There's no item number in Ho Mann Jahaan, affirms Sheheryar Munawar
The young star gets candid about maybe saying bye to TV for good, Bollywood and his equation with Sonya Jehan
The young star gets candid about possibly saying bye to television for good, Bollywood and his equation with Sonya Jehan.
Wearing a paisley denim button down on slim-fit denim jeans and taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Sheheryar Munawar looks like he's had a chance to sit down after several hours of being on his feet.
"You don't mind, do you?" he asks sheepishly before he continues profusely apologizing for making me wait for 20 minutes.
Even if I did, it would be hard for anyone with a pulse to say no to that cheeky smile, something he seems to be completely oblivious to.
The budding star will be making his big screen debut this weekend with
Ho Mann Jahaan, a musically inclined coming of age story chronicling watershed events in the lives of three young adults: Manizeh (Mahira Khan), Nadir (Adeel Hussain) and Arhaan (Shehreyar Munawar). Not only is he acting in the film, he's also a co-producer.
As his highly-awaited flick inches closer to
its release date, I quizzed him about how tough it was juggling the two responsibilities.
Without even pausing to think about it, he starts off: "I'm a workaholic so I relished it! That being said, it wasn't a walk in the park. As a producer, you're married to the project for a year, maybe more. You're not in and out, like an actor. You work 12 hours a day, every day; the project is your life."
"We wanted to streamline the process of making movies, in terms of creating benchmarks regarding how people involved in the film-making process are treated. We are very serious about our work," he divulges, while knocking on wood.
The entire cast was involved in the movie-making process, affirmed the actor turned producer. —Photo courtesy: Ho Mann Jahaan Official Facebook page
As a producer, many other decisions fell on his shoulders, such as the one where he got to decide whether the movie would have an item number.
"There's no item number in
Ho Mann Jahaan because the plot simply doesn't call for one. If it was a period drama like
Umrao Jaan or something and the script demanded it, I would have been on board but
HMJ is an extremely grounded movie. Have you ever been to a place where you've seen an item number in real life?"
Of Sonya Jehan's role in the film he says: "Sonya comes in the form of a guide and a mentor to little, lost Arhaan, who's just a sucker for pretty ladies. Whether that's platonic or romantic, people will just have to wait to see."
When I shake my head to convey no as an answer, he continues, "No, right? Neither have I. The idea is to make things relatable for you and I, the average person. What we all have probably witnessed are some wicked mehndi dances so yeah,
we have a mehndi number."
From L-R: Sheheryar, Mahira and Adeel shake it to Shakar Wandaan —Photo courtesy: Ho Mann Jahaan Official Facebook page
Oh hey there, Hamza Ali Abbasi!
Does all that ambition have the talent to go with it?
With people questioning whether he has the acting chops to play roles other than ones of men belonging to the elite bracket of the population, Sheheryar was ready to take on a challenge.
"Initially, Adeel was going to be playing my character, who belongs to a financially modest family and I was going to be playing Nadir, who is from the upper echelons of society -- that's how Asim had build the characters, based off of our real personalities but we didn't want to play it safe. Each of us have been comfortable playing those roles so we decided to switch things up. Asim had to rework the entire script, the characters had to be tweaked to match our personalities."
Preparing for the role of Arhaan was more work than anticipated, admits the actor.
"I wasn't worried about the acting bit; however, I had to prepare for the role extensively for 3-4 months. I learnt how to play the guitar, ride a bike, work on my pronunciation and enunciation because Arhaan comes from a middle-class upbringing so I worked on the nitty gritty details, like saying in-ter-est instead of interest."
Sheheryar had to learn how to play the guitar among other things for his role as Arhaan
The buzz surrounding his character is strong but it's not nearly as strong as the buzz surrounding the sparks that viewers spotted between him and the older Sonya Jehan in the trailer.
Sonya Jehan makes her debut in Pakistani cinema with HMJ —Photo courtesy: Ho Mann Jahaan Official Facebook page
I try to probe him for more information but he's a pro at keeping mum.
"Give me Rs. 700 on 1 January and I'll tell you then," he laughs, knocking on wood yet again.
"All I'm going to say is that Sonya comes in the form of a guide and a mentor to little, lost Arhaan, who's just a sucker for pretty ladies. Whether that's platonic or romantic, people will just have to wait to see that."
Speaking of mentors...
A little birdie told us that Sheheryar's real dad took on the role of his on-screen father in the movie.
Recalling the experience, he admits it was a "bit of a nightmare": "My character is a hot-headed, impulsive bad boy and in reality, my dad and I have a very nice relationship, we're like friends. However, he's still an ex-military man so he has instilled that discipline in us so I would NEVER speak to him in the way Arhaan does so yeah, in that sense, it was a scary and interesting experience."
Sheheryar on 'Good Morning Pakistan' with his father —Photo courtesy: Ho Mann Jahaan Official Facebook page
Is the acting flair genetic?
"There are scenes where I worried he's stolen my limelight! He's very artistically gifted!" says Sheheryar.
