Pakistan shoots 'Heer Ranjha' on original sites

Islamabad, April 10 (IANS) Fans of eternal romances like "Heer Ranjha" will now be able to watch a new version on a Pakistani TV channel, which has shot a musical drama in the actual locations depicted in the love story.

"Heer Ranjha" is a tale of a beautiful woman named Heer, born into a wealthy family in Jhang in Punjab province. Ranjha is the youngest of four brothers and lives in the village Takht Hazara. Both of them fall in love but their marriage is opposed. Heer's family agrees to the wedding but a jealous uncle poisons her food. Ranjha eats the same food and both of them die.

The state-run PTV is now producing a classic 13-episode musical drama, produced by Farhan Agha.

Seasoned writer Ahmad Aqeel Rubby has written it while Shahid Zahoor is the director and Mian Yousaf Salahuddin the music composer.

In an interview with Daily Times, Rubby said the shooting of the serial is going on at the original locations such as Jhang, Jauharabad, Rangpur and Takht Hazara.

Rubby said he has written "Heer Ranjha" under the perspective of the original story by Waris Shah, which had been rewritten many times, but the tale remains the same.

The first "Heer Ranjha" was written in 1767, which was Waris Shah's original version, Rubby said.

Considering its historical background, Rubby said he has written it in the shape of a play and not like a movie.

Ahsan Khan is playing the role of Ranjha, Zaaria plays Heer, Mohsin Gillani plays Heer's father, Saba Faisal would be Heer's mother and Shafqat Cheema is playing the role of the uncle Kaedo.

The serial will go on air by June. Each episode is 45-minute long and two songs would be included in every episode.