Shaheer Ahmed
Pakistani media have been showcasing dramas regarding bravery of crusaders in the history. This new wave started with the drama Ertugul which gained immense viewership. Following the success of Ertugul in Pakistan, the two countries Pakistan and Turkey had decided to collab for a new drama project about Salahuddin Ayyubi. Pakistani actors Humayun Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui announced the production last year.
Sultan Salahuddin al-Ayubi was a great Muslim warrior and ruler of Egypt and Syria. He is best known for recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. Salahuddin was born in 1137 in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit. His bravery is noted down in history. This is primarily why the two countries decided to create a drama series about him that would motivate the youngsters.
Humayun Saeed has now shared that pre-production of Salauddin Eyyubi has now commenced. Sharing a video on his official Instagram handle, the Meray Paas Tum Ho actor penned, “So glad to share that our team and producers Dr Junaid Shah and Dr Kashif Ansari are working extremely hard and efficiently to bring Pakistan’s biggest ever collaboration with Turkey – Salahuddin Ayubi – to life.”
The two producers Dr Kashif Ansari and Dr Junaid Ali Shah of Ansari and Shah Films explained that it will be a historical series divided into three seasons, with 34 episodes each. They further added that this is a joint effort between Turkey and Pakistan, and so the cast would include actors from both countries.
Ushna Shah, Adnan Jilani, Farhan Agha, and Ayesha Omar, were chosen in the first round of auditions that were held in Lahore and Karachi. Over 6,000 professional and budding actors had applied for the tryouts, but only 62 were short-listed for the Islamic warrior series, to be screened in Pakistan and Turkey simultaneously.
