Mahdi Ahmed

No writing…

That’s right, I am not writing these days. Why? Shhh… I’m not supposed to talk about what I am doing, but I am tempted to spill the beans. Throwing caution to the wind, I am going to spill the beans to some extent even though the beans will be spilt eventually.

I was working on a whodunit screenplay for SEEZAN when PROJECT X knocked on my door. Well It wasn’t exactly a knock on the door… my mobile rang. I was told of the nature of PROJECT X. At first I was hesitant, but few minutes later after I hang up I agreed. Yes, I did seek advice from someone whose name I will keep anonymous for now. Oh man, why the secrecy? The supense is even killing me.

Immediately I called up SEEZAN and rescheduled his screenplay for late January next year. The actual deadline for his project was end of this month. Luckily, there was no discord. He was fine with the rescheduling.

Cut back to PROJECT X, I have already finished and submitted my end of this mysterious work. But there’s more of my involvement in the final reckoning. Yes, there is a final reckoning. The date will be notified to me on a need to know basis. So I wait. That’s why I can’t free my mind and go back to SEEZAN’s script. I will be freed after December 29^th. What’s huge going to happen on that date?

To be honest, this work has really screwed up my thinking cap big time. At the end of the day, it was strenuous to my eyes and it was like eating a very bitter pill. However, am good for now but I need to keep my brain fresh for the final reckoning. PROJECT X handlers might call me anytime… even now!

HINITHUNVELAASHEY KALAA… not a re-run

At last, TVM has started showing HINITHUNVELAASHEY KALAA… which recieved an overwhelming popularity status before it was abruptly halted when one of the actors in it who was to appear in the following week’s episode was arrested for a bounced cheque. That’s TVM red tape which I have explained in one of my previous blog entries. So needless to repeat again and besides, no one likes it.

Eight months have passed since then. This week TVM restared the serial, not from the episode where it was stopped, but from the beginning. Yes! from the very first episode. No frets about that since in a way its good so that the audience will get a recap from the beginning. So I wouldn’t call it a re-run.

The audience probably must have forgotten everything about INA and FAZU and their journey through life and the different twists their lives took. The audience might have even forgotten about INA being tomboyish at the beginning and her gradual transformation upon meeting ADEEL. Hold it! Do I need to recap myself as well?

TVM have scheduled 3 episodes per week to catch up to the last episode that was shown. Was it episode 32 that was last shown? [Mahdi scratches his head]

To watch the whole serial once again from episode one… feels timeless. The underlying themes in the dialog sounds potent. And the humor in them still intact. Hold it again! What am I doing? Praising what I have written. [Mahdi’s cheeks have gone red]

I still have 9 more episodes to write. The last 12 episodes have not been shot yet and the three unshot scripts needs several changes as most of the characters have gone through several physical changes. Only after I sit down with serial director ABDUL FATHHAH, will I know if these amendments are going to be either a minor or a major headache. Only time will tell. Right now I have a new screenplay to wrap up before end of this month. Oh my! Speaking of which, I haven’t even started writing yet. Probably it’s because of the subject and the storyline. Or am I having another WRITER’S BLOCK. Hope not, if you ask me.

NULIBUNAS… finally acquired

Here’s a quick recap on NULIBUNAS… Once upon a time, not less than seven years ago, I wrote an adapted screenplay called HIYY KEEKKURAANEE based on Hindi film, DHIL KYA KARE for now dissolved company EMA PRODUCTIONS. In reality, I wrote the screenplay for my long time friend, SHIYAZ. The project was assigned to him by EMA when their ace director failed to begin the production to an almost scene-to-scene translation of the Hindi film. I adapted my screenplay to an island to make the production easier and few other pivotal story changes were also made. TRIVIA NOTE: Two other studios also began filming their own versions on the same Hindi film and both productions were discontinued.

I finished the adaptation long before the dead line. But few days later, the project was terminated and sadly, I wasn’t paid.

