Urwa Hocane was the first choice for ‘Kaaf Kangana’, clarifies Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar

Writer extraordinaire, Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar returns to the director’s chair with his second cinematic feature, Kaaf Kangana. Recently in a conversation with Instep, Qamar had revealed his film’s leading trio – Sohai Ali Abro, Sami Khan, and Ghana Ali. However, in a change of circumstances, it was reported earlier this week that Urwa Hocane would now be taking the female lead of an Indian girl, Kangana, opposite Sami Khan.

Something Haute did the story but then received a counter indication that Urwa had not replaced Sohai but was, in fact, KRQ’s first choice for the role.

Something Haute got a hold of Qamar, who exclusively revealed to us that due to date-clashes, Sohai had to drop out of the film and complete shooting for The Motorcycle Girl, Adnan Sarwar’s biopic on Zenith Irfan, the first woman to make a solo-journey across the Northern region. Nonetheless, Hocane, who brought Qamar’s Durdana of Punjab Nahi Jaungi to life, was always the first choice.

“Almost two-and-a-half years ago, when we first developed the script, we had thought of Urwa for the female lead’s part,” Qamar clarified. “I didn’t kick anyone out, or nobody walked out unceremoniously, it was done very amicably. Sohai and I sat down and we resolved the matter, realizing that it won’t be possible for her to continue. It happens, we are all thorough professionals and I feel it’s not that big news I just want people to look forward to the film.”

Also read:Sohai Ali Abro to star in Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar’s next film!

The veteran writer feels that there’s no need of creating unnecessary hoopla around the switch, requesting publications to “hold their horses”.

“It’s not news, we should be thinking about the positives. I might be working with her (Sohai) on another project, but these reports put us in a very awkward spot,” he added.

Surprisingly, the cast modification hasn’t affected the shooting schedules at all. Urwa, who Khalil Sahab speaks very highly of and says has had “long script-reading sessions” with, has joined the set in Lahore and will reshoot the sequences Sohai had shot in Islamabad last month, in March.

Kaaf Kangana, which also features Asif Raza Mir, Sajid Hasan, Khursheed Shahid, Shamim Hilali, Saba Faisal and Qavi Khan, along with debutant actor and Qamar’s son, Abi Khan in supporting roles and cameo appearances by Vasay Chaudhry and Ahmad Ali Butt, is a cross-border love story that is being made in association with the ISPR.

Slated to release later this year, watch this space for more updates.