Rehbra – A tale of love, action and drama

From cast to locations, Amin Iqbal’s directorial debut has all the right ingredients

Amid movie release, premieres, song launches and trailer launches, Rehbra is one of the movies which was halted due to the pandemic. As the risks of the virus subsided and life began to normal, Amin Iqbal, a veteran director who has given us  major hits on Television such as Dushman e Jaan and Ishq e Laa, geared up for his first movie promotions.

I spoke to the team of Rehbra in all their glory as they shared the creative process and the work that went into the film.

The conversation initiated with what difference he found in directing a movie as compared to the dramas. “Audio mixing, choreography and other technicalities aren’t a part of a television drama but these thick and thins are needed to be looked after while making a movie. When one starts a career in direction, the first medium is TV and one explores that. For me making a film came as an opportunity when I met Saira.”

Amin spoke very highly of Saira, a doctor by profession in the USA and also the producer of the movie. “She has come from the USA and wanted to invest her savings in making the movie.” Wasn’t it a risk by involving a new producer for a film? I asked.

“No, not at all. What struck me was her passion. As I also began my career as a writer and later explored other avenues. The time when she came, it was the peak of the revival of Pakistani cinemas and I was passionate about directing a movie.”

Amin put all his heart and passion into this dream project of his, talking about how he got into making Rehbra in the first place, he answered: “I had already studied film writing from abroad and I wanted to put in my skills in this field too, it required that very passion that I had for the film. This was a great chance and I am thankful to the producer and the team. Everything happened magically.”

Given that a number of comedy films that have been produced while serious issues have been ignored deliberately or conditionally, what is it that compelled Amin to make a film that is a love story and what is its selling point? Amin went pretty honest by saying that his movie is not entirely a comedy flick but rather a rom-com. “Audience wants to watch comedy. Our flick is a rom-com. We have tackled this topic in a slightly different manner… It’s a risk that we are taking by releasing movie off season – not on Eid. Releasing movies on Eid holidays is a safe game for the producers to play by since they know that people will go out to watch films. But to be straight-forward, we have to put the wheel in motion by being there in all seasons that will resume the trend of going to cinemas.”

With an already limited number of screens and Hollywood movies being released as well in the same timeline, Amin is certain that his movie is going to be a success. However, he also believes that content, cinematography, creation and quality play a vital role in deciding the destiny of the movie. “The first risk was to make a movie while being a seasoned TV director. Having said that, I think that a lot of factors count in making any movie a hit or a flop. People should buy the ticket, watch the movie and then criticise it, and it should also be welcomed by the fraternity for it helps in improving and understanding the taste of the audience.”

The veteran director does not believe in begging for the film to be watched. “If I am going to the cinema to watch an entertainment movie, that too, after buying a 1000 rupee ticket, popcorns and drink. I have the complete right to bash or criticise a movie if I don’t like it because I have paid for the entertainment. This is my responsibility as a director or producer to bring in the content to match the standard. If I have to compete with Hollywood or Bollywood, I have to have the resources – from content quality to budget to bring forth something par excellence.”

Walking us through the experience of bringing Rehbra to life Amin shared that making this movie was a wonderful experience, getting out of the drama screens and working for the bigger screen is a completely different practice. From cast to the crew, we all had an amazing experience.”

While discussing the marketing strategy of Rehbra, Saira Afzal, the producer of the film shed light on the thought process behind the promotions, “we have been doing gradual promotions that includes songs launches, trailer and everything. Before launching a movie, marketing plays a crucial role in creating the hype and preparing the audience for the film.”

Being his poised self with one of the most heart-warming smiles, I turned to Ahsan Khan, the man of the hour to ask him about his journey filming and preparing for the film: “Rehbra reminds me of those movies we would watch in our childhood; a larger than life hero, a typical heroine, a refined story where you have romance and music.”

