Old world tale

Director Muzaffar Ali's reason for casting new faces for his film Jaanisaar is simple. He says, “I didn't want anybody to have pre-conceived notions about the characters. I wanted Pernia to come out as Noor and Imran to be Ameer. This film is about real people and I wanted that touch to be there. I got a lot of commitment and time and very high power performance out of it”. 

The characters, he shares, are based on many of the people he knows. "They are based on the members of my own family, friends of my family. It's got a very interesting connect with emotions and real-life incidents,” he tells us.About the immediate connect and comparison with his 1981 hit film Umrao Jaan, the filmmaker informs that the two are completely “different films”. “Jaanisaar stands on its own ground. It is set in 1877; 20 years after the First War of Independence but those were not ordinary 20 years. People felt defeated after 1857 since the whole battle of freedom was crushed and those pages have been torn-off from the records. You are dealing with people who were kids in those days. It is a very delicate emotion to connect with.”

With regard to training Pernia Qureshi (for the role of Noor), who has never had any formal acting training, Ali says, “I looked at her as a person who was passionate about doing something. She is a dancer and the whole film is about dance which I've used as a metaphor to tell the story of the revolution”.