Hisham Bin Munawar, a promising young film director and script writer is among those new lot of film makers, who have got specialized degree in film making. Fond of watching movies from very young age, Hisham Bin Munawar knew it from very first day that he would become a film maker. In quest of his passion, his family supported him a lot and provided every requisite that could be needed. Hisham Bin Munawar started to work on his idea of a rom com ‘Ready Steady No’ some years back and succeeded to achieve his dream against all odds. He is the writer, director and producer of the film and has even recorded a song for it. Ready Steady No is releasing on 19 July 2019.

How the idea of ‘Ready Steady No’ came into your mind or what inspires you to write this script?

It came into my mind as I saw my very close friend going through some trouble. I also added some personal experiences in the story. It is about the frustration due to which our society makes very simple things and problems so complicated. We have tried to portray these absurdities of our society in a comical way in Ready Steady No.

What is the uniqueness of Ready Steady No?

We have put too much focus on content with our own flavour in it. It is somewhere between an indie and a commercial film. We have all the elements of a commercial film but presented them with indie sensibilities. It is a spoof of a typical love story to show that how a screen romance is so different and fantastical than a real life romance. How harsh and difficult is to get your love in actuality in our society. Moreover, we also have many interesting surprises towards the end of film.

Tell us about your cast. What was in your mind when you assigned them?

Cast designing is my favourite job in film making. In Ready Steady No, my cast is my biggest strength. It is a dynamic combination of freshness and experience. They are very committed actors and I am satisfied with everyone’s performance. We had finalized most of the cast during script writing. I personally prefer it to know my cast when writing the story of my film, like I wrote the character of Salman Shahid keeping him in my mind. I took the first draft of his character to him and was so lucky that he loved it and agreed to do it straightaway (as it is said that he is very choosy about his characters). It helped me to focus on actors’ ability to portray that particular character and by ability I mean how natural and believable they would look. But actually, there are many more parameters of casting like sometimes you have to decide that if you want to trust on the acting skills of actors or prefer their market value. I must thank Amna Ilyas, who joined us at last moment and admit that she is real bonus for my film.

How did you come into the field of film making? It is your first independent venture. Where did you get this experience from?

It had to be happened. I was a movie buff since my childhood. I was 12 when I got my first handy cam and I think that was the start of my journey to be a film maker. I did my graduation in film making from Beaconhouse National University Lahore. During my studies, I got the chance to work with Shoaib Mansoor, who was making BOL in those days. That was the life changing experience for me. The response of BOL gave me immense confidence. But I think it was my passion that mainly made it to happen. I want to mention here that my family supported me a lot in this whole journey.

In future would you like to make rom com like RSN or have some other ideas as well to work on?

I have many ideas and stories in my mind but honestly, not a rom com again. The kind of films which I like to do in future would actually need some financer to put money in and I know that to find them is not an easy job. It also depends on the fate of RSN.

You are writer, director, and producer of the film. How difficult it was to wear all these three hats at the same time? What about acting in a film in future?

It was really difficult. But it was necessary to make this film to happen. I hope that after this film I would more be able to give more focus on my writing and direction. As far as acting is concerned, I did it in my university days but when I came into writing and direction, tou bhool hi gaya ke acting bhee koi cheez hoti hai (I forgot that what acting was about) but I would love to carry on my singing in the future as well.