Nafsu

Nafsu is a Maldivian suspense thriller web series developed for Medianet Multi-Screen by Ali Shazleem. Produced by Mohamed Fuad under Island Pictures, the series stars Ahmed Saeed, Mariyam Shifa, Mariyam Shakeela, Ali Shazleem and Hamdhan Farooq in pivotal roles. The story follows a wealthy businessman and his young wife who takes a trip to a local island to escape from the hustle and bustle of the Male' city, and how the girl begins to unravel secrets about the guesthouse they stayed in while confronting long buried secrets regarding her past.

Cast

Main

Ahmed Saeed as Faiz
Mariyam Shifa as Hudha
Ali Shazleem as Imran
Mariyam Shakeela as Afiya
Nashidha Mohamed as Shamsiyya
Aminath Shuha as Jaisha
Suja Abdullah as Hamdhan

Recurring

Hussain Rasheedh as Iliyas
Mohamed Manik as Nimal
Hamdhan Farooq as Afzal
Ahmed Alam as Dr. Hussain Shahid
Mohamed Nubail as Step Dad
Mariyam Nisha as Hudha's Mother
Maryam Nawla as Young Hudha
Fathimath Sara Adam as Nadhaa
Ahmed Solah as Buggy Driver
Aishath Saajidha as Saaji/Police
Ibrahim Rasheedh as Police
Abdulla Saeedh as Police

Development

On 21 March 2021, director Ali Shazleem announced the project as the first venture from his production studio, Island Pictures. Filming for the series took place in March 2021 in Th. Kinbidhoo. The indoor scenes of the series were filmed during the mandatory ten-days quarantine period, when travelling to an inhabited island. The outdoor scenes were filmed once the quarantine period was over.

Release and response

In March 2021 it was announced that the series will be made available for streaming during the first week of Ramadan. Later, it was announced that the first episode of the series will be available for streaming from 22 June 2021. Upon release, the series received mainly positive reviews from critics. Ahmed Rasheed from MuniAvas in particular praised director Shazleem's work and wrote: "Shazleem in his debut direction has proved that he can be soon considered as one of the finest local directors".