Written by: Muhammad Suhayb
Posted on: January 22, 2025 |
Suppose Sir Isaac Newton had ever watched a movie in a cinema. In that case, he might have proposed a Fourth Law of Motion (Pictures): "The enjoyment (E) of a movie is directly proportional to the number of popcorn buckets (P) consumed and the emotional intensity (I) of the film."
It was a chilly winter night when I decided to watch Talha Anjum-Kinza Hashmi-Imran Ashraf starrer Kattar Karachi (Hardcore Karachi) in a theater. The first surprise hit me even before I settled in. At the ticket counter, I was told that the movie’s duration was 40 minutes, the shortest I’ve encountered in my 47-year life. What followed left me puzzled. Was it a music video with a story tacked on? Or a story with songs awkwardly woven in? Seemed more like a lengthy cigarette commercial with glimpses of a movie trailer sprinkled in.
The film featured Talha Anjum from the Young Stunners band, a favorite among the youth, as Talha. The band has been around for years and is surely a crowd favorite. Founder of the Hip-hop music band with Talhah Yunus, Burger-e-Karachi is the most recognizable song by them. Both Talhas were even part of the PSL song 'Groove Mera' featuring Naseebo Lal and Aima Baig in 2021. The year 2024 was lucky for 'music-man' Talha, who dethroned Atif Aslam as Pakistan's most-streamed artist of the year. He might have gotten carried away and drew inspiration from Atif, who had successfully bridged music and acting. Sadly, the fame of social media hardly guarantees box-office success and the same happened with Kattar Karachi and Talha's debut. Watching a movie in a theater after spending a considerable amount of money is much harder to justify than listening to a song at home during your leisure time.
The KK story follows Talha, a young man with big dreams of success. He befriends a woman named Tanya, played by Kinza Hashmi, and they quickly form a bond. After a few meetings (two of which are shown in the film), Talha decides to propose to her, but this is when Sikandar enters the picture- Actor/Host Imran Ashraf in what seemed a promising role of a land-grabber with a pronounced limp. The decision to add the limp to the character feels questionable as Imran Ashraf’s portrayal of Sikandar seems more like an homage to Bollywood Superstar's Shah Rukh Khan’s exceptional acting skills. The limp of the man who made the character BHOLA immortal was so exaggerated that at times, I found Talha's character was limping too much, at times. Imran Ashraf's return to films could have been a meatier role, Kinza Hashmi's on-screen love affair with Talha, was something that required more air time. The other actors are good too, namely Hussain Mohsin and Syed Jameel, but all were overshadowed by Talha, who turned executive producer and lead actor in the film.
Talha, with his inner Nana Patekar-like resolve, with a bunch of the locality’s boys decides to stand up to Sikandar, who nearly controlled the city. The complexity of Talha’s character is revealed when, in one moment, he longs for a car, only to spend all his savings on the ring in the next. Talha's acting talent is evident, but it feels that he was forced in this role. Cigarette breaks, not by viewers but by actors on-screen, smoked out the brains of the viewer.
Kattar Karachi may have been a Karachi of the future, but even today, it’s a lot better than what was shown in the film. The direction by Abdul Wali Baloch, a first-timer, of course, didn’t quite translate into a cohesive film experience. A graduate of NCA Lahore and known for his creative visual flair in Young Stunners' music videos, Baloch did what a Baloch does with Karachi (pun intended).
Despite his skill in music video direction, the director forgot to look into the story, which is most important in making a film. He had a promising hero, a loving heroine, a threatening villain, and a few good songs, but he lacked control. Screenwriter Bilal Atif’s story offers nothing new and feels as though it was written in haste. Bilal and Baloch's work makes me reflect on the lack of film schools in Pakistan, where aspiring actors, directors and writers could be properly trained and mentored. Overall, it seemed that the film was made with a music video mindset and later released in cinemas. Given the inflation, asking for 1000 rupees for a film in today's Karachi is asking for too much.
Usually, I write comprehensive reviews for films that offer a compelling story, meaningful themes, memorable music and a satisfying climax. However, in this case, I found myself uncertain about the length of my review, after all, the credits rolled before I even finished my first bucket of popcorn!
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