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Don't let Indian culture influence you, advises Yasir Hussain to aspiring scriptwriters

Don't let Indian culture influence you, advises Yasir Hussain to aspiring scriptwriters

We sit down with Lahore Se Aagay's team and get you the scoop about the upcoming flick
Updated 28 Oct, 2016

With the open road ahead and the sense of adventure taking over, there’s a reason why everyone loves a good road trip.

And Wajahat Rauf knows it. That's why the director of Karachi Se Lahore (KSL) has decided to experiment with the genre once again with Lahore Se Aagey.

When I ask him why, he jokingly says, "I couldn't think of any other idea!"

Read more: Wrong turn — How road trip flick Karachi Se Lahore lost its style mojo

So he's back, with a few tweaks of course. The ensemble cast is gone and the spin-off is centered around the beloved scene stealer, Moti (Yasir Hussain) and the woman he's attracted to, Tara (Saba Qamar) who is an aspiring musician.

In a tell-all with Images, the lead pair, along with the man behind the camera, Rauf, spill the beans about their upcoming flick:

On their characters and how Lahore se Aagey is different from its prequel

Hussain, who's also the scriptwriter of the movie shares, "Moti's character has changed quite a bit; in the prequel, we got to see him as part of a group of pals, he was silly but now that he's got a new girl in his life who he has feelings for so he's more mature and the audience will get to see his romantic side."

"The first movie was about this road-trip adventure with Moti's friends, who were his support system; this time, it's about his journey," says Yasir Hussain.

"He meets a ton of people along the way but they're not moving together in the same way. And despite it being focused on the two of us, it's crazier, we're more aggressive," he adds.

It's evident that Moti is not the conventional hero here and Yasir admits that had the audience not fallen in love with him in Karachi Se Lahore, they (Wajahat and himself) might have been hesitant to go with him as the leading man this time around.

And then there's Tara, played by Saba who explains, "She's a very energetic, full of life girl who wants to be a rockstar. Wajahat actually taught me how to play the guitar for the role!

Rauf is clearly proud: "We might just start a band soon...But no seriously, we wanted it to look authentic and if you look at the trailer, you see that she 's looking like a real musician."

"Well, the basics anyway like the stance, the posture. It's like if you're going to be a doctor, you don't have to learn to operate on someone but you should have an idea about how they hold the scalpel. Besides, I love learning new things!" adds the Manto actress.

On script-writing and the allure of a road-trip movie shot in Pakistan

What makes a movie about a car journey across Pakistan special?

Well, the fact that no one has tackled the subject in a commercial movie before, much less twice.

"When Wajahat and I discussed it, we were talking about how there have been lots of movies about road trips, from Hollywood films to Bollywood. Amitabh Bachchan's first movie was Mumbai to Goa which follows the same formula but we wanted people to know what it feels like to go on a road trip in Pakistan," reveals Yasir.

A still from the Lahore Se Aagey trailer
A still from the Lahore Se Aagey trailer

"I think our film has a fun script and that's key; like Moor was a visual treat but I think it didn't work. So my advice to aspiring filmmakers would be that it's important to look at trending, lively topics and just integrate that into your script."

"And more importantly, not to be influenced by Indian culture, our own culture is so rich and our people are so talented," he adds.

On the chemistry the team shares and shooting outdoors

Not surprisingly, the boys are all praises for Saba.

Wajahat confesses that he was nervous that Saba would turn out to be a "diva" but she was actually extremely down to earth.

Yasir concurs: "Saba's such a humble human being. She acts in such a graceful way, you can tell it's something that comes naturally to her. I don't follow Pakistani dramas but I really enjoyed Maat and then I also saw her in Hum Sub Umeed Se Hai; that range is not something every artist has. Even Moin saab (Akhtar) wasn't accepted as a serious actor when he tried to do both.

At one point during the interview, the actress also says "Yasir is perfect husband material!" Awww
At one point during the interview, the actress also says "Yasir is perfect husband material!" Awww

"Not to mention she's an absolute trooper," he continues. "There's this one scene where she picks me up on her back and runs. She's half my weight, so naturally she ended up in the hospital for a couple of days! Acting alongside her has been the ultimate privilege."

The actress is blushing: "I feel like the stuck-up characters I play, people start to believe that's what I'm like and I'm not."

