This Friday, the Zindagi Gulzar Hai pair of Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed reunite on screen in Barzakh. The six-episode series focuses on a dysfunctional family reuniting in a sprawling resort in the mountains (the show has been shot in Pakistan’s picturesque Hunza Valley) and melds magic realism and supernatural fantasy. t2 chatted with Sanam Saeed, who plays the pivotal role of Scheherazade in the series, which will stream on Zindagi’s YouTube channel and Zee5.

How would you describe the experience of being a part of Barzakh?

The work hours were very long. A lot of it was shot at night and it was very cold. The environment made everything more challenging and difficult.

My character Scheherazade has been designed in a way where she can’t emerge much. I felt a little stuck with that. She is from this realm and maybe some other realm... she is human, but maybe a little bit not human... we don’t know that. We left that ambiguous. It was a difficult balance to find... how Scheherazade could be powerful without being very expressive, how she could be impactful, how you could connect with her without her going flat....

I was nervous about playing Scheherazade because I could not express anything on my face, in my voice or my tone.... I asked Asim (Abbasi, director): ‘Why take me then?’ He said: ‘Because you have a normal blank expression in real life too (laughs). So work with it.’ That was interesting.

Also, in the rehearsals, I had to work with my co-actors to shape my character, which was a huge learning curve for me.

What was your initial reaction when you heard about this unconventional story and the way it was going to be treated?

I thought he (Abbasi) was mad! I told him: ‘I thought you wanted to go smaller than Churails. I thought this was going to be intimate, less women, less people and just more contained.’

Barzakh was a monster. Shooting it up in the mountains was difficult. Being in that intense environment, being away from home and the use of visual effects to bring alive the elements of supernaturalism and magic realism. It was a beast he had taken on.

Initially, we had thought Barzakh would be like Cake (the 2018 film starring Sanam and directed by Abbasi) with a ghost element. But this was a beast!

Both Cake and Barzakh are about dysfunctional families, but the dysfunctionality in Barzakh is off the charts...

Asim says Barzakh is Cake on acid! (Laughs) Cake was female dominated and Barzakh is male dominated. I hadn’t seen Asim etch out male characters so well before. His focus has been on female characters... he has written them so well in Cake, Churails and his short films.

In Barzakh, none of the characters are what you see, everyone has layers beneath layers. I found the relationship dynamics intriguing. He sprinkled on the supernatural element and I was a little worried about how he would pull it off. But he obviously knew what he was doing. The show has been shot beautifully by Mo Azmi and Aarij Hashimi has excelled with the art direction.

I hope we have created something unique. ‘Intrigue’ seems to be the word associated with Barzakh... how could it not be? But I hope there is a connect people can truly feel.

The good thing is that two episodes will be released at a time. One needs time to mull over, to question it, maybe rewatch it and then say: ‘Okay, now it makes sense.’ It gives the audience time to savour and have a discussion about it.

Is there a part of you that you had to tap into to play Scheherazade or is she completely different?

It wasn’t completely different. Like her, I am more of a wallflower than a showstopper. I stick to the sidelines. I am a listener and an observer. I don’t talk much. I am a peacemaker. I want everyone to be happy, content, be at peace. And if there is anything I can do to help, then I am at your service. That is kind of what Scheherazade is.

Scheherazade is the storyteller of the epical One Thousand and One Nights. The name also means ‘city dweller’. Is there an analogy as well as a dichotomy in there?

I love the name! I asked Asim about it and he did talk about One Thousand and One Nights as an inspiration as well as the other analogies you mentioned. I was happy to play a character called Scheherazade. She couldn’t have been a Sania or a Sara or a Tina. She needed to have an air of mystique.

Besides the challenges, how much did shooting in the picturesque Hunza Valley contribute to the tone and texture of Barzakh and of your character?

A lot! The mountains have a sort of energy force field which brings in a sense of calm and peace. You are not in a rush, you are one with nature. Your ego naturally goes down and so do your volume and tempo. You work at a calmer pace because of the environment.

I don’t see Barzakh being what it is if it was shot in the city. It needed the empty space with the mountains in the backdrop or the clear sky dominated by the moon... where you can hear the rustling of the leaves or an animal going by. The eeriness, the beauty and the vastness of the mountains is a huge character in Barzakh.

Consciously or subliminally, what did you have to learn or unlearn for Barzakh?

I had to unlearn everything because I couldn’t change my voice or emote in the way that I know how to. I had to strip myself of everything that I had learnt in terms of facial expressions, body language and the way I play with my voice.

The rehearsal space was my moment of being like: ‘I am not going to come with how I think Scheherazade should be. All the men will help me shape Scheherazade.’ That is because she is completely surrounded by men in this series. There are a few women sprinkled here and there but Scheherazade mostly deals with these men.

Every time I was with a co-star, I would shape Scheherazade differently because they would give me something different. I had to be a blank slate, very stoic, calm and confident but vulnerable at the same time. That was challenging.

Her wardrobe is very different. She wears a lot of layers, which is emblematic of Scheherazade hiding things... it signifies her personality,
secrets, background and how she sheds those layers with time.

In reality, those layers were very thin. My teeth were chattering, my nails were blue and my brain was frozen most of the time. But I said: ‘Okay, I am going to use this pain and discomfort for Scheherazade and hopefully we will create something’ (smiles).

Has working on this project marked a shift in you in any way?

It has been a strong reminder that patience is a virtue and that everything you do must come from a space of love and pure intentions. Despite the difficulties of the environment, we worked with a sense of calm and the thought that we were making something magical and unique for Pakistan. We came together with the force field of good intentions, a lot of discipline and respect for each other. This project and its process reminded me that nothing comes out of complaining, whining and being negative. If you do so, you ruin the process for yourself and for other people.

What was it like reuniting with Fawad Khan a dozen years after Zindagi Gulzar Hai?

We have evolved since we last worked together. Both of us are now more mature. I am glad to see him in Barzakh because I knew that he was interested in roles like this. Both of us are appreciative of the fact that we have chosen to do these kinds of different roles. There has always been mutual respect and a bond between us. It is always fun to reconnect with an actor that you share a good equation with.

You have played some strong roles on Pakistani television. What is the status and importance of women in the entertainment industry there, besides, of course, grappling with the universal problems of pay parity and so on?

Some of the best projects that I have done on Pakistani television have been for a channel (Hum TV) led by a woman, Sultana Siddiqui, have been produced by a woman, Momina Duraid, and have been directed by women like Mehreen Jabbar and Sultana Siddiqui herself. And on Zindagi, we have Shailja (Kejriwal) who has been creating amazing opportunities.

I feel very safe in this environment. Things in cinema are different, but I am happy that it is a female-led industry in my little drama world (smiles). I am quite privileged and I have great role models around me... very inspirational women who have shown me that I didn’t need the permission or the applause from a man or jump into a script written by a man who doesn’t understand a woman. We have female writers, directors, producers and channel owners. I am very grateful.