Shafaq Naaz is very happy with her upcoming Ullu App web series, Halala, on the controversial Nikkah Halala marriage concept, where if a Muslim woman wants to remarry her divorced husband, she has to marry another man.
“The primary cast includes Ravi Bhatia as my first hubby and Eijaz Khan essays the second, who I have to do Nikkah Halala with. “Shooting those sequences was an emotional drain for me. It was still ok as I knew that at the end of the day I would go home, but just spare a thought for those women who have to carry the baggage their entire life.”
“During the course of shooting, I realized that there are centres that facilitate such marriages. I am totally against this inhuman practice and want it banned. True religion should make you a good human and outstanding citizen. Hurting someone’s feelings is not religious behaviour for me. I immediately said yes when this project was offered to me, for I was more than happy to do my bit as a Muslim to create awareness about this vexed issue,” added Shafaq, who recently was more in the news regarding her estranged relationship with her sister, Falaq Naaz.
Point out that her show seems different from the staple sex-based content which new player Ullu seems to be known for, “Each platform does try to push the envelope. But I think Ullu is also making other varied concepts, which are not like what you just said.”
“Besides Halala, my one more web product has come out, while I am working on the third. But I can’t yet talk about that.”
For the moment, Shafaq, who has been doing TV for over a decade (call to fame Mahabharat), now prefers to play around with web. “Digital content is much better as it automatically gives the actor within that many more wings. Entertainment designed for tube does not compel you to think.” Her last TV show was a cameo in Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha.
When asked if she would be game for dare bare stuff on the web, she says, “It depends on how important those scenes are to the narrative. I have done them as well. Having said that, I think it is wrong to reduce web series to just those few seconds of edgy shots. There are several other features which go into making a web series trend, and not just sex.”