It’s finally confirmed! A long-rumoured project on Salahuddin Ayubi is actually in the works and the team behind it seems to be leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the series does complete justice to the legendary warrior on whom it’s based.
Some of you might be aware that producer/superstar Humayun Saeed had some time back shown a keen interest in creating a project based on the life of Salahuddin Ayubi. At that time, there were also reports that Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar might be roped in as the writer. Staying true to his promise, Humayun has now gone ahead and has officially put the wheels in motion but with a few exceptions.
He and another Pakistani entertainment industry icon Adnan Siddiqui along with partners Dr Junaid Ali Shah (Shah Films) and Dr Kashif Ansari (Ansari Films) have signed an agreement with Turkish producer Emre Konuk (founder of Akli Films and producer and scriptwriter of popular Turkish series The Great Seljuks: Guardians of Justice) to produce this mega project. For the record, this will be Humayun, Adnan and their team’s second collaboration with Turkish producers – the first being another highly anticipated and perhaps an even bigger project titled Turki Lala that was announced earlier this year.
The agreement between the Pakistani and Turkish producers on the production of this new series titled Selahaddin Eyubi was signed in Belgrade.
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“We did initially want to produce this project on Salahuddin Ayubi locally but with the kind of scale involved and its requirements, it is more feasible to produce it jointly with our Turkish friends,” Humayun — who was unable to make it to Belgrade due to some personal commitments — said in an exclusive chat with Something Haute.
“Collaborating with a Turkish team will also mean we have a wider distribution network which will help us meet the costs of such a massive production,” he added.
Humayun also disclosed that 25% of the cast for this project will comprise Pakistani actors who will first be sent to Turkey to learn Turkish as the series will primarily be shot in that language and then dubbed in Urdu. The script will be written by Ahmet Faruk Bakacak who is the Media Communications Director at Akli Films. Both Humayun and Adnan will serve as executive producers on the project which will be financed by Dr Junaid Ali Shah of Shah Films and Dr Kashif Ansari of Ansari films. Bilal Maqsood, formerly of Strings, will be giving the background score as well as composing the title song for the series. Add to that Turkish technical expertise and production skill and we are sure to have a really fantastic project at our hands.
“The objective behind joining hands with Akli Film is their common goal of projecting Muslims and Islam as a power to reckon with in coming years given the current geo-political scenario,” said Adnan. “We have seen that Muslims have emerged as a robust voice in international politics in the last few months. There is no denying the fact that we will have a greater say in worldly affairs; we want the world to recognize our community’s existence as a significant part of the larger narrative in the new world order,” he added.
Adnan also said that for this to happen, we also need to make the world aware of our great history and the valorous rulers we had. “They have played an important in shaping the world for it is today including Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi. About time it was celebrated by non-Muslims too,” he said.
Dr Junaid, Dr Kashif and and Mr Emre Konukk of Akli film will be jointly holding a press conference in Istanbul on Monday to reveal more details about the project. Stay tuned for more exclusive information coming your way!
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