"We all worked together for the first time but it didn't feel like that at all, it didn't feel like work. We all talked about everything, we were in the car together for hours on end and it was just a big happy family. There was no separate cars for the actors, no nakhras. In fact, we'd all want to sit together and travel in one vehicle.

That being said, shooting outdoors is a monster. If anything goes awry and you're out there, on the fields, it's hard to control. If the weather ditches you or if there's a costume malfunction, you have your work cut out for you."

Buckle up because Lahore Se Aagey hits cinemas on November 11.

Comments

Ravi Oct 28, 2016 09:22am
isn't it an irony !! you give Indian names like Tara to your character and ask others to keep off Indian culture. Script writers should not try to resist anything out of compulsion and hate, assuming he wants to be a successful script writer.
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ALI Oct 28, 2016 09:41am
Support Pakistan.
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Satt Oct 28, 2016 09:48am
In Pic and video of the song I saw Pakistani culture.
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Nomi Oct 28, 2016 09:53am
Can;t wait to watch this Pakistani romcom. The best part is its fully made in Pakistan Material.
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Anil Oct 28, 2016 10:07am
The heroine is acting well, hero.. well his acting sucks. Movie seems to be fun though.
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zak Oct 28, 2016 10:20am
Pure copy of any standard bollywood flick !!!
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Hassan (Karachi) Oct 28, 2016 10:56am
On the contrary, we should not label everything Indian as bad or wrong. There is much to be loved. I hardly watch Indian movies, but especially love the work by Amir Khan, Vidya Balan and Nandita Das works which highlight the troubles and hardship in our society. And give us some measure hope.
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Sanjeev Kumar Oct 28, 2016 11:26am
Your culture is our culture, our culture is your culture
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Zak Oct 28, 2016 11:32am
Indian culture is alien to us and it's for them. We have our own.
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pawanjit Oct 28, 2016 11:39am
what is Pakistani culture? Is it different from Indian culture?
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Himmat Oct 28, 2016 11:59am
Borrow influence from Arabic or Chinese culture.
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Alanore Oct 28, 2016 12:01pm
Just loving this, cant wait to watch this film. the song is so beautiful.
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Pakistan to become secular soon Oct 28, 2016 12:01pm
Good for Pakistan culture. Pakistan have to adopt secular values to shine , for good reasons , on world map.
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Maria Oct 28, 2016 12:02pm
That is the biggest mandate for creating Pakistan. We were and are a different nation with our own identity and values. We want to have peaceful relations with our neighbours, but not on the cost of self-respect,dignity and mere existence. Unlike India we don't have cast systems or housing societies who discriminate on religious background. I have family in India, despite being affluent they are second class citizens and can forget to make career in the public sector. God bless my country. Naya Pakistan, zindabad!
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Krish Chennai Oct 28, 2016 12:06pm
Small correction. Amitabh Bachhan's first movie was " Saat Hindustani ", where he played the role of Anwar Ali, and the movie was directed by veteran Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. He got the National film award for best newcomer, in 1969.
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Iqbal Bhai Oct 28, 2016 12:21pm
I think it is all about originality rather than your culture-my culture thing.
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H. Khan Oct 28, 2016 12:59pm
Both can claim that culture because it's in actuality the culture of the sub-continent. By the way who made this guy a hero in a movie? Not a good choice at all.
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turbo Oct 28, 2016 01:01pm
@pawanjit yes very much different!
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Sanjay Oct 28, 2016 01:50pm
There is no difference in culture Sir. Both countries have same roots, like minded people, similar food, similar entertainment avenues. And by the similar politicians, who want people of these two great nation to fight with each other.
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Raaz Oct 28, 2016 02:43pm
@Zak yes given by Mohd Bin Qasim
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Akhlaq Oct 28, 2016 03:03pm
What is Pakistani Culture ? U guys have inherited Indian Culture and be proud of it
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Anujit Oct 28, 2016 03:57pm
@Maria , can't understand, Maria. How second class citizens become so affluent who even denied public sector jobs and housing facilities? Being affluent,why not they leave the country and choose place according to their choice ?
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Adeel Oct 28, 2016 04:15pm
@Sanjeev Kumar True :)
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hnr Oct 28, 2016 04:38pm
@Zak Correct.You are trying to shed your sub continental culture and imbibe arab culture but the the arabs should accept you.We do as co sharers of a common culture.
