“We don’t need supermen, we don’t need ironmen, we have got our real heroes and it’s about time the whole media industry started to shake the world a little bit [and] show what Islamic teachings really are,” proclaimed one of the Pakistani producers of the upcoming series, Junaid Ali Shah.

Superheroes have been absolute juggernauts at the box office for a while now. Whether it’s at the box office or on streaming services, they are king. Amidst all this, we have filmmakers trying to navigate this new arena and either struggling to do so or assimilating with it.

Just last year, the release of the new Doctor Strange film caused quite a ruckus amongst our filmmaking community since it took showtimes away from local Eid releases. But then came The Legend of Maula Jatt which showed us that we have heroes of our own, both fictional and historical, who can combat the audience’s thirst previously quenched by Hollywood films.

Shows like Muhteşem Yüzyıl and then Diriliş Ertugrul also blew audiences away and were incredibly popular in Pakistan. So, it’s quite exciting news to have a show like this of our own.

What We Know So Far

Humayun Saeed and Ayesha Omar had been associated with the production from its inception but Saeed, in an interview with Arab News, stated that not only he would be part of it but “other top Pakistani actors may also be part of it. Hamza Ali Abbasi, Adnan Siddiqui, Fawad Khan.”

The series is a Pakistani-Turkish collaboration, and the first season with a fully Turkish cast has already been filmed and has started airing. However, Pakistani actors are set to debut in the show’s second season.

Ayesha Omar revealed that our actors are supposed to attend workshops and learn the Turkish language before they begin work on the series.

Casting Controversy

In response to this latest casting announcement, actress Zhalay Sarhadi came forward to reveal that several actors were supposedly selected for the series after an extensive audition process but were then left in the dark.

Shaheera Jalil Albasit from Razia also gave an interview to Something Haute where she revealed that she was also part of this extensive audition process, but nothing came of it. The auditions were held in 2021 and she was selected among 60 people. She named Ushna Shah, Alizeh Shah and Arsalan Naseer being part of these auditions as well.

The Pakistani producers have yet to comment on this.

The series is set to film on a massive level in Turkey now with a prominent Pakistani cast joining the second season. This is an exciting venture for our entertainment industry which will open new doors for our talent. Stay tuned to Galaxy Lollywood for any further updates regarding this story!