Asim Abbasi on Churails: Knew I was making something special

Asim Abbasi

Lauding his producers for not being risk averse and encouraging diversity of ideas, he says, “Allowing creators to be able to maintain their voice is important. My concerns were there only when I was submitting my scripts. They emboldened me to follow my vision. The show openly talks about homosexuality. I had assumed the liquor (Jugnu’s character played by Yasra Rizvi is a heavy drinker ) wouldn’t go down well. I didn’t self censor at all. The show wasn’t made simply for Pakistan; the world saw it and that’s all that matters.”

A major talking point for the show was how a male writer-director was able to bring in women’s authentic experience to the series, giving it a feminist gaze, much like Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors (Disney+Hotstar). “It’s not a lived-in experience; it’s one degree removed. So I can tell everyone about my strong mother and sisters, in a household full of women. I have observed women but it’s not my own experience. This was my biggest fear over log kya kahenge. I wanted to do justice to a predominantly female story and I am conflicted about how I fared. To compensate consciously, I had female ADs, female producers, female script consultants on every episode. I was hand held a lot and I opened my story and myself up to feedback. We had the male characters servicing the women’s stories. The alpha trope and angry young man has been exhausted. A constant effort showing men differently will highlight to parents that being a man, or being a hero is not about being rude, arrogant, sexist. I want to break away from that image and show men as kind, good guys which they mostly are.”

For season 2, that he hopes will be made, he wants to have a writers room filled with women. “I was hired on the basis of Cake to make Churails. I think season 2 will happen. Personally I have told everything I wanted and the cliffhanger was for the audience to deduce what happens there on. The show was received well so maybe there’s more.”

Did you know?

Asim Abbasi wanted to end season one of the series on a cliffhanger to provide scope for the making of another season.

Cast your vote for the Hitlist OTT Awards
Asim Abbasi’s Churails has been nominated in the Best Drama category. The other nominees 
are:  

. Criminal Justice Behind Closed Doors (Disney+Hotstar)
. Scam 1992 (SonyLiv)
. The Gone Game
(Voot Select) 
. The Forgotten Army (Amazon Prime Video)
. Your Honour (SonyLiv)

Log on to www.hitlistottawards.com to cast your vote.

You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c as on the website) to 57575.

Voting lines close on February 9.

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