When the ‘remake’ of Maula Jatt was announced, it seemed Bilal Lashari aimed to stylize the Gandasa film genre.
But now that he has announced that he will cast Fawad Khan as Maula Jatt and Hamza Ali Abbasi as Noori Nath, effectively making it clear he is aiming for a lot more; he is aiming to redefine the quintessential Punjabi hero.
“Our Punjabi hero has always roamed around Chaati phyla kay, aasstenain chacha kay (with his chest puffed, sleeves folded) and that has become our style. And I felt we were trying too hard to make a hero,” says Bilal.
“It has to be more than just physical exaggeration, and that is why Fawad as Maula Jatt and Hamza as Noori Nath will be an amazing shocker for the audience.”
Bilal has known Fawad since their school days and knows a very rebellious and aggressive side to the so-called romantic hero. That was perhaps why he had Fawad in mind for Maula Jatt even before Waar was released.
“People may have seen his other side in EP (Entity Paradigm) or a small cameo he made for the Mekaal Hassan Band video I directed. But I always knew kay yeh tau bara website aadmi hai (he’s wild), and I am surprised that no one has ever explored him that way.”
For Bilal, Fawad’s Khoobsurat image will not be a hindrance to Maula Jatt. He is optimistic that nothing bad can come from Fawad’s ever-growing fame and image. However, the cult followers of the franchise may like to differ and draw parallels between Sultan Rahi and Fawad Khan.
“It’s a gamble, but it’s not a remake,” says Bilal, adding that his project has evolved so much that it’s a completely different story now; a hard reboot, which has nothing like the Sultan Rahi character. “It’s a new interpretation of the agendas genre, which is why it was very important to reinvent characters. There’s no point in imitating Sultan Rahi. There has to be a completely new identity.”
But Maula Jatt can never be complete without his arch-rival, Noori Nath, the one character from Lollywood everyone loves to hate.
“Noori is a really important character. In fact, Mustafa Qureshi sb, who played Noori, struck a stronger connection with the audience in the original film. It was also the first time people fell in love with a villain,” notes Bilal, and it was this evil charm in Noori that made him get his friend and actor Hamza Ali Abbasi on board.
“It’s a very dialogue-driven character, and Noori owns every scene, so I roped in Hamza for this seminal role. He has a great advantage because of his brilliant voice acting and dialogue delivery; plus, he has grown up in Multan and is fluent in Punjabi.”
Dealing with someone like Hamza can be tricky, especially with his character being so dominating, opinionated and all over … Facebook.
“I think he will make an even better villain on screen than on Facebook,” Bilal says as he breaks into a hearty laugh. “I think he will bring that (his Facebook persona) to the table, but the character and dialogues are so powerful that I think he will nail it. People will forget the old Noori Nath,” the director says confidently.
Be it Achilles and Hector or Joker and Batman, the most important aspect of any iconic villain-duo is how they complement each other, which holds for Maula Jatt and Noori Nath.
“I think the characters complement each other. It’s the yin-yang energy, and in an alternate universe, they could have been the best of friends, so I think it’s an amazing combination. Regarding the actors, Hamza and Fawad are our young stars, and I think people would love to see them share the frame.”
