“There is a well-known theory that if your friendship with someone survives seven years, it will last a lifetime,” Rafay Rashdi starts off, giving us the gist of his storyline. “This will be the first Pakistani film of its kind, since the revival of Pakistani cinema, which focuses on friendship and travel.”

Rafay has been passionate about the art of telling stories on celluloid for a long time but has dabbled only in making short films and promotional videos until now. It was two years ago that his friend, Zayer Khan, who is also the cinematographer in Thora Jee Le (TJL), asked him the question, that set them off on this adventure: ‘How about making a full-length movie?’

Rafay was instantly inspired and decided to share his enthusiasm and his idea for the story with his mother, Mahtab Akber Rashdi, the producer of the venture.

Thora Jee Le is the story of seven individuals, each belonging to a very specific background having lived life under circumstances that have been very clearly thought out by Rafay who has also written the screenplay and dialogue. “I researched Academy Award-winning screenplays in order to learn how they are written. The one I read from cover to cover was American Beauty. It helped me understand the technicalities of writing a movie and how to create a powerful storyline.”

The seven characters in TJL reconnect after losing touch with each other after college and bring their own baggage to the plot. Rizwan Ali Jaffri (Kaizad), Ramsha Khan (Misha), Bilal Abbas (Party Khan), Fatima Shah Jillani (Bahaar), Kasim Khan (TC), Ahsan Mohsin Ikram (Azad) and Salman Faisal (Andy) are newcomers starring in their debut big screen project. The audience will see an array of fresh, young talent in this film, where the characters have back-stories that most of the youth of Pakistan will be able to identify with.

“It was suggested to me that I take well-known faces in my first project in order to generate the required buzz,” says Rafay, “but there were many scheduling problems of hiring ‘stars’ and I wanted to be able to finish the project within a certain amount of time. “Therefore, I decided to give an avenue to new talent that is struggling to make a niche for itself in this industry and it has proved to be a gamble well worth the risk. These youngsters were inordinately hard-working and committed to the film, and that is exactly what I wanted.”

TJL was shot in 45 days and is coming on screens on January 20. “It cannot be compartmentalised into one genre for it has elements spanning those of a rom-com to horror,” he says.

Here’s hoping that this journey of friends winds its way into the hearts of the audience and leaves its footprints on the sands of celluloid land. And that we have a new writer/director in the guise of Rafay Rashdi to look forward to for future ventures.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 15th, 2017