Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed's ‘Barzakh’ to debut at Series Mania Festival
- 'Barzakh' is the only selection from South Asia at the festival this year
Actors Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed have teamed up for new drama ‘Barzakh,’ which will premiere at the Series Mania Festival in France next month, reported Variety on Wednesday.
‘Barzakh’ is the only selection from South Asia at the festival this year, which is slated to be held in France from March 17 to 24.
The series is a family drama centered around an elderly man’s quest for love and explores intergenerational trauma between fathers and sons. The story is set in a fantastical world of supernatural beings and otherworldly events that alternate between life, death and rebirth.
The series will debut within the International Panorama showcase – a 12-title competitive section where it will also be eligible for best series, director, actress, actor, student jury and audience awards.
‘Barzakh’ has been directed by ace director Asim Abbasi and produced by Waqas Hassan and Shailja Kejriwal for Zindagi, the Indian subcontinent-focused programming block on streamer ZEE5 Global.
Abbasi also directed Zindagi’s first Pakistani original ‘Churails’ and the 2018 feature film ‘Cake.’
Both Abbasi and Kejriwal were excited about making the cut for Series Mania.
“As artists, we often find ourselves working in a bubble for long periods, away from outside viewpoints, so to be selected by the programmers at a prestigious festival, where some of the most interesting series from the globe will be having their premieres, is very humbling,” Abbasi was quoted as saying by Variety.
“‘Barzakh’ has been an experiment of sorts, for both me and Zindagi – a narrative that defies easy definitions. And to see it carve a space out for itself on an international stage, is truly a joyous moment for the entire team,” he added.
Abbasi revealed further plot details sharing: “What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to have a soul, and does it survive us? How does one find hope and joy in a perpetual state of limbo? These are the central concerns of ’Barzakh.”
The series has been shot on location in Karachi and the stunning Hunza valley.
Abbasi further explains how ‘Barzakh’ is a deeply personal show.
“In the aftermath of my father’s passing, and witnessing my son grow into a young boy, I found myself consumed with nostalgia, and memories of times gone and loves lost. And I began to think about my fears – the end of consciousness, the end of imagination, the end of love. And from these fears, grew a story where love was indeed eternal. Where it survived us – making it the ultimate human legacy,” reported Variety.
Producer Kejriwal added that “‘Barzakh’ is a product of COVID brain – it was a time where like everyone else, Asim and I were talking about love, life, death, losing loved ones, unable to say our goodbyes. There was a sense of loss, but also confusion, because of a lack of completion. Death and parting didn’t seem like a finality like it used to because funerals and weddings were both happening on Zoom.
“This new reality was surreal and to make any sense of it, physical contact or in-person meeting with friends and family became crucial. Hence the idea about a show which essentially was a family reunion came up,” she was quoted as saying by Variety.
“But families are never easy. And the families that Asim creates are complex, layered, anguished, funny and vulnerable at the same time,” she added.
Abbasi, who worked with Saeed on ‘Cake,’ praised the actor’s “stoic otherworldliness” in the show.
‘Nobody helped me’: Humaima Malick reflects on ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ experience
On Fawad Khan, who recently starred in ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt,’ Pakistan’s biggest box office hit of all time, Abbasi said that the actor “gave so much honesty and authenticity to his performance, capturing both the charm and the defiance of his character with ease.”
From a slap heard around the world to the Maula Jatt legend at the box office
Comments
Comments are closed.