KARACHI: BBC One’s historical drama ‘World on Fire’ does justice to and “digs deeper” into the role played by South Asians in World War II, Pakistani actor Ahad Raza Mir said on Sunday.
World on Fire revolves around the lives of British and European families during World War II and how the global conflict impacted their lives. The show premiered on BBC in September 2019 and became the last major scripted series on the public broadcaster before the coronavirus pandemic. On July 16, the season 2 of the series returned to screens after a four-year gap.
The first season of the show starred notable actors Sean Bean, Helen Hunt, and Lesley Manville while the second one introduced viewers to Mark Bonnar and Mir’s characters. The Pakistani actor plays the role of a member of the British Indian Army, Lt. Rajib.
“World on Fire so far has been one of the few productions that I’ve seen that’s really given a good deal of focus to South Asians,” Mir told Arab News over the phone, adding that a lot of the depiction in the show is based loosely on the lives of actual people and actual events.
The photo posted on May 31, 2023, shows Pakistani actor Ahad Raza Mir in BBC's show ‘World on Fire’. (Photo courtesy: @ahadrazamir/instagram)
“If you look at films like ‘1917’ or ‘Dunkirk’, big huge productions like that, where I find that this heavy role the South Asians played is kind of sidelined,” Mir said, referring to acclaimed Hollywood war movies helmed by directors Sam Mendes and Christopher Nolan.
“And I just really appreciate that this show (World on Fire) is taking the time to really dig deeper into it.”
Mir is one of Pakistan’s leading actors who has starred in a string of hit Pakistani drama serials such as ‘Yakeen Ka Safar’ and ‘Aangan.’ He also had a leading role in the 2018 Pakistani movie ‘Parwaaz Hai Junoon.’ In 2019, Mir played the titular role in the theater production ‘Hamlet: A Ghost Story’ in Calgary, Canada, while last year, he played a small role in Netflix’s ‘Resident Evil.’
Mir was approached for Rajib’s role sometime last year after which he recorded an audition and was called in to shoot for the show 10 days later. To prepare for the role, he read up on history and spoke to family friends whose grandparents actually took part in World War II.
“They told me stories, they showed me pictures,” Mir disclosed. “The pictures actually really helped because it’s a little snap of back in time that kind of helps you visualize what this is going to look like, what it’s going to sound like.”
Mir said the feedback of the show has been “amazing” and that BBC was very happy with its performance.
“The day it launched, the first episode had 3 million people just in the UK that tuned into BBC One to watch it, which is a big thing for them,” he said.
On his upcoming projects, Mir said he would travel to Canada in September to perform in Hamlet, which is set to take to theaters in Toronto around mid-October.
The recently released second season of ‘World on Fire’ comprised six episodes and if the network greenlights a third one, Mir says there is a lot left to be told about his character which “excites” him.
He is also gearing up for at least two Pakistani productions expected to release next year and beyond acting, the actor said he plans to venture into production soon.
“A lot of good deals lined up [in Pakistan] and I’ll probably be doing two or three projects by the end of the year,” Mir said.
Despite being associated with a few international projects, Mir said he would never “part ways” with the Pakistani entertainment industry.
“Because I’ve been doing so much international work, people started to think that I’m not interested in working [here],” he said. “That’s not the case at all. This is where I am, who I am. Because of this country, because of this industry.”
“And because of the love and respect people give me here and all over the world,” he added.