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Hyderabadi Oct 28, 2016 05:27pm
What he really means is Hindu culture and not Indian culture. Pakistanis not aware that there ancestors were Hindu/Buddhist.
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WaheedNoor Oct 28, 2016 07:29pm
There is no Indian culture or Pakistani culture as they are inter mixed.
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Jay_USA Oct 28, 2016 07:31pm
What is indian culture? We Pakistanis and Indians are bound by a cultural tie which goes back thousands of years. Culture is not demographic, but part of your history, so lets not confuse it with what happened in 1947. Just one example, Muslim marriages in Pakistan celebrate Mehndi, which is Indian culture. So I guess Mr. Yasir needs to rethink his statement.
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imti Oct 28, 2016 08:03pm
Both culture had lots of commonalty as we lived to gather for hundreds of year but after independence it started to emerge differently although lot of things still similar. Gradually visible markers and differentiation would appear as it is pervasive in nature
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Not from Pakistan Oct 28, 2016 09:59pm
Reference from Sholay and the song looks like Ghagra song (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani). Irony, isn't it?
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RIZ Oct 28, 2016 11:45pm
Keep it up and it's really fun and in response to all negative comments from Indians stop crying as Indian movies has copied so much from Pakistani movies and drama.
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gogo Oct 29, 2016 12:05am
There was no Pakistan hundred years ago, and no Pakistani culture.
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gogo Oct 29, 2016 12:07am
How come there are surnames like Cheema and Sethi in Pakistan? They are all Hindu and Sikh surnames.
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T chaudhry Oct 29, 2016 12:32am
Culture is language food music. Our national language Urdu was born in Indian side aND ia a twin sI aster of Hindi. We like same spicey food not Arabic foods. Our music is based on same ragas. Seventy percent have same ancestors
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eK Oct 29, 2016 01:03am
We should not even let ourselves influenced by western culture either. The girl could wear Pakistani clothes , which are beautiful and have varied styles, instead of western clothing. And l don't understand why we need women or men dancing in our movies.
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hashmi Oct 29, 2016 03:02am
If we start thinking as humans leaving your or our how nice our region will you can't imagine
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Mangomits Oct 29, 2016 03:03am
Indian culture 5000 years old...recognized /respected all over the world....sorry when did pakistan came here?
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Jawad Oct 29, 2016 05:08am
I see alot of Indians here hurt that pakistan has a separate culture. Each state in india has its own culture and just like that pakistan has its own culture. We have punjabis,pashtuns,balochis,sindhis, kashmiris and gilgitis,kalash they all have separate culture and we all should respect that.
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Pakistani Oct 29, 2016 07:07am
@Sanjeev Kumar No Thank you. Ours is distinct.
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Myview Oct 29, 2016 08:06am
Mere bhai it is the same culture!
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Zaigham Abbas Oct 29, 2016 12:30pm
i thought we have same culture!!!!!
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Zealot Oct 29, 2016 12:52pm
But ironically snapshots shows the reverse...
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Ismail Oct 29, 2016 03:58pm
Excellent advice!
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Hasan Oct 29, 2016 06:03pm
@Ravi Tara means star in Punjabi and Urdu language. It is a common name in Pakistan.
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Laloo Oct 31, 2016 03:12am
@turbo rating tells all. thanks
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Laloo Oct 31, 2016 03:15am
@RIZ but we don`t deny.
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Rajiv Oct 31, 2016 08:08am
Everything is borrowed in Pakistan: Rupee, culture, music, history and it's most important city Karachi. And it's most important river the Indus, which is sacred for Hindus.
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jash Oct 31, 2016 09:32pm
@Zak After indendence, yes. Pakistani culture gradually followed arabic and islamic culture. India retained Indian culture. 50 years down the line, India sent its probe to mars and economically progressed! Democracy ruled and continues to rule! I wish Pakistan's culture gathers momentum and prevails likewise for it's people and brings peace, prosperity and security for its people! What a disgrace to see neighbours fighting! For what?, being envious or arrogant and superior????
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Bahadur Oct 31, 2016 11:32pm
In my opinion, culture is same of both countries; only religion is different. That difference of religion is cause for this hatred on both sides. Not fault of either religion but because of fanatics on both sides.
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Ali Nov 01, 2016 09:13am
@Ravi Tara is a Pakistan name as well bro.
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