“Javed Iqbal” is one of the most anticipated psychological thriller films to release in Pakistan this December, and Yasir Hussain is set to play the serial killer while Ayesha Omar who has been well known for playing comedy roles like Khobsurat from Bulbulay, is set to play a police man who tries to catch him.
Yasir Hussain and the director of the film Abu Aleeha both sat down for an interview with BBC Urdu where the actor discussed how he had approached the role and adapted to it. Yasir revealed that although there was initially very little footage of the serial killer Javed Iqbal, there was one clip circulating of him on social media, that helped him understand his mind:
“To understand someone like Javed Iqbal there wasn’t a lot of information on him available. But there was this one clip of him where he is being taken in by the police after he confesses all of his killing. The look on his face showed that this was someone who thought he was smarter than the law makers and everyone else there because he had outsmarted them. So the director and I had discussed this clip and how it gave us insight into what he thought of himself.”
The director Abu Aleeha also opened up about his decision to cast Yasir Hussain who has been widely known as a comedy actor because of his films like “Karachi sey Lahore” and “Lahore sey Agay”, but clarified that it was because he had seen the actor’s theatre performances which had convinced him to hire him for this role
“I had known that Yasir was seen by everyone else as a comedy actor because of his films like “Karachi sey Lahore” or through his Instagram, but I had gotten to see Yasir through his theatre performances. Which is why I felt that he would be perfect for this role because it required a serious actor to take on such a complex figure and turn it into a masterpiece, and also who would remain on sets longer than anyone else to give his best performance.”
On the casting of Ayesha Omar as the police woman, Abu Aleeha had said that this was done to surprise the audience because of how the actress was known for her comedy roles like Khoobsurat on Bulbulay:
“I knew Ayesha was widely known among Pakistani audiences for playing a comedy role like Khoobsurat in Bulbulay. Which is why I felt that she would be perfect for this role because of how this will shock the audience when they’ll watch her adapt to this role and how she will make them fear along with her as she searches for this serial killer.”
You can watch the complete interview below. “Javed Iqbal” is out in theatres on 24th December
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