saw the tide gradually change. The legends of Maula Jatt, Gunjal, Kukri, Joyland, Kamli, In Flames, Zindagi Tamasha and Chikkar are proof of this. Do you think our movies are now smarter than our dramas?

FM: I totally agree, our movies have come a long way. Two banners are making movies and we all know that they are making money and profit from their movies. They make rom-coms and it works well for them. But other people are just as talented, if not more so, who want to tell different forms of stories. Many called it experimental cinema, but I don’t agree with the term. Yes, we are expanding into different cinema industries and that is much needed. This is what cinema should be about.

I haven’t watched a drama in years now. But whenever I’ve had a glimpse of a recent play, I don’t recognize any of the actors. Who are these people and why has the situation worsened? Do they know what an expression is? The thing is with TV, it has come to influencers. Now, it’s up to them, there are so many girls I don’t recognize. I’m not someone who is on social media, I swear off TikTok so I don’t know who these girls are. I mean, of course, they have a lot of fans, hence why they’re on TV dramas now. But that doesn’t mean they can act. If you want to make a watchable drama, make it with actors, not TikTokers. There is no comparison. Actors and influences parallel each other.

If you think that influencers would star in a drama and the product would be the same as six years ago, then you are wrong. You have to bring the actors back. The people I’ve worked with on screen, I never see them in dramas anymore. Where is? They don’t make movies, they don’t make dramas. Why do we do this on TV just to save money? For ratings? I don’t have a solution for this, unfortunately.

You see, it’s different with movies. The only people who can film are those who have absolute faith in themselves and have enough money. When you make a movie, you have to be sure about the actors who would play certain characters in your movie, that’s how the investment would work. There would be no mediation here, there would be hearings here. Since the audience would have to pay out of pocket to see your film, the director needs to be sure that the cast is likable. That’s why our films have so much more to offer. Start auditioning your actors. The public should, at least, get their money’s worth.

ET: How important is it that the films are spread throughout the year, rather than crammed into the famous Eid slots?

FM: When I was informed that Wakhri will be the first release of 2024, I was excited! I said, “Bring it on! Let’s start the year with women.’ Right after that, we have Nayab, we have yet another female-driven script. We need to move the film narrative towards women as well. Our dramas are dominated by women because they are women who mostly watch TV soaps, but we need to bring them to the big screen as well. Our industry had to go through this upheaval to get women to take control. I think we are moving in the right direction.

Everyone asks me why people should come to watch Wakhri. I said, I just need the women to come and see Wakhri. it would be a hit. How many movies were made by women and for women? It’s a girls day where you and your girlfriends go and watch Wakhri. I only hope when Nayab, Chikkar and Wakhri do well at the box office, the doors will open for our female stars who are incredibly talented but hesitant to take a script out of the box.

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