Humayun Saeed & A Kadwani !

One is in love with the camera, choosing to remain behind it most of the time while the other romances it to the hilt. Both are well known in their own right — one as an ambitious media person and the other as a successful actor.

Abdullah Kadwani and Humayun Saeed are friends and partners, running Seventh Sky Entertainment since the past three years — a media company high on entertainment and quality production.

Such alliances in showbiz are known to happen when two people want to come out stronger as a team, or when either one is not an entity on his own. However, this is not the case here and though both are successful individually, they have still joined forces professionally.

IWE approached the duo to find out what they have to say about their aspirations regarding friendship, work and most important of all, future endeavors in the form of co-productions with India.

What was your reason to come together as a team?

AK: I have always believed in adding value to whatever one does, hence I have always believed in partnerships that will enhance and add weight to one’s work.

Where Humayun is concerned, I had worked with him in the serial Andharay Dareechay and found him to be not only a good actor but a good person, too. That was the beginning of our friendship and as time went by it matured, leading to a certain degree of understanding between us, ultimately culminating into a partnership.

After doing our first project together under the banner of Seventh Sky Entartainment, Ana, which is also the first joint venture with India, things just kept falling into place and here we are today.

HS: As Abdullah said, he believes in partnership very strongly and so do I. I feel that if you’re doing good work, by joining hands with another who is equally strong will add to it. In any case, we became friends first and with time it led to partnership. What I like about Abdullah is that he is a self-made man and above all, he is honest.

As for both of us being successful individually, I am relatively a good actor but I give Abdullah more points as a producer doing quality work. Interacting with him has been a learning experience through and through. I feel that I have ended up gaining more out of our partnership.

Are there any ego hassles or conflict?

AK: Conflict is always there but it should not get personal. In any partnership trust, respect and understanding are the three essential ingredients. Commitment counts and where logic prevails, it becomes the positive point in any conflict.

By working together I would say our friendship has gained more strength, and no matter what our collaboration is a win-win situation for both of us. We are in sync by working together on our weaknesses and strengths.

People say that it is the first partnership where two successful individuals have come together and have survived for so long. They asked us why the need to join hands and even tried to create differences, speculating an end to our relationship after a give time.

As for a clash of egos, when it comes to professional decisions conflicts help to improve one’s work. From day one we had decided that whatever comes our way professionally, and even if at some point we end up not working together, our friendship will remain intact.



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“Conflict is always there but it should not get personal. In any partnership trust, respect and understanding are the three essential ingredients. Commitment counts and where logic prevails, it becomes the positive point in any conflict. By working together I would say our friendship has gained more strength, and no matter what our collaboration is a win-win situation for both of us. We are in sync by working together on our weaknesses and strengths,” says Abdullah Kadwani


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HS: Having an ego is natural. As individuals we know each other inside out. After all we are mature individuals and while working if you have respect for each other then professional conflicts do not become personal. Conflicting views are talked over and sorted out and mutually worked upon. The friendship stays no matter what. This is our fourth year together and we are growing stronger and stronger.

Between the two of you who is the shrewd businessman and who is the creative head?

AK: I started my career as a model and went on to become an actor, producer/director and marketer, so creativity is in my blood. I am a businessman not by desire but by default. It is my nature to be creative, to go deep into every aspect and think long and hard before making a decision. I believe that an image based on creativity is the pillar that holds one strong. I consider myself lucky that people who I call my gurus, such as Tahir A. Khan, want to brainstorm on ideas with me.

HS: I do my work sincerely, quietly and honestly and things simply start to fall in place, which is assumed by others to be shrewdly tactful. Don’t you think that each one of us should have some amount of intelligence when doing business? It is a necessary ingredient.

As for being creative, I do not consider myself to be naturally so. I have learnt to be creative through acting and by interacting with people whom I have worked with, such as Mehreen Jabbar, Marina Khan, Sajjad Gul and Abdullah Kadwani. I am still learning.

In a way you are responsible for introducing Indian talent through your first serial, Ana, in Pakistani dramas — a trend that has caught on but is considered meaningless by many.?

AK: I will always advocate the fact that whenever you work with someone better than yourself you benefit from it the most.

Just look at the Indians where they are today in the field of entartinment. They are recognised all over the world and at times you hear of Bollywood even before Hollywood.

The Indians may not need us but we need them and whatever work we have done, we have kept the Pakistani element intact. We took Ana as a joint venture, taking on their technical crew and actors but everything was done here with our own producer/director. The ultimate benefactor will be Pakistan’s entertainment industry.

HS: The honest truth is that Indian actors have been a part of our lives since eons and they are the stars for the Pakistani public as well. I would say the criticism may be a case of insecurities creeping in because we are dealing with Indians.

As an actor my reason was simple — showcasing Pakistani talent to the Indians. They knew me as a producer but not as an actor. Do you know the Indians are in awe of Talat Hussain who played a pivotal role in Ana? One can hire actors from anywhere in the world and it doesn’t make a difference. It’s just that the story and plot should justify it.

These days dramas are not only glamour-based but have also become increasingly Indianised. Don’t you think we have lost our identity in this rat race?

HS: I don’t know about others but if you see the track record of plays produced by Seventh Sky you will notice that we haven’t become Indianised. After Ana there have only been one or two serials in which we did incorporate Indian talent. Secondly, we did not mould our heroines into the Sita or Geeta prototypes. We kept the Pakistani element intact in every way so that the Indian talent also gets to know about our culture. The point is you can hire talent from anywhere but the story and plot should depict your culture and should justify the inclusion.

AK: We should remain close to our culture. The Indians are very s