Mahdi Ahmed

Some years ago, while I was busy writing INGILI (Finger) which was based on an award winning short story written by a fourteen year old student at the National Short Story Competition 2007, Ravee and I came up with this idea of turning the main concept of this short story into a trilogy. But this trilogy wasn’t going to be related to each other. All three films will have a standalone narrative within the concept of two characters in one location.

INGILI has the same concept but the proceedings takes place between two male characters inside a small hut at the beach on a very rainy night. We bought all the rights of this short story for an undisclosed amount and in no time I came up with a screenplay. At that time, actor Muaa was also a co-producer alongside Ravee and me. But due to few personal problems Muaa backed out from producing. Then cinematographer Hussain Munnavvaru took the reins as the third producer.

Things were fast tracked and soon, the production was green lit and principal photography started in Kaafu Gulhi. We built a set from scratch on the beach of this island. We even devised a pipe system to create rain with full manual control.

However, things went downhill from the very first day the cast and crew sailed off to begin production which was scheduled for five straight days. Even before the cast and crew reached the island of Gulhi, the ferry they were sailing stopped in the middle of the sea with an engine failure. Bad luck kept hitting one after the other throughout the entire production. It looked as if the production of INGILI had bad luck written all over.

The first night of shooting was delayed by hours because the pipe system mysteriously failed. The crew had no time to fix it thereafter. Thus, rain was then created the old-fashioned way by using a water pump and a hosepipe. But then something else slowed down our control on the set. Suddenly, the weather turned all bad. Since the set was made outdoor, production was unable to continue at a long stretch.

So whenever the weather turned favorable, shooting resumed, sometimes for an hour and then waited without shooting for many hours until rain subsided. Bad luck kept prevailing. The water pumps crashed several times. One of the crew even had a bad cut on his hand while fixing a water pump. The pressure was piling on the five days schedule which in the end was extended to fifteen long days. Soon the shoe-string budget smashed the ceiling. We were really botched up big time.

Few days after the production team returned from shooting, we hit the biggest of all snags. We found out that the short story which my screenplay was based on was actually a rip-off of a concept of the fourth segment of FOUR ROOMS. That was the last nail that was driven hard in to our coffin. Post production went to a dead halt. The passion we had in making the mother of all experimental movies soon disappeared. Editing went at snail’s pace. After the rough cut was made, I don’t remember having watched it. Post production of INGILI was buried not just six but several feet under.

Two years later, for reasons unknown, we decided to resurrect INGILI. So we pulled it up from the grave and resumed post-production. But at the time when post-production of INGILI was stalled, Ravee and I began working on the second installment of our trilogy. This time the two characters were a male and a female and the location was inside the apartment they both lived.

During the two years we desisted working on INGILI, a friend of mine I befriended through either MSN or Facebook, which one I’m not sure, thanks to old age creeping in each passing day, asked me if I could comment on a screenplay he wrote for a short film.

He is Ahmed Rasheed from Laamu Fonadhoo and heads a production house there called Mandheyra Production. He mailed his screenplay of 26 pages. It was called MIKOE BAPPA BAEY BAEY (Come My Baby’s Father). After a gripping read, I found it had all the elements needed for the second installment to our trilogy and moreover it had great potential to be made into a feature film. But I didn’t tell Ahmed about this since he asked me to find a producer who might be interested in buying his screenplay and Ravee and I were in no shape to invest on producing another film anytime soon. None of the producers I met with were ready to take a commercial risk. Even Ahmed met in person with a high profile actor-director who was at that time shooting a film in his island. Even to this day, Ahmed has never heard of him ever again.

When neither Ahmed nor I could attach any producers to the screenplay, Ahmed decided to produce it on his own. I met with Ravee immediately and told him about the screenplay. Ravee was thrilled and asked me to negotiate with Ahmed. I called Ahmed the very next day. I asked him if he was willing to sell his screenplay to us so that once we have enough funding we could produce it. He spoke with his collaborators at his production house. Fortunately, they decided to sell all the rights to us as they knew the screenplay was going to be in good hands. Ravee had a read and when he gave me the green light, I sealed the deal with Ahmed within that week. If I remember correctly, the rights were bought on the last week of July 2010.

