Pakistani series "Barzakh", for South Asian streamer Zee5, is a family drama that plays out in a mystical world between life and death, fantasy and reality. Writer/director and indie filmmaker, Asim Abbasi, talks about dream states, prophesies, masculine dysfunction, intergenerational trauma, and moving away from “hooky” binge effects. 

When "Barzakh" premiered in the International Panorama category at Series Mania in the French city of Lille in March this year, Asian premium drama took one more step forward in a global TV landscape dominated by Korea. The only South Asian selection at Series Mania this year, "Barzakh" (aka "Limbo Land") was written and directed by U.K./Pakistan filmmaker, Asim Abbasi ("Cake", "Churails", "Count Abdulla").

The series, which Abbasi describes as more art house than mass market, is a family drama that plays out in a world between life and death, fantasy and reality. Set in Pakistan’s Hunza valley, "Barzakh" stars Fawad Khan ("Ms. Marvel"), Sanam Saeed ("Cake") a nd Salman Shahid in a story of love, loss and reconciliation created by Abbasi as a Zindagioriginal for South Asian streaming service, Zee5. 

"Barzakh" revolves around a 76-year old patriarch (Shahid) who runs a tourist resort in a mythical mountain valley. When he announces his third marriage to the love of his life – a woman the villagers believe is long dead – he sets in motion events that will change his family and the valley forever.

The series is produced by Waqas Hassan and Shailja Kejriwal, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ chief creative officer for special projects, who describes herself as “an enabler”, particularly for stories that take chances and that aren’t “more of the same”. Kejriwal is keen on more stories from Pakistan, as well as alliances between artists in India and Pakistan.

“There is so much we have in common,” she says, adding that the creative reasons to back shows like the controversial Churails and Barzakh far outweigh reasons – including political considerations – not to.

Ahead of the Series Mania global premiere, the London-based Abbasi spoke to ContentAsia about the new series and what it means to him as a filmmaker.

You open the series with a quote from the Book of Nowhere – “Respect the sacredness of the earth you were born into, for the story of your soul is inseparable from the magic of your lands”. What is the Book of Nowhere? “Barzakh is set in a fictional place, known as the Land of Nowhere. The Book of Nowhere is a prophetic book about these lands. Core elements stem from all religions... talking about the world of images, the dream state, where boundaries are porous, where the living and the dead, spirits and bodies, freely intermingle with each other. There are lots of names for it – Barzakh is one.... all of these things are incorporated in the Book of Nowhere”. 

Why were you so intent on setting the series in Pakistan’s Hunza Valley? “We had a bunch of options but Hunza felt right. Mountains, especially those high enough so that you can’t see over them, are generally mythical places... We brought those elements into the story. Also, I wanted this to be very specifically about Fall. The story happens over four days, in the lead up to the patriarch going up the mountain to marry... Thematically, it was very important to me that the series had a striking Autumn feel, with falling leaves and the coming of Winter, where everything dies before being reborn.”

Where did you start creating "Barzakh"? “The story was born in Covid. I had done Churails and wanted to focus on something smaller and intimate, but set in a world that feels universal and big... a family drama set in a world of magic realism, that speaks about the universe and universal consciousness, rather than about a family and its dysfunction.” 

For "Barzakh", you shifted gears in a big way from the female-centric focus of "Churails"... “I wanted women in this show, but I wanted women not to be the focus. I wanted the focus to be on the father and the two sons and the dysfunction that comes from masculinity and those relationships. Women here are almost not human, otherworldly creatures. The women have greater knowledge, greater powers, and men are the ones who are real and less in touch with their feelings. The idea of grounding with fathers and sons and inter-generation trauma was important.” 

What storytelling boundaries does "Barzakh" push? “It moves away from the ‘hooky’ binge effect. It’s more expansive thematically. I’ve attempted to talk about themes that mainstream shows don’t talk about, and not to keep [the story] moving through editing. It has a third of the shots that were in Churails. In terms of filmmaking and cinematography, it’s closer to films.”

What gears do you have to change to go from "Barzakh" to directing British comedy, "Count Abdulla", for Fudge Park and ITVX? “I don’t know myself. Everyone used to make fun of me that I can’t direct anyone else’s writing. The script came to me… I don’t particularly think I have a great sense of humour, but there’s something really good about being part of a British-Asian show like this... done with so much insanity, set in a vampiric world... It would have been a shame not to do it. I was given complete freedom to make the show as crazy as I thought it should be. It’s visually closer to Churails and a gear-shift from Barzakh. It makes me feel that I’m not repeating myself.” 

Do you still see yourself as a feature filmmaker? “What I’ve loved about TV series is that it allows me to flesh out the backstory so much more... I approach series like a really long film.” 

Published in ContentAsia's mip TV/April 2023 magazine