The year 2019 may have started a little rough for Shamoon Abbasi with the whole debacle that happened with the film Gumm. However, with the news of the latest developments regarding his two upcoming projects, it is safe to say that those days of being frustrated over how Gumm shaped up to be are history. With Shamoon’s upcoming web-series Mind-Games getting a deal from Netflix and his movie Durj on the way of being screened at Cannes, this abundantly talented actor is going to uncharted places that the other Pakistani projects haven’t gone yet.

Galaxy Lollywood reached out to Shamoon Abbasi and got exclusive news about these two projects.

Mind Games may find a home at Netflix

Web-series are becoming the new norm in the Pakistani industry (that news is old). But there hasn’t been a single announced web-series that has managed to penetrate the giant digital platform Netflix. Until now, that is. There is a very strong possibility that Shamoon Abbasi’s upcoming web-series titled Mind Games has been locked in by Netflix to be its exclusive digital platform.

Speaking to us about the project, Shamoon revealed that he had been approached for it with the idea that Netflix was interested in the project. “Netflix Canada has shown interest in the project; they like the storyline, it has been approved. Right now, they are just waiting for the finished product. There’s a 90% chance that it will go on Netflix and we are in conversation with them right now so, fingers crossed. I cannot give a definite statement but that is how I had been approached for the project.”

The association with Netflix really gives the impression that the story for Mind Games promises to be different. It definitely caught our interest and we asked Shamoon to share some details about the story of the show and specifically, what drew him towards it.

“The director, Farhan Tajjamul, contacted me from Canada and told me the show’s plot. Basically, it is a thriller. And that is what I liked about it in the first place as I am a fan of the genre. I knew that it would be an energetic project.”

He further talked about the show having a storyline that is based on the global reality of certain hidden agencies sometimes using models to carry out money-laundering. The show has taken a few dramatic liberties to make a fictionalized version of this dark reality.

“We are not going in the nitty-gritty of how these things are being done because we don’t want to introduce the money laundering part. It is more about how things can go bad with certain girls agreeing to take part in these activities, anywhere in the world. There are lots of girls who are caught laundering money and contrabands, things that are banned in certain parts of the world. There are other storylines in the show as well. But for me, I could see myself being part of this particular storyline.”

Written by Inam Shah, this Picture Wala Productions project also includes names like Sana Fakhar, Emad Irfani, and Kanza Razzaq in the list of cast.

Durj may go the Cannes way

Be it about its unique storyline that deals with cannibalism in Pakistan or its lead actress, Sherry Shah, going through a dramatic transformation for her role, Durj has managed to create headlines multiple times before. And this time it has come in news again with something even bigger. Shamoon Abbasi is taking its directorial debut to one of the most famous international film festivals – Cannes Film Festival.

“We had sent Durj to Cannes a few months back,” Shamoon stated. “There are different phases of the Film Festival and MaShaAllah, Durj has entered the first phase. It is going to be screened and previewed at the Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes Film Festival.”

The Director’s Fortnight is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival that is held by Société des réalisateurs de films. He explained that with the way things work in Cannes, films get previewed at multiple places before eventually being shown at the main festival; Durj is the first phase of the entire process. Shamoon was hopeful for the film getting to compete in Cannes eventually.

As for the film’s release in Pakistan, Shamoon only said that the official announcement will be made very soon. “We are planning on announcing the release dates across all social media platforms very soon with a poster and, most probably, with a new trailer.”

This kind of representation for Pakistani content on a huge international and global platform is definitely huge, positive news for the Pakistani entertainment industry. We wish Shamoon and the entire teams of Mind Games and Durj all the very best and success for their endeavors.