Haissam Hussain, the maker of such iconic drama serials as Nur Pur Ki Rani (2009), Durr e Shahwar (2012), and Aunn Zara (2013), all of which were famously aired on Zee’s Zindagi TV channel also, is now ready to explore the territory of web shows. Talking exclusively to Gulf News tabloid!, Hussain says that he is working on two web series simultaneously.
“Each of these has a different genre,” he reveals. “The first one is a period love story, and the other is a mystery play.”
Earlier, Hussain attempted the genre (period drama) famously well in Dastaan (2010), which had an ensemble cast comprising Fawad Khan, Saba Qamar, Ahsan Khan, Sanam Baloch, Babrik Shah, and Mehreen Raheal. It won him huge acclaim.
When asked if a period love story is a winning idea, at a time when Netflix and Amazon are churning out bold and neo-realistic web series like Narcos, Orange Is the New Black, 13 Reasons Why and India’s own Lust Stories and Sacred Games, Hussain contends, “It’s about the pace of your show; if it’s correct, you’ve got it made. Consider [Netflix’s] The Crown, for instance.”
He also insists that working for web has allowed him to “do the kind of things I always wanted to.”
He doesn’t reveal the name of the portal he’s making the series for, but only says that it’s for “an international platform.”
Hussain is one of the few directors in Pakistan who studied filmmaking formally at a university (he got two degrees from Middlesex). Last year, he tried his hand at the big screen, with Balu Mahi.
Though the film was appreciated by critics, it received a lukewarm response at the box office. But this didn’t deter him, and he is gearing up for his second feature also.