Fast forward to end of the third quarter of 2006, veteran actor, DHARAA RASHEED and his Indian yaar approached me to write a 13 episode serial they were going to produce. They wanted me to write with in a week to which I declined, this time. But I mentioned them of the shelved HIYY KEEKKURAANEE screenplay. They agreed on converting it in to a serial.

I started work the very next day and finished the whole 13 episodes in less than a week. I named the serial NULIBUNAS… with hefty changes, a funny yet a powerfully dramatic back-story and a very twisted ending. Probably, I was feeling very Shayamalan-esque at the time. Maybe Hitchckokian is the right word here because NULIBUNAS… doesn’t have any supernatural elements. Sorry M. Night but you are one of my favorites.

Again, NULIBUNAS… faced the same production-getting-delayed curse. And once again, I was not paid.

Meanwhile, MOVIE PEOPLE wanted a 13 episode serial. I told them of NULIBUNAS… which was by then getting too delayed going behind the camera and pre-production work was completely ceased. I called up RASHEED to inform that I was going to make a deal with MOVIE PEOPLE. He agreed.

I handed the script to MOVIE PEOPLE. Days turned in to weeks and weeks in to months. They finally decided to… decline.

Upon hearing that MOVIE PEOPLE have rejected and I have a 13 episode serial, yes these news travel fast, actress NIUMA called up showing interest in the script. I gave her the first seven episodes for a read. Thought the curse was due to the script being an adaptation. A day later she called me and said she liked the script and had no resemblance whatsoever to the Hindi film. But… you already know what happened afterwards. Is this script really under a very bad spell? Apparently, TVM to whom NIUMA was planning to sell the production were not taking serials based on films. So there! The curse finally revealed but not lifted.

Cut back to October 2007, I was about to shelve NULIBUNAS… for good, when actress ZEENATH was interested in; yes you guessed right, a 13 episode serial. So I gave her the whole script. Unlike others before her, she first submitted the script to TVM so that they can decide on how much I have borrowed from the Hindi film. Few weeks later ZEENATH informed me that TVM has given green light. She’s also going ahead with the production. Lets hope the curse is really lifted but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Shooting NULIBUNAS… begins on 25th of this month.

AHARENGE LHA DADDYY finale…

The fifth and final episode of AHARENGE LHA DADDYY was shown last night. And it ended with a bang. Had a twisted ending to it. Unfortunately, this serial has ended when all the actors started to look comfortable and had a firm grip on their roles. Fauziyya stands out from the crowd. She was as usual at her funny best. So was Afeef as the titular character. And yes, so was the rest of the cast. JIMMY appears at the end to sum up all the events. The opening scene makes fun on HINDI influence in our society. In case you didn’t know, Neena and Fauziyya singing YEH DOSTI was my way of paying homage to my all time favorite Hindi film SHOLAY.

THUTTHU SAEED and AFEE made guest appearances as themselves. The punch line in THUTTHU SAEED’s scene is kind of scary!

Originally this was an exclusive 5 episodes serial made for TVM for the Ramadan season. But serial director FATTHAAH is already in talks of extending this show. If that happens, consider the already shown 5 episodes as pilots.

This serial has gained popularity among young and old alike. Everyone were kind of entertained… in a silly way. So was I… especially during the writing. I wouldn’t refuse to write another comedy. After all variety is the spice of life…

MARUVUMUGE KURIN… (BEFORE DYING…)

Few days back I have completed a feature length screenplay titled MARUVUMUGE KURIN… (Before Dying…) for Suja, who’s famous as Boadhigu Suja. I wrote the screenplay based on a short story written by him. This marks the fastest screenplay I have written so far. It took me a week to complete. No big deed, considering the four months that took me to structure the whole screenplay. It’s always the structuring the hardest and the writing the easiest part in writing a screenplay, in case you didn’t know.