The outlining of MBBB went pretty neatly but writing was not immediate. I remember having few delays on the latter due to several health issues I faced and a month long fasting season that fell in between. But many months later I finally rewrote the screenplay with a more in-depth screen story including much more layered characters and a very disturbing back-story. Ahmed’s screenplay was completely re-imagined and revamped.

At the time of writing MBBB I couldn’t think of any other actor but Rishmy for the leading role. Ravee met with her and convinced her to accept the role. Even Ahmed had her on his mind and casting her really paid off. She not only played her character with great aplomb, but she gave a much needed grit to her character.

In one simple wide shot that was revealed in the first official trailer of MBBB where Rishmy carries an unconscious Manik on her shoulder and climbs the stairs is a moment to behold. I must give three cheers to Rishmy since she decided to do it herself. And that shot more than described the sheer strength of her character in the film.

For this particular scene, in my screenplay I wrote close up shots of her feet ascending the stairs and a close up shot of Manik thinking that any actress who played that role wouldn’t be able to achieve that feat in a wide shot. Even Ravee wanted to follow the screenplay. But it was Rishmy who insisted on going for the wide shot. She went the distance and made her character all too plausible. In the film, Rishmy plays a determined mother who would do anything to protect her child even by risking her own life. Need I to say more?

After I rewrote the screenplay of MBBB, Ravee and I approached several producers. Sadly they all declined because of the risky concept which the screenplay was based on and they didn’t forsee dollar signs twinkling from their eyes.

Just to give one last shot at MBBB going in front of the camera real soon, we approached producer Mohamed Ali aka Mogre, the honcho of Dark Rain Entertainment (DRE). He green lit the production almost immediately. Ravee and I were really surprised. Soon we both met with Mogre and cinematographer Shifau and fast tracked production in no time. Rishmy accepted the role without any hesitation and Manik was offered the leading male role though we wanted a rookie at first. We realized Manik inhibited the characteristic of that role far stronger than anyone we could think of. Rishmy and Manik was a perfect match.

Principal photography of MBBB started on 17th April 2012. It was made on a shoe-string budget compared to the other films DRE has produced so far. Photography was wrapped up in thirteen or fifteen days. At present, editing has been done including dubbing. All the CGI shots are made except for one which will be completed in two days time. Currently the final cut is ready for music and sound design. Ravee has already started working on a second trailer based on very positive comments we have received. So stay tuned.

Going back to the current status of INGILI, composer Mohamed Ikram has finished music including sound design. Ravee will have the final copy with music come Saturday, which means INGILI will be ready for releasing as well. But we are in a total fix to release INGILI before MBBB. The availability of Olympus Cinema which is undergoing huge renovations even as I speak, the chances are just nil for INGILI. The cinema is scheduled to re-open in mid November. INGILI has a slot only available in late December. However, DRE has a slot already available right after Olympus is re-opened. The studio is hoping to release MBBB in that period, meaning MBBB will be released before INGILI. But Ravee and I don’t mind since both films are from the same unrelated trilogy. We just want any of them released as soon as possible.

To end this post on a happy note, DRE has already verbally agreed to produce the final installment when Ravee and I pitched them our idea. The third and final installment will have two female characters once again at one location. We are still brainstorming. However, one thing I can reveal here is that we have decided on a very cool title which sums up the whole narrative. And I have also come up with a rough outline of the screenplay. Ravee finds it awesome. Hopefully I will start writing the third installment somewhere around January next year. So stay tuned for more updates on all three installments of an unrelated trilogy.

Cheers!

For my next writing gig, I thought I was going to write my first fully fledged romcom feature. But later, once I started brainstorming on the given concept, I realized it wasn’t turning out to be a romcom but actually a dramedy.

At this point I haven’t the slightest clue on how I’m going to mix both genres and come up with a dramatically funny screenplay in a months time. Not writing one would be funnier. Okay, jokes apart, I think I would need two or more months to wrap it. But first I need to go through something like a guide for dummies on how to properly write a dramedy, if there is any available. And looking at my projects in the pipeline, next in line is also a dramedy. What! More dramedy? I think at this very moment I better stick my head into the keyboard of this laptop. At least that would be less painful than the tiled floor underneath my feet or the bricked roads outside. But luckily that expression which is related to a unique habit of ostriches, no kidding, they don’t actually stick their heads in the sand, but they just duck down, usually in high grassy areas. Hallelujah! My grey matter is saved from becoming mashed potato.

