Hamza Ali Abbasi is making ‘headlines’ again, and no one is surprised. A few months ago, he posted a status on Facebook dissing the “emerging trend of revealing item numbers”. The statement was followed by the release of a teaser of his own film Jawani Phir Nahi Ani(JPNA), in which he was seen dancing with bikini-clad women.
And now, less than a month before the release of the film, Hamza has claimed he isn’t being paid for JPNA and won’t be promoting the film unless the two songs he does not approve of — but is part of — are dropped from the movie.
“Let me clarify, the reason for which I did this film was not money. I am not being paid for this film. I am not being paid a single penny for this. I did this film only for the sake of my friendship with Humayun Saeed (Humayun isn’t just playing one of the main characters in the film, he has also produced it),” he told The Express Tribune. He later posted the same thing on his Facebook page along with six other points, explaining his point-of-view on the matter.
Hamza says when he found out about the execution of the film — which was a while after he signed the film — he tried to back out as he thought certain elements in the movie were not in line with his values.
“A month before the shoot started, I did tell Humayun I didn’t want to do it. But then, due to certain reasons, my personal reasons, I had to be a part of it. The entire film is a family entertainer. My objection is just to one sequence in one song which is barely a minute-long,” he added. However, his Facebook status mentioned he was uncomfortable with two songs.
And no points for guessing which sequence it is: the song shot on a beach in Bangkok, featuring women in bikinis dancing around all the male characters — played by Humayun, Hamza, Vasay Chaudhry and Ahmed Ali Butt.
“Yes, it’s vulgar. For me it is vulgar. Let me be very straightforward. I think if anybody tries to justify 14 women in bikinis, dancing around, jumping around, as not being vulgar so then, ya mein pagal hoon ya woh pagal hai (either I am mad or they’re mad). I don’t know how else you’d define vulgarity,” he said.
But that’s not it. Hamza elaborated that he had no idea such a sequence would be a part of the film. “We were on the beach shooting some scenes on a boat when suddenly, and it might sound funny as well, Vasay (writer and co-actor) and I saw 14 women coming in bikinis and we were both taken aback. That’s when we were told we were supposed to do the song with these women.”
Could he have backed out? Or thrown around some clout to have his way? “In such a situation, you can only say ‘no’ to a certain degree. Especially when you know it’s your friend’s money on the line. It’s your best friend’s production on the line; so, you can only push things to an extent. We protested, and opposed but ultimately it’s the director’s call. So, at that point, we had to do it, I had to do it.”
But Hamza doesn’t blame the audience or his critics for vociferously objecting to the dance number. “People who are saying this shouldn’t have happened are absolutely right,” he said, adding that he won’t be actively promoting the film precisely for this reason.
“Our distributors told me to promote it and I said ‘you take out this song and I will promote it as much as you want. That song is the only thing I have a problem with, apart from that there’s no cheap humour or double meaning dialogues in the film. I am proud of the fact that Jawani Phir Nahi Ani has clean comedy, absolutely clean comedy.”
You’d think that Hamza’s decision to not promote the film would irk lead actor and producer of JPNA Humayun Saeed but that’s not the case. “Won’t promote it? No other actor is promoting the film as enthusiastically as Hamza is,” he responded with a laugh when The Express Tribune asked him to comment on Hamza’s statement.
And he is right. The buzz that Hamza’s Facebook statuses have generated (he has nearly two-and-a-half million followers) has benefited the film tremendously in terms of publicity. Also, Hamza has been giving interviews so what exactly does he mean when he says he won’t promote the film?
Humayun also clarified that Hamza is in fact being paid for working inJPNA: “He hasn’t asked me for the money, yes that’s true. But he is being paid. I don’t know if he has already received payment because I haven’t checked with the accounts department but he will be paid the amount stated on the contract he signed.”
He also acknowledged that Hamza did tell him he wanted to back out of the project before they started filming but it was too late by then: “Whatever transition he went through in terms of his values, he did after committing to me that he would do JPNA. By the time he told me he didn’t want to do the film, the script was locked, and sponsors had already come on board. At that point, even I couldn’t have backed out of the project because when you sign a contract with sponsors, you can’t make any changes to the cast.”
Humayun said if Hamza had told him sooner there would have been absolutely no issue and he would have happily let Hamza step out. “If you think about it, it was unprofessional of him to try and leave the film after signing it. I really was in a fix at that point; so, I asked him to stay. And he did. But that wasn’t a favour he had done for me. It was him who had put me in the spot in the first place.”
He also said he appreciates Hamza for honouring his commitment but he never pressured him into signing the film. “Even now, it’s unprofessional of him to say he won’t promote the film. If he has made the commitment, he should honour it in full. His job doesn’t end at the completion of the shoot. Promotion is as much a part of the deal as shooting.”
However, that doesn’t mean Humayun would treat Hamza unfairly by not compensating him duly for his contribution to the project. “He didn’t ask for money even when he worked in Main Hoon Shahid Afridi. The same way I didn’t ask for money when I did scenes for his movieKambakht. But I still paid him. And he will be compensated now too.”
The superstar also disclosed that all the members have graciously reduced their fees for JPNA in their bid to support the still-nascent film industry. “It’s really sweet of them. They are all my friends but they haven’t done this for me. They have done this for Pakistani cinema,” he said.
Talking about the controversial bikini song in the film, Humayun said, “It wasn’t just Hamza and Vasay who were surprised to see the girls. I was too. It was the director’s and the choreographer’s call. When we initially discussed the song, I didn’t think much of it. We were shooting on a beach in Bangkok after all. That’s what beaches in other parts of the world look like. If we had shown bikini-clad women on a beach in Karachi or if our actresses were dressed that way then sure, you could blame us for promoting vulgarity. But how are we supposed to shoot a song on a beach in Bangkok without it looking like a beach in Bangkok?”
What’s clear is that Humayun has learnt his lesson. “There’s no way I am ever letting this happen again. Even if we have to shoot on a beach, we’ll do it like we do it for TV. Zoom the camera into the ocean,” he said jokingly.
The producer’s job is a tough one and Humayun has no qualms in admitting his partners and JPNA co-producers Shahzad Nasib, Salman Iqbal and Jerjees Seja deserve as much recognition as he does. “People often say ‘it’s Humayun’s film’ but what they don’t realise is that there’s an entire team behind it. Shahzad and Salman are my strength. They have a lot of trust in me.”
And as far as the fans are concerned, Humayun promises they would have a great time watching the film: “We are still learning, so mistakes are bound to be made. But the audience is forgiving, as long as you offer them a good experience. That I promise. They will have lots of fun when they come to the theatre.”
Well, we hope he is right as he always is. JPNA — which also features Javed Sheikh, Ismail Tara, Sohai Ali Abro, Mehwish Hayat, Aisha Khan and Sarwat Gilani — will hit cinemas on Eidul Azha.
Till then, let’s move past the “bikini controversy”, shall we?
