Asim Abbasi, who received critical acclaim for his work on Cake and the first original Churails for Zindagi, directed “Barzakh.”
At the current Series Mania Festival, where the programme is scheduled to make its world premiere, the first poster for the family drama “Barzakh,” which stars Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed, was presented.
The makers of the Zindagi original series “Barzakh,” starring actors Fawad and Sanam, released the show poster in the French city of Lille prior to its global premiere at the Series Mania Festival.
‘Barzakh’ is overseen by critically acclaimed director Asim Abbasi who also directed Zindagi’s first original Churails and the feature film Cake. Actor Sanam Saeed, screenwriter-director Asim Abbasi, and producer Shailja Kejriwal all attended the occasion.
Barzakh has the distinguished honour of being the only South Asian series chosen. The show will make its premiere in the showcase’s International Panorama, a 12-title competitive area where it will compete for audience, student jury, director, actress, and actor prizes as well as the best series prize.
Barzakh, a family drama starring Fawad Khan and Saman Saeed that centres on an elderly man’s search for love, examines the intergenerational trauma that affects dads and sons. The story is set in a magical universe filled with paranormal creatures and strange occurrences that highlight the gaps between life, death, and rebirth.
Fawad Khan plays the part of a single dad who is endearing but also tormented by guilt over something he has lost.
He said, “Coinciding with our Series Mania premiere, our poster that we now reveal to the world offers an early glimpse into what can be expected from the series – abstract beauty and ambiguity that reflects the complexities in navigating human relationships in a post-modern world.”
Sanam Saeed shares, “It is simply surreal to be attending the Series Mania Festival. Barzakh is a story that I connected with from the minute I heard it and in Asim Abbasi’s hands, it’s been crafted into a moving, beautiful series that will renew our faith in love and life. It’s what led me to not only take on the challenging role but also made me look at life in a different light. It is very different from what we have seen on screen and all the actors have performed extremely different and diverse roles. I am so proud of this series and am honoured that it is having its world premiere at the Series Mania Festival.”
This series was captured by Asim in Pakistan’s beautiful Hunza Valley and Karachi.
Asim said, “Love and memory are both central thematic components of Barzakh. We wanted a visual that represented love in its eternal manifestation, but, which like memory, also had a fleeting, ephemeral quality about – like time slipping by and evaporating around us, leaving behind a distant, but vivid, memory of the moment it all began.”
Producing Barzakh are Waqas Hassan and Shailja Kejriwal. Shailja Kejriwal said as she expressed her enthusiasm for the film’s premiere, “Barzakh is the first ever Indo-Pak cross border series to premiere globally, and presenting it to the world together as a team is truly an emotional moment. Amidst the excitement, we are extremely proud to be presenting the series poster – as enigmatic and as beautiful as the series we have collectively created.”
“Barzakh has come to fruition through unified passion, vision, and bravery from all involved and I would like to extend my wholehearted gratitude to each artist and crew member, as we could not have mounted this ambitious project alone. We hope audiences and fans of original storytelling from around the world will share in our passion and love for this series.”
