Meeting the Janaan gang

There is loud laughter erupting from the conference room as I wait to meet the cast of Janaan. As I am led into the room, the cast members continue to make fun of each other and laugh loudly. “Please don’t be offended if we start laughing. It’s usually an inside joke, we aren’t laughing at you or anything,” Ali Rehman, one of the leads of the film, is quick and kind to warn me. This captures the essence of Janaan – its young and fresh cast. In a trailer that does not look so promising, it is indeed the cast and their freshness that immediately stands out. Ali Rehman, Bilal Ashraf, and Armeena Khan are the three lead characters of the story, joined by Hania Amir and Usman Mukhtar.

I go through my list of questions and ask them about their favourite part of shooting the film, to which they all unanimously respond: the team! There is indeed camaraderie between all the actors, but Ali tells me that even their technical team made Janaan as smooth as a film could be. “Even if there were any issues, we wouldn’t know as the producers would handle them all so well.” Bilal Ashraf, originally a Visual Effects Director, is the most outspoken member of this rather happy group. Ali of course likes to answer questions as well, but occasionally stutters on a word every now and then and the entire group starts to make fun of him. At this point I’m thinking, “how am i going to get them to take this interview seriously?”

So I ask them if they’ve heard negative things about themselves. “We laugh it all off”. I ask them whether they’ve heard how people are doubtful of their acting wondering that the cast is merely good looking but do they have acting skills? Bilal shifts in his seat before answering “You learn with experience. I was originally a Visual Effects Director before I got pulled in front of the camera. You learn based on your roles, and then evolve.”

Considering many of them have TV backgrounds, I wonder how difficult it is to transition from TV to film, and how does one differentiate between the two. “TV was an opportunity for me to really brush up on my acting skills,” Armeena Khan explains how eventually, there will be distinct and separate industries for TV and film. However, Ali reminds me that actors like Kevin Spacey do both film and television acting and there is no need to create a distinction between the two. “It’s acting at the end of the day, whether you do it for film or television.” The distinction is a technical one, says Bilal. “Films look different from TV serials because of technical reasons, such as colour grading.” Usman Mukhtar, who is an actor but also a filmmaker by profession, adds that the production quality of TV serials is getting better, therefore the distinction between these two mediums is becoming blurred.

Ali Rehman, Hareem Farooq (producer), Hania Amir, Armeena Khan and Bilal Ashraf

I wondered if they’ve heard other filmmakers and journalists saying that Pakistani cinema is becoming a B grade version of Bollywood. Clearly this has struck a sensitive nerve, as everyone is suddenly looking quite serious. There is no more laughter in the room anymore. “At some point, we were all the same, India and Pakistan. So yes, of course you will find a lot of similarities between the two cinemas.” says Ali. “But Janaan is distinctly Pakistani. There is no copying of Bollywood, no unnecessary item numbers.” Bilal urges filmmakers and writers to develop their stories, as Pakistan is a virgin market and there are so many stories to be told. “Like the ex-Olympian gold medalist who now drives a rickshaw, now that is a story!” Armeena sensibly adds that everyone is experimenting right now and there will be some failed experiments as well.

So what would these bright, young, promising future stars of the country like to change? “There is just too much negativity around. The industry should support each other, and not bring each other down. People are quick to start saying things like ‘why did you cast him’ or ‘his face is weird.’ We shouldn’t be doing that. There should be constructive criticism,” says Bilal. Ali thinks that more people need to join the industry. “We need healthy competition. That will improve the standard of our work as well.”

As I pack my things and wish them good luck, the cast is looking visibly concerned. “Yaar tumne toh hamain depress kardiya. Guys, we have to fix this industry!” jokes Ali at the end. What is perhaps most promising to see is that there is self awareness and ambition amongst this group. They bring a fresh, new take to everything and perhaps that is what is needed. The youth needs to be more involved in filmmaking so that the film industry can progress and fix the loopholes that need to be addressed. The Janaan bunch is ready to take on this challenge. We wish them best of luck with their film and hope their efforts translate onto the big screen!