So for reasons to pull me out of this dispirited feeling, I’m going to look back at some of my stints at comedy and maybe get inspired for this project in hand.

As I quickly run through memory lane as fast as I could, I have come to a conclusion that I have actually written some bit of comedy mixed with romance in few movies and some television serials. On all these occasions, they were more like loose segments which was a build up to the ensuing drama that follows later on. But good thing is that I have tried comedy. So I consider myself funny. Now I’m trying to laugh by tickling my funny bones.

It all started with HUREEMEY INTHIZAARUGAI (Waiting For You) released in 2005, directed by prolific director, Abdul Fatthaah. This film could be dissected into three or four mixed genres or even more. It starts off with a romcom segment of about fifteen minutes or more. Rest of the film then becomes a tragic/drama and then the latter half becomes a suspense/ thriller respectively. And hilariously enough, after outlining the whole screenplay, I first wrote the third act to ease production scheduling conflicts. But it was a good experience. I guess it’s always a good feeling to break rules, as long as one avoids going behind bars.

Anyway, the audience loved the romcom segment of this mentioned film. They kept laughing at my one-liners and luckily almost everyone understood the jokes thrown here and there, thanks to a solid delivery and on-screen opposite attracts chemistry between Zuhura and Ravee in their debut starring roles. They definitely shone in the first segment.

My next effort at comedy came in a 13 episodes television serial called KURAMEY VADHAA’EE SALAAM (I Say Goodbye). In each episode I used acidic one-liners for the main villains played to evil best but in a cheery tone by Saeed and Hajja. Their bits were hailed and enjoyed by almost all the viewers. This serial was also directed by Fatthaah.

Comedy mixed with romance or viceversa was offered abundantly in the popular 52 episodes television serial, HINITHUNVELAASHEY KALAA (Smile, you). The whole serial was once again directed by Fatthaah. Yes, him again! I must admit that this serial was the turning point that fortified my writing skills in every way. The first 32 episodes were treated lightly with comedy thrown all over. This serial captured a nationwide following. Since I still have a never ending admiration for this serial, and in an effort to save my keyboard, my fingertips and my eyes, I’ll discontinue talking about it any further. I have already written so much about this serial in my previous posts. They are just a matter of few clicks away.

I also added comedy, but very sparsely for VAALOABI ENGEYNAMA (If You Knew How Much I Love You) which went on to win 12 National Awards including best picture and screenplay. On the premier night, my greatest gratification was the audience laughing at almost every one-liner I have used rather than them sobbing at the melodramatic second half.

Short film, ROCKY which was released on DVD was a failed attempt at slapstick comedy. And also I was credited under a pseudonym… whoops! I just spilled a lot of beans here.

After staying away from anything comedy for a while, I returned with my very first full comedy mini-series called AHARENGE LHA DADDY (My Youthful Daddy). Oh boy, the viewers really enjoyed this 5 episodes serial about a wannabe womanizing father who wouldn’t want to grow up. Legendary actor, Jambu Afeef gave a noteworthy performance as the title character. This serial was again helmed by Fatthaah. He sure knows how to direct comedy, I mean, of course, comedy written by who else but me. See this grin Mr. Cheshire cat. Now beat that.

My latest comedy mixed with romance came last year with SAZAA (Punishment). The film was kind of two films rolled into one. The first half was a romcom while the second was a violent drama. The reason I made the first part a no-holds-barred romcom was to subconsciously make the audience also suffer the gritty violence of the second half which befell upon the protagonist. While the audience laughed constantly at the one-liners in the first half, they were in complete silence in the second half. Mission accomplished.

This is where I snap my finger in front of my own face. Snap! With a sudden twitch to my head, clapping my eyelids several times, I finally return from memory lane and jumps into reality. I ask myself, am I inspired now? Now I ask whoever asked me that, are you talkin’ to me? I see right before my eyes written in bold, dramedy! Oh no! I don’t feel funny anymore. I could best write a horror film in this state. Keyboard, here comes my head!

Then there’s static sound…

Cheers!

I must admit that I have no excuses for my long absence. A year and eight months is the longest I have ever stayed without posting. If I hadn’t suffered from trigger fingers, I would have posted every day. And then there was a long silence…

Okay, jokes apart, to begin with I couldn’t continue without mentioning about the most memorable event that took place in my life. My wife and I have, Oh no, you all thought wrong! I couldn’t imagine my life without her, now that we have become proud parents. Yes, I’m a dad! Thank you! Thank you!

