Q) How did you come across the idea of Changez the puppet?
Last year, my mother, Seemi Raheal, came up with the idea of Notty Nani, assuming the character of whom she would give her views on certain happenings in society. Thinking what kind of a grandson Notty Nani would have, I came up with the idea of Changez.
Q) What is the web-series about in which we’ll be meeting Changez?
For quite a while, I had been wanting to start a talk-show with celebrities. All the same, I didn’t want to probe into their personal lives and routines. Instead, I wanted to have their opinions on the social issues we are facing as a nation and might face in the future as well. Then, the objective was to hold these discussions in an entertaining manner in order to entice the audience without boring them. Here, Changez stepped in, who in collaboration with Notty Nani, will fulfill the purpose of entertainment in a talk-show which is essentially satirical and will be addressing a certain section of the society in a humorous way.
Q) Tell us about the effort that went into the making of this character.
I conceived this idea six to seven months ago. I discussed it with Faryal, who loved the idea and asked how I would go about it. I then planned to place it in different positions such as with marketing people and brand owners. Then while I was doing a commercial of Mezan, I met the company’s GM and I pitched the idea to him, who accepted it. I then got hold of the puppet from outside Pakistan and began working on it. I have designed the show in a fashion that will be suitable for both television and the internet. I have not been miser in spending the money on it thinking that it’s not a television project. All that I had been given, I spent on it.
While we might think that Daniyal Raheal is the fourth creative artist after Farooq Qaiser, Nigar Nazar and Rafi Peer Theatre Group to design a puppet with an objective to educate, Raheal tells that what marks Changez as different from other Pakistani puppets is his stupidity.
“He is essentially stupid, and that is what renders him unique. He isn’t pedantic at all, nor does he fulfill a social duty in a preachy manner. His purpose of making people laugh goes hand in hand with his aim that people may reflect on the issues discussed.”
This means that Changez will not be imposing stuff on us, but will be subtly making us realize what needs to be done, probably like Shakespeare’s fool, who always handed over the task of extracting wisdom from apparently meaningless dialogues to the readers. It will be interesting to experience this side of Daniyal Raheal, whom we know for his highly serious dramatic projects such as “Dastaan” and “Silvatein”.
Daniyal’s web-series is meant to go on Fridays, comprising of eight episodes. Each episode, in its duration of ten minutes, will be addressing a different subject-matter.