Ilyas Waheed
Waheed attending Olympus reopening ceremony, 2023
NationalityMaldivian
Occupation(s)Director, producer, screenwriter, editor
Years active2019–present

Ilyas Waheed is a Maldivian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor

Early life

Inspired by his father's patriotism, Waheed inclined to pursue a career as an army officer.[1] However, while studying in grade three, he was bedridden for three months due to a leg fracture, which led him to watch numerous movies, and ultimately changing his passion from military defense to film making and visual arts.[1]

After completing his GCE Ordinary Level education from Majeediyya School, Waheed joined Maldives National Defence Force to complete his bond term.[1] In 2000, he joined Department of Immigration and Emigration, where he served as an Immigration Officer for around 8 years before quitting his job, hoping to attain further education.[1] In 2011, he moved to Sri Lanka to study video and film productions and had to leave the course midway due to personal reasons.[1] After returning to Maldives, he joined VTV and served the company for four years prior to leaving Sri Lanka again to complete a course in video production.[1] Afterwards, he resumed his duty at VTV.[1]

While working at VTV, Waheed contributed to several television programs including Kushuge Hafaraaiy, Kudakudhinge Bageecha and season 1 of Bithufangi.[1] After few years, he was fired from the television company pursuant to a reduction in force.[1] Afterwards, he launched his own film studio titled "IFilms" officially stepping into film production.[1]

Career

To initiate Waheed's first project, psychological thriller film titled Bavathi, he faced several rejections from investors due to his lack of experience in film making.[1] Once he acquires fund from two close friends, Asim Ali and his brother Ahmed Wahyd, he commenced the project by finalizing the script along with the film's cast.[1] The film narrates the story of a woman who relocates to Male' after marriage and the strange incidents that follow afterwards.[2] The film received unanomius positive reviews from critics, where Ifraz Ali from Dho? credited the film with a four star rating and applauded the screenplay for its "tight suspense" "incorporated humor"، while Aminath Luba reviewing from Sun opined that Bavathi will go down the history lane as an "unexpected masterpiece".[3][4] Similar sentiments were echoed by Ahmed Hameed Adam from Avas who picked Waheed's screenplpay as the "highlight of the film".[5]

In 2021, Waheed released his four-part anthology web series titled Mazloom follows the lives of several victims including survivors of rape assaults, victim of domestics abuse and human trafficking.[6] Produced in association with a newly established film production company, Kazmik International, the project was developed to encourage and support the hard working artists of Maldives during economically uncertain times with regard to COVID-19 pandemic.[7] The series received positive reviews from critics; Ahmed Rasheed from MuniAvas wrote: "If you are up for a quality, interesting and a benhcmark web series, "Mazloom" is the right choice for you".[8] He again collaborated with Kazmik International to co-produce Azhan Ibrahim's eight-episode crime thriller Dharaka.[9]

This was followed by his horror thriller anthology web series Biruveri Vaahaka, consisting of fifteen episodes.[10] Each episode of the series focuses on a separate storyline although the characters from the episodes are interrelated to form the main plot, which revolves around a secretive investigation team trying to undercover a series of supernatural suspected murders.[10] Upon release, the series received positive reviews from critics, where Ahmed Rasheed from MuniAvas wrote: "the whole crew has executed their respective roles to its fullest leading the final project to be flawless".[11] The reviews were directed at the performance of the cast and writer-director Ilyas' creativity for merging horror folklore into an "engaging visual treat".[11]

Filmography

Year Title Director Producer Writer Editor Notes Ref(s)
2019 Bavathi Yes Yes Yes Feature film [3]
2021–2022 Mazloom Yes Yes Yes Web series; 4 chapters [8]
2022 Dharaka Yes Web series; 8 episodes [9]
2022 Biruveri Vaahaka Yes Yes Yes Web series; 15 episodes [10]
2023 Nina Yes Yes Yes Feature film [12]
2023 Free Delivery Yes Yes Yes Feature film [13]
As an actor
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2023 Yaaraa Himself Guest role; "Episode 15" [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Nasir, Mihna (13 September 2019). "Surprising the film fraternity: Ille's story". Sun (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Rasheed, Ahmed (1 April 2019). "Teaser of Bavathi released". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 Ali, Ifraz (5 September 2019). "Bavathi: An expermiental wonder". Dho? (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  4. ↑ Luba, Aminath (6 September 2019). "Bavathi: Exceeds viewers' expectation". Sun (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  5. ↑ Adam, Ahmed Hameed (7 September 2019). "Bavathi: Unpredictable twists and turns". Avas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  6. ↑ Jaishan, Ahmed (30 June 2021). "Ille's "Mazloom" based on several societal issues". Dho? (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Rasheed, Ahmed (11 June 2021). ""Mazloom" opened for streaming and distribution rights". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. 1 2 Rasheed, Ahmed (28 July 2021). ""Mazloom" a benchmark project". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. 1 2 Abdullah, Saajid (1 November 2021). "Web series "Dharaka" coming soon". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 "IFilms's "Biruveri Vaahaka" coming to Dhiraagu TV". Avas (in Divehi). 5 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  11. 1 2 Rasheed, Ahmed (3 June 2022). "Trailer of Biruveri Vaahaka's second episode released". MuniAvas. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Jumayyil has a small role in Nina, will not be part of future films". Dhen (in Divehi). 4 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Rasheed, Ahmed (16 September 2023). "Free Delivery to start on 4th Nov this year". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. ↑ Abdulla, Akram (8 October 2023). "Yaaraa renewed for a second season with fresh faces". Dhauru (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.

Ilyas Waheed at IMDb

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