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Abdullah Kadwani and Humayun Saeed
 One is in love with the camera, choosing to remain behind it most of the time while the other romances it to the hilt. Both are well known in their own right — one as an ambitious media person and the other as a successful actor.
Abdullah Kadwani and Humayun Saeed are friends and partners, running Seventh Sky Entertainment since the past three years — a media company high on entertainment and quality production.
Such alliances in showbiz are known to happen when two people want to come out stronger as a team, or when either one is not an entity on his own. However, this is not the case here and though both are successful individually, they have still joined forces professionally.
Mag4you.com approached the duo to find out what they have to say about their aspirations regarding friendship, work and most important of all, future endeavors in the form of co-productions with India.
What was your reason to come together as a team?
AK: I have always believed in adding value to whatever one does, hence I have always believed in partnerships that will enhance and add weight to one’s work.
Where Humayun is concerned, I had worked with him in the serial Andharay Dareechay and found him to be not only a good actor but a good person, too. That was the beginning of our friendship and as time went by it matured, leading to a certain degree of understanding between us, ultimately culminating into a partnership.
After doing our first project together under the banner of Seventh Sky Entartainment, Ana, which is also the first joint venture with India, things just kept falling into place and here we are today.
HS: As Abdullah said, he believes in partnership very strongly and so do I. I feel that if you’re doing good work, by joining hands with another who is equally strong will add to it. In any case, we became friends first and with time it led to partnership. What I like about Abdullah is that he is a self-made man and above all, he is honest.
As for both of us being successful individually, I am relatively a good actor but I give Abdullah more points as a producer doing quality work. Interacting with him has been a learning experience through and through. I feel that I have ended up gaining more out of our partnership.
Are there any ego hassles or conflict?
AK: Conflict is always there but it should not get personal. In any partnership trust, respect and understanding are the three essential ingredients. Commitment counts and where logic prevails, it becomes the positive point in any conflict.
 By working together I would say our friendship has gained more strength, and no matter what our collaboration is a win-win situation for both of us. We are in sync by working together on our weaknesses and strengths.
People say that it is the first partnership where two successful individuals have come together and have survived for so long. They asked us why the need to join hands and even tried to create differences, speculating an end to our relationship after a give time.
As for a clash of egos, when it comes to professional decisions conflicts help to improve one’s work. From day one we had decided that whatever comes our way professionally, and even if at some point we end up not working together, our friendship will remain intact.
HS: Having an ego is natural. As individuals we know each other inside out. After all we are mature individuals and while working if you have respect for each other then professional conflicts do not become personal. Conflicting views are talked over and sorted out and mutually worked upon. The friendship stays no matter what. This is our fourth year together and we are growing stronger and stronger.
Between the two of you who is the shrewd businessman and who is the creative head?
AK: I started my career as a model and went on to become an actor, producer/director and marketer, so creativity is in my blood. I am a businessman not by desire but by default. It is my nature to be creative, to go deep into every aspect and think long and hard before making a decision. I believe that an image based on creativity is the pillar that holds one strong. I consider myself lucky that people who I call my gurus, such as Tahir A. Khan, want to brainstorm on ideas with me.
HS: I do my work sincerely, quietly and honestly and things simply start to fall in place, which is assumed by others to be shrewdly tactful. Don’t you think that each one of us should have some amount of intelligence when doing business? It is a necessary ingredient.
As for being creative, I do not consider myself to be naturally so. I have learnt to be creative through acting and by interacting with people whom I have worked with, such as Mehreen Jabbar, Marina Khan, Sajjad Gul and Abdullah Kadwani. I am still learning.
In a way you are responsible for introducing Indian talent through your first serial, Ana, in Pakistani dramas — a trend that has caught on but is considered meaningless by many.?
AK: I will always advocate the fact that whenever you work with someone better than yourself you benefit from it the most.
Just look at the Indians where they are today in the field of entartinment. They are recognised all over the world and at times you hear of Bollywood even before Hollywood.
The Indians may not need us but we need them and whatever work we have done, we have kept the Pakistani element intact. We took Ana as a joint venture, taking on their technical crew and actors but everything was done here with our own producer/director. The ultimate benefactor will be Pakistan’s entertainment industry.
