During previous years, the producers struggled to pull in the audience thanks to an extremely busy release roaster
with her producer. “It’s a no-brainer, really,” the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz recipient shares. “The film has songs, dances, a big-fat Punjabi wedding. It’s a formula that has worked well for us and the audience on Eid likes to come out with their families and watch these films. We’ve added an additional element of supernatural bodies and I think that could intrigue the audience.”
The producer-director duo had previously worked the lead cast; and that cumulated into one of the factors as to why stars such as Ali and Mehwish agreed to work on the project on such short notice. “We were very lucky, I believe,” Wajahat says. “Mehwish was somehow available on the dates we were planning on shooting and Ali also moved things around to make it work. We had worked with Momin in Raqs-e-Bismil, and we knew he was a great fit for the role we had in mind.”
Working with Shazia and Wajahat was an added bonus for Momin to readily agree to the job. “They make you feel so comfortable on sets, that I think everyone should work with them!” the actor who rose to fame with a viral 2019 video tells me. Talking about his role in the film, Momin adds, “I fell in love with the script.” Adding how he’s a fan of ‘diversity’, the social media sensation comments, “My character in the film has elements of comedy, of romance, of mischief.”
Ali adds how he transitioned from Wajahat’s last protagonist, Guru, to Faris in Daghabaaz Dil. “I don’t think I’ve completely shed Guru, truth be told,” the Parde Mein Rehne Do star says. “Having said that, I don’t really dwell in the past as well. It’s all part of the job, you have to move on.”
Mehwish, who essays strong-headed Zoya in the film, shares how she manages to don her roles with sheer perfection. The actor, who’s played eerily similar characters in the past, namely Punjab Nahi Jaungi, London Nahi Jaungi and Jawani Phir Nahi Ani, reveals she pays close attention to detail and does her homework before she steps onto sets.
“I think the idea is to make sure that there’s no repetition,” Mehwish says. “Hence, I like to experiment with my roles. For Zoya, I tried to talk really fast; she’s a chatterbox! Unfiltered, and unabashed, doesn’t care much about how people perceive her. Zoya is anything but like me.”
While the nerves set in for the rest of the cast, Momin is seemingly unbothered about the numbers. “I don’t care much about the outcome,” he concludes. “I enjoy the process and being part of the project; the rest is up to the audience.”
