While most in the business of entertainment would look back upon 2021 as a dismissive year, Humayun Saeed is one of the rare few who is winding up the proceedings with a UAE golden visa to his name, an award that credits him as the Pride of Pakistani Cinema and plans to venture into Hollywood in the near future.
Saeed, who was recently in Dubai to collect the award bestowed on him at the Filmfare Middle East Achievers Night that was held here in October along with attending a musical night in his honour, also expressed his gratitude of being granted the golden visa by UAE authorities through a social media post.
“Honoured to receive the Golden Visa from the UAE. Very grateful for all the love and appreciation the people of UAE have always shown to me and my work. My family and I have always loved Dubai and thoroughly enjoy our trips here which I suppose are now going to increase! Thank you to the UAE government and especially to the Dubai Film and TV Commission @filmdubai and ARY Digital Network,” Saeed posted.
Saeed, who’s enjoyed a career spanning 26 years, both as an actor and a producer, has blockbuster hits to his credit that include movies such as ‘Jawani Phir Nahi Ani’, ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ and the Pakistani drama ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’, which went on to become the highest rated TV show in the country.
“For an actor who is often called the Shah Rukh Khan of Pakistani cinema, Humayun Saeed is perhaps one of the most humble people we have ever met,” stated Anis Sajan, Vice-Chairman, Danube Group, whose family, including Founder Chairman of Danube Group Rizwan Sajan, were the chief architects behind this year’s biggest showbiz extravaganza — the Filmfare Middle East (FFME) Achievers Night 2021.
Just like the global entertainment industries, Pakistani cinema has also suffered over the past two years on account of the pandemic and Saeed is now looking to breathe new life into the business once again through several projects he has in the pipeline, including the much delayed ‘London Nahi Jaungi’.
“Last we met was on the set of our film ‘London Nahi Jaunga’ almost a year ago!” wrote Saeed in an Instagram post, sharing a picture of his co-star Mehwish Hayat, while adding: “Talking about London Nahi Jaunga — hope to wrap it up in March 2022 with release on coming Eid ul Azha.”
Earlier this year, Saeed and actor Adnan Siddiqui also announced they have partnered with Tekdin Films and TRT production for a new project. Tekdin Films is the production house behind the hugely popular Turkish historical TV drama ‘Dirilis Ertugrul’ (Ertugrul’s Resurrection) which has been all the rage in Pakistan since PTV began airing a dubbed version.
According to reports, both Pakistani and Turkish actors will be part of the project.
“And he’s hardly stopping there,” Sajan told Gulf News. “During his visit to Dubai, Humayun also spoke extensively about heading to Hollywood soon. He has some discussions ongoing and it wouldn’t be surprising that he co-produces the project like the Turkish drama collaboration.”
For Saeed and his fans, 2022 is going to come with a lot of promise as well.