On 5^th March, 2011, at 12:10 pm, my wife gave birth to a boy at Samitivej Hospital, Bangkok. Seven days later, we named him Taqi, meaning piety.

I still remember as I walked into the operation theatre in a bluish scrub with a nurse, everything went slo-mo. Slowly, all the ambience sound faded. On my right, I saw doctors operating on my wife. The nurse then led me to my little boy who was being cleaned up at further upfront. Thank God I managed to brush off all the pages of WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING. Otherwise I would have Kung-Fu slammed all the doctors on the spot. That was downright inhuman to hang my boy by his feet. Just kidding and I don’t even know Kung-Fu.

Taqi was crying at the top of his lungs, but the sound of his cry was completely muffled, as always happened in slo-mo. To see him for the first time was a moment to behold. Extreme close-up shots of him slowly cut before my eyes. Probably Michael Bay was supervising the editing. Then I turned to my wife when she whispered my name couple of times. She asked me how our boy was. I couldn’t speak. I was speechless completely. All I did was doing a thumb up at her. She smiled.

After doing everything they were doing including cutting the rest of the umbilical cord, the doctors then presented me my boy all wrapped up in a white swaddle. Oh my, he was as light as a feather! I always had difficulty in carrying a newborn since I couldn’t adjust to the zero weight feeling. But with him, everything was instinctive. I looked at him up close. He was the cutest living being I have ever witnessed.

I then took Taqi to my wife. She held him tenderly. More tenderly than I was holding him. Remarkably, he stopped crying. Then it was our turn to cry as we couldn’t hold our tears. But we were crying for joy. This scene would have given a grin to any film director cashing on movies with any number of handkerchiefs.

For the sake of this post not running into hundred or more pages and not giving me trigger fingers for real, I fast forward to eighteen months later, to present day. In a nutshell, every second we’ve been spending with Taqi is both memorable and heavenly. Fade out and end credits roll. With such an ending, I think those directors I just mentioned must be having second thoughts on grinning.

Though I have been stuck in my disappearing act for an awfully long period, best thing about this post is, even after several months without publishing any, it still feels like as if I had published my last post only few days back. Around the time of my last posts, I was heavily involved in the post-production of INGILI (FINGER) I think. And the good news is that I still am. Yes, you all have every reason to frown. INGILI which started production on 17th May 2009 is still under post-production. The film has gone through production hell with shooting going over schedule and now a hellish post-production. However, WATANIYA has become our telecom partner and we have decided on a release date which is either early November or mid December. Yet these dates could change depending on the re-opening date of Olympus after renovation which has been changing a lot as well. This is one of those instances where change is not so very good.

The reason for this extremely long delay in releasing INGILI is manifold. Firstly, the production team was discouraged knowing that the original short story we acquired, on which I based the screenplay was a rip-off of the fourth segment of 1995 released FOUR ROOMS. For a real movie buff who boasts on watching every Quentin Tarantino movie released so far, this was a major embarrassment. A man accepts a bet. He has to strike his lighter ten times or else, well, you’ve guessed it right but I’m not going to give away any spoilers here!

Secondly, the production looked rushed in the final edit. But it’s okay considering that this was an experimental movie. Most probably the mentioned rush was also part of the experiment.

Third reason happened to be the most current one. Composing music is in a fix due to several sub-reasons facing who else but the composer himself. But he’s confirmed that within few days, music will be completed. So for all these reasons and all other reasons that I couldn’t mention here, I’m beginning to feel that this film has already given a finger of its own at its producers, which includes poor me.

Before I continue with the updates of my other notable projects, I think I should mention that I won the best original screenplay for SAZAA (PUNISHMENT) at the ENCHANTEUR MALDIVES FILM AWARDS 2012 which was held in early July. Is that a round of applause I’m hearing or is it just the hard rain falling outside my apartment right now? Anyway, as usual I stayed myself away from the function. Yes, stage fright has consumed me completely, only my right ear is intact now.

