Written by: Farheen Abdullah
Posted on: July 23, 2018 | 
| 中文
Ali Zafar as Teefa and Maya Ali as Anya
As soon as Teefa in Trouble released on 20th July, quite a few cinemas became spots for public protests against Ali Zafar, with regard to the legal case that he has been facing. Much uproar was also created on social media to boycott the movie and hence, the movie seemed to be in literal trouble even before it released. However, upon watching the movie for the sole purpose of entertainment and keeping the personal lives of the stars aside, the project turned out to be nothing less than a treat.
While Ali Zafar has worked for Bollywood before, Teefa in Trouble was his debut film for our industry, as well as the directorial debut of Ahsan Rahim. Shot in Poland and Pakistan, the story follows Teefa (Ali Zafar), who is sent to Poland by Butt Sahab (Mehmood Aslam) to kidnap his friend Bonzo’s (Jawed Sheikh) daughter Anya (Maya