HS: The honest truth is that Indian actors have been a part of our lives since eons and they are the stars for the Pakistani public as well. I would say the criticism may be a case of insecurities creeping in because we are dealing with Indians.
As an actor my reason was simple — showcasing Pakistani talent to the Indians. They knew me as a producer but not as an actor. Do you know the Indians are in awe of Talat Hussain who played a pivotal role in Ana? One can hire actors from anywhere in the world and it doesn’t make a difference. It’s just that the story and plot should justify it.
 These days dramas are not only glamour-based but have also become increasingly Indianised. Don’t you think we have lost our identity in this rat race?
HS: I don’t know about others but if you see the track record of plays produced by Seventh Sky you will notice that we haven’t become Indianised. After Ana there have only been one or two serials in which we did incorporate Indian talent. Secondly, we did not mould our heroines into the Sita or Geeta prototypes. We kept the Pakistani element intact in every way so that the Indian talent also gets to know about our culture. The point is you can hire talent from anywhere but the story and plot should depict your culture and should justify the inclusion.
AK: We should remain close to our culture. The Indians are very sound technically and have made a remarkable improvement in storylines also. Instead of picking up good points from them we have started to follow them blindly. Our Indianised dramas have ruined the sanctity of relationships and values. They are all about attractive packaging, but if substance is missing then what’s there to see? I keep on telling others in the industry to remain in our own sphere but work technically with the Indians which, in turn, will enhance our product.
With channels supporting Bollywood films, television channels airing Indian programmes and FM stations blaring out Indian songs, where does our media stand?
AK: Everyone knows the state of our film industry today. It is we who are to be blamed and whether we like it or not the release of Indian films have become a savior as people want recreation. It doesn’t make a difference whether it’s Bollywood or Hollywood, people throng cinemas to watch good films.
As for our electronic media it is there and fighting. We have improved in every aspect but there has to be a sincere effort to fill in the vacuum by having a media industry that runs on a proper system. It is only after the media starts playing a positive role that there will be a balance.
HS: I do not have any issues with the release of Indian films in Pakistan. They have always been there so stopping them officially is a non-issue. On the other hand, if good films come out of Lollywood or Hollywood people will still go to dilapidated theatres no matter what. With the release of Indian films at least the trend of going to cinema will revive and proper cinema halls will come up. Our product will also improve and local film-makers will be encouraged to come out with good films.
With our singers making a mark in Bollywood is there a need to stop Indian songs on FM stations? If we do that they might also stop our singers, so what’s the use? I don’t think it’s a big deal that one can hear Bollywood songs on the airwaves. As for television, they don’t show our dramas and they have no clue about our culture. The best way to introduce it is by what we did through our productions, especially Ana.
What are your projects on air and in the making. Will they also make a difference?
HS: Our play Wilco has been quite successful. Yaadien is also receiving good feedback. Then we have Sarkar Sahib and Koi Toh Baarish. All these four productions have done well.
Char Samandar that was shot in Turkey. Mehreen Jabbar has directed a 22-episode serial written by Humera Ahmed called Doraha. Besides these we have a whole lineup of serials such as Kitne Dur Kitne Paas directed by Arif Khan then Khawab Toot Jaate Hain by Haider Imam Rizvi and Char Chand directed by Javed Fazil.
AK: We are also adding a new dimension to the Seventh Sky portfolio and that is reality shows and game shows. We are working on franchises and buying concepts, and will soon come out with international ventures. We will be the first one to do so and we are looking for media support. The shows taken from abroad carry a lot of dictation from the original owners but what we want is the jest to remain the same but the local touch should be dominant.
 Any plans to venture into films in the near future?
AK: I wish we had started working on films. At the moment it’s still in the planning stage. When one is quality conscious and venturing into something new for the first time, the most important aspect is to do proper homework.
HS: We have already roped in writer Javed Siddiqui who wrote Dilwale Dulhani Lejayenge and Gulzar sahib is writing the songs and Anu Malik will be the music director. The only hitch is the fact that this is our first film and we don’t want to leave any stone unturned and want to come out with a thoroughly planned project.
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