MIKOE BAPPA BAEY BAEY (COME MY BABY’S FATHER) the screenplay which I re-outlined and re-wrote as a feature film after acquiring all the rights from a screenplay written as a short film by AHMED RASHEED, owner of LAAMU FONADHOO based studio MANDHEYRA PRODUCTION, was proposed to several high profile producers. Unfortunately, they all declined. They still couldn’t put faith on a film with a concept of two actors at one location. And how could they? If only INGILI was released and made rave reviews and made back its production cost, at least.

However, earlier this year DARK RAIN ENTERTAINMENT (DRE) honcho, MOHAMED ALI aka MOGRE decided to take the risk of producing it. And we came to a great understanding of sharing the spoils as RAVI and I waived our fees for all of our work. This is the second installment to an unrelated trilogy to the concept of two characters at one location which started off with INGILI even though the latter is yet to be released.

As mutually agreed in the development of this trilogy between RAVI and me, once again he stepped on to direct. Shooting was wrapped up in thirteen days. Renowned cinematographer ALI SHIFAU aka CHIPPE lensed from a Canon D60. Yes, if we could release this film as planned on October, this will be the first Dhivehi film to be shot entirely with a DSLR. I haven’t heard any other film in production or post-production being shot with a DSLR. Goody! Goody!

AISHATH RISHMY and MOHAMED MANIK were cast in the lead. The film is in post-production now. Final cut has been made including dubbing and currently CGI work is on-going under the supervision of SHINAAN who is also the CGI supervisor for DRE’s upcoming FATHIHANDHUVARUGE FESHUN 3D. Yes, this film has couple of CGI shots thrown here and there. Hopefully next week, the official first trailer will be released on FILMEE UDHARES. So stay tuned!

Then there’s INDHIRAAS (DECADENCE) which started its production promisingly around June this year. However, not even half way through into principal photography, the production turned out like its title, which loomed into a decadence of its own. The production of this film is currently on hold indefinitely for reasons I’m not aware of. But I do hope that it rises from the ashes like a phoenix since the screenplay of this film is one of the coolest I have written. And then there’s this little heard controversy it also created.

In 1994 Hollywood released a major film which became my most watched movie of all time. I have been watching this film every year since I watched it in 1995. Even this year I have already watched it, like twice! This film has really engraved deep inside my mind tantalizing me in every possible way to outline a local take on it. I feel as if I don’t have any control over my grey matter as it inspiringly outlined a really good screenplay for me to write physically. But until earlier this year, I have resisted the advances my brain has made on me for seventeen long years. Finally I had to succumb because my brain finally demolished my resistance and made me write it.

I began writing, inspired by this film in late 2011. I wrapped up writing in the first quarter of this year. It was named DHILAKANI (FIRE SPARKS). Immediately I started proposing it to interested producers. Unfortunately they kept declining. However, one producer even started pre-production but later disappeared and was never heard of again.

In late July, HUSSAIN MUNAWWAR picked up this screenplay as a follow up to his directorial debut, SAZAA which was the highest grossing film in 2011. Production started in late August. The production team is currently in SHAVIYANI FEEVAKU to shoot the majority of the scenes which was based on an island. All scenes of Male’ except two historical scenes, have been completed.

The cast has ISMAIL RASHEED aka COPEE ISSEY and NIUMA in the lead. MOHAMED MANIK, ROANU HASSAN MANIK, FAISAL, RISHFA and ZIYA complete the list. I still haven’t mentioned which Hollywood film it was inspired from, have I? Well, I just don’t want to be spoiling the storyline of DHILAKANI. But I can assure you, after seeing the materials shot in Male’, it’s going to be really awesome!

What else have I done? Oh yes, before I wrap up this post, I should mention the screenplays I re-wrote for AMJE, the man with fifty or more films directed under his belt. First one was called KEKULHUN (SUFFERING) which was a cautionary tale about drugs. It was originally written by novelist, MOHAMED QASIM. Once the deal was concluded, AMJE called me few days later asking me to re-write it as, drum rolls, a 50 episodes TV serial! I declined, indirectly though.

A month later, he called me again to re-write another screenplay which was again written by QASIM. It was called VAHUM (SUSPICION). I brought several changes to the characters, the plot and gave it a super cool ending. It’s been a while since I completed it. But I’m yet to hear from him. But I’m not going be like the title suggests, suspicious about anything. He’d call, you know?

I leave for now. Hopefully I’m going to be a tad frequent in future.

Cheers!