Speaking about his character, he explained that he is not that one rich guy who is arrogant but his character is quite different. “Danish is a humble and straight-forward guy. I was looking for a different character as I have done a lot of romantic characters (almost 10 years of my career) so I wanted a switch. This script had a margin to explore the full fledge romance on big screen which I was missing, to be honest.”

For Ahsan, after the script Amin was another reason to sign up for the project. “Amin Iqbal is a talented director and I didn’t doubt his choice. Also the movie has all types of music, from wedding to love songs and sad songs too. I overall thought that if I want to bring out the typical romantic hero on the big screen then this is the chance that I should not miss.” He explicated excitedly.

Ahsan also shared that no matter how many movies are made, released and watched, there is still a vacuum which I feel is not even addressed. He thinks that the lack of cinema screens and cinemas as a whole is quite concerning. “The cinemas for masses are very expensive. There should be local cinemas where people could watch movies. When we talk about Bollywood and Hollywood then why don’t we look at the aspects that they have entertainment for their masses and not only for the elites; they have small cinemas and cheap tickets for locals. A grand movie could also do a lot of business if masses could afford tickets to cinema.”

A grand movie could also do a lot of business if masses would go to watch the film. Why people are hooked to TV because it’s either cheap or free. Our films fail and don’t do a lot of business because of the expense.”

The actor has a long association with TV so I asked him how does he look at the operational manners of both mediums, films and TV as people often judge a TV actor when he / she appears on big screen and generally the movies are compared with Hollywood or Bollywood. I found his stance very clear about it. “The culture is different and viewers also. You have to cater your type of audience and not what the American audience would want to watch. Pakistan’s TV industry is strong yet there are many serials that face censorship issues. However, OTT platforms have a leverage to run content without being concerned for censorship. The reason of having run-of-the-mill ideas is that the producers play safe. But I still feel that we, as an industry, have come far away and things are getting better every day, with every film.”

It was not easy to speak to Ayesha Omar, playing the lead with Ahsan Khan in the movie, since one wanted a picture with her or the other was trying to get her to make a video log with her. We, Ayesha and I, finally sat down. Ayesha’s voice was half gone as she has been speaking for good three hours. Elaborating on her character, she said, “Bubbly is a Punjabi girl who is blunt and feisty character that represents different provinces and touches many hearts. She is the only child of her parents and knows how to get her way, but she is not clever. She is impulsive, follows her heart and sometimes regret it also. I have a completely opposite character, who is free-spirited and young. Danish and I cross paths at a festival and explore what life has to offer.”

Did you miss Khoobsurat during the shoot of this film, I asked and we both laughed. “Karachi se Lahore was my first film. I would keep asking Wajahat Rauf, the director of KSL, that whenever you feel that any shade or reflection of Khoobsurat is coming my way of my character, please stop me there. I am aware of the mannerism and stay conscious that no reflection of Khoobsurat should come my way. Because this character has become a part of me and I have been attached to it since 12 years.”

Ayesha really enjoyed playing Bubbly as there are different moods of the character (emotional, sad, and high-spirited). “It’s a journey that has all emotions and how one evolves through it.” For her, Amin again was a reason to rely on.

“The actors who get to work with him are very lucky. He doesn’t unnecessarily put pressure on any actress or actor. He would help me enhance the mood and expressions and that too on the right time, he doesn’t kill the creativity and craft of actors. This is something I have not experienced with any other director.”

“We worked like a family. Ahsan and I were like buddies and were there for each other throughout the shoot. We shot in winters wearing summer clothes which was the most difficult task. We shot in January in somewhere in Kasur and the temperature was -1 degrees and I shot in wearing a silk Kameez and Shalwar. But what kept me motivated and up was the team.”

The long-awaited musical romance, Rehbra is coming a little before Eid Ul Adha. I am certainly glad that they chose not to premiere it at Eid but rather a little earlier than that, which I think is a very smart move, so I have my eyes peeled for the musical genius that Rehbra is.