Now the burning question would be what’s the story about? I’m afraid I have no right to give away too much on the story line. But I can say this much. It concerns two strangers, with two equally dismal pasts and one common factor. I think I have said enough. And on second thought, don’t you think its a cool tagline for the film promotion? Two strangers, two equally dismal pasts and one common factor. Find out more when this is released. And oh, one more thing! This film will have 4 original songs. Music director Thitthi is already working on them.

The film is set to be directed by veteran director, Ahmed Nimal. More on this later.

Aharenge Lha Daddy 4

I’m receiving all positive comments for the fourth episode of Aharenge Lha Daddyy. This has tickled everyone’s funny bones from start to finish. They find the last installment very humorous, sending up on current events that have taken place recently and also touching several timely issues prevailing in our society today.

All the actors look comfortable in their characters and most importantly they seem to fully understand their lines. Fauziyya surprisingly gives a wonderfully comic performance that she looks totally different from what she has done in her entire film career. Hassan Afeef as the titular character has perfect comic timing. Three cheers to Neena as the jilted wife. Her delivery in the opening scene is a hoot. But she could have worked a little bit more on her out of pitch singing. Hajja is funny as well especially her head-banging scene to a heavy metal song on TV. Appu and Zeenat are also funny in a romantic way. Jimmy doesn’t get to show off in this episode as he did in the previous three episodes. In this one, he has only two scenes leaving for the ladies and Afeef to take over the proceedings.

Oh my, I sound fond of this episode, don’t I? Aren’t there any weak spots in this episode? Yes there are. Luckily, they are few and far between. The pace of the episode and the humor over shadows the weaker spots. I didn’t like the shot arrangements of the office scene of Afeef where he sits by the laptop. The screen of the laptop gets revealed before Neena comments on what Afeef was viewing and the punch line gets lost.

Anyway, I hope the final episode ends with the same gusto. Let’s hope Fatthaah succeeds in translating what I written to screen successfully. If not, I am going to be hesitant at writing another comedy, ever again!

Aharenge Lha Daddy

looks like i have, to some extent broke the recent writer’s block curse i was trapped in. phew! i just finished a 5 episode serial for FATTHAAH called AHARENGE LHA DADDY. this marks my my first foray in to comedy territory. the serial will be exclusively made for TVM for this season of ramadan. it’s been produced under the DASH STUDIO banner, their first producton in years after their ace director SEMI’s resignation. it’s schedule for a sunday night 2200 hrs airing.

the first episode was shown last sunday. didn’t recieve much feedback though except mine. my only comments were; it’s picture quality and the humor which was not played out correctly. the sarcasm in dialogs were not delivered as i envisioned. therefore the punchline was not clearly understood. i have already given all these comments to serial director, Fatthaah who will seriously consider them while shooting the remaing episodes.

longest writer’s block

yes, i have hit the longest writer’s block of my whole writing career. it’s been more than a month i first started a new project for soon to be established VILLA TV. not sure of the name they are going to call their TV station. anyway, it’s a write-you-can serial am writing for them where i have to decide how many episodes the serial will have. if i can finish it in 3 to 5 episodes, am going to call it a mini-series. thats what i thought, a few months ago.

i haven’t gone beyond the first episode even though the whole concept and the structure of the serial has been laid out. i just don’t feel like continuing. everytime i sit by my laptop to write, i feel exhausted and sleepy regardless of how good i have slept the previous night. now i have jumped out of the frying pan in to fire after i have set up an ADSL package at home. now instead of writing, i play scrabble or surf. just imagine how much surfing i can do inside the world wide web. what am i suppose to do?

when i started delaying writing the first episode, i knew something was not right. i knew the writer’s block was creeping in. i thought the spell would break away in few days. few days gone by. infact a month has passed by but to no avail the writer’s block hasn’t moved a bit. and the spell of not wanting to write has rooted deep inside my brain and there’s something more sinister going inside my head than i first assumed.

is there a virus inside my thick skull? there’s a pretty good chance of a virus infection. dig this. right after the first episode was over, my laptop was infected with some virus or a hijacker, i dunno and i had to format my whole system. ever since i feel very alienated towards my laptop. maybe, just maybe that some strand of that virus must have gotten in to my brain. it must have hijacked my thinking department. oh dear! do i need a die hard cop like john mclaine to rescue my thinking department? be it him or rambo or commando or terminator, i just need help as soon as possible.

sometime i think i can hear a voice inside my head calling, mahdi… we have a problem!

a quick recap

what happened to me, even i wondered. the last entry i made to the blog was on january. so it’s like a 5 months absence. i gotta be kidding me, i just whispered to myself. so let me quickly recap the events that took place since then.

HINITHUNVELAASHEY KALAA was abrubtly put to a halt with the 30th episode i think. am not really sure which episode was last shown. was it 30th or 31st? anyway, the next episode which was to be shown the following week introduces HASSAN MANIK aka KOYYA HASSAN MANIK. but before the airing date, KOYYA was entangled in a bounced cheque episode of his own and was arrested. it seems that TVM had a policy that says something like this, if any actors are arrested, whichever program they appear will be halted. thats not the exact clause but close to what it’s trying to say. and dig this. the arrested actor’s program will then be shown only after months depending on their crime. its seems that singapore has a similar law. TVM thinks we are singaporeans. for crying out loud, singaporeans eat pork and drink beer in public…

THIYA LOABEEGA… which was written for 13 episodes went beyond that mark on editing table and ended with bonus 2 episodes. the whole show was a disappointment in film making wise. it was executed too cheaply. what to do… no one loves the art of film making anymore…

did i mentioned about CIB: VATHAN previously? that’s a short made for seezan which will be produced under his own company C-Xanal Movies. take note of the company’s name once more… gottit? CIB: VATHAN is a loose sequel to CIB: MISSION 24. the project is still on pre-production stage.

also i wrote a sequel for DR. ROCKY. don’t wanna talk about it cos it’s a loose rip off of LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI. the production went infront of the camera but was halted for reasons i don’t know.

i altered a previous screenplay adaptated to a hindi movie which i wrote few years ago for a now dissolved film company. they failed to pay me for my work, so i shelved the script until this year a veteran actor wanted me to write a 13 episode as soon as possible. i told him the best i could do was alter that screenplay in to a 13 episode serial. when he gave me the green light, i turned it in to a serial called NULIBUNAS. unfortunately for me, i didn’t hear from him afterwards. finally i called him up. he said he was still unsure whether he can start production. then i told him i was going to sell the script to someone else. with his blessings (thats what he could give me other than what he agreed to pay) now i have given that script to someone else. but that script have to be approved from TVM since the plot happened to be an adaptation. jeez! TVM is so keen on these details even though they show serials shot on handycam. do i have a problem with TVM? not that i know of… i haven’t heard from this latter someone regarding this issue.

i co-wrote with MOHAMED HILMY the feature film AHAREN which is supported by UNFPA and presented by NCA. this film is scheduled to be released on 28 of this month. a special screening was shown on 24th. at the end of the show everyone clapped. everyone liked the whole package. everyone were impressed with the solid performances turned in by NAKKO in the lead role, ASIM and ALI WAHEED in supporting roles. most of all they cheered the visual treatment given to the screenplay by my favorite MOHAMED SHAREEF. boy, he really executes my scripts spot on. now we are going to collaborate for another movie. more on this later…

well i guess that’s all for the time being.

NETHI DHIAYAS… ended

the final episode of NETHI DHIAYAS… was aired last thursday night. this 5 episode docu-drama serial recieved some very positive comments. veteran writer-director HILMY praised the feel and the style after seeing the last episode, the only episode he watched.

after the final episode was shown, the real person this docu-drama was based upon sent me an SMS saying that the team has done a great job and exceeded his expectations on showing the dangerous side of drug addiction in a raw, gritty style. he also mentioned that this drama has made a positive impact since he is running an anti-drug NGO.

credit goes to series director SHARY for translating my screenplay in to screen with great care and visual style. the entire cast turn in outstanding performance with COPY ISSEY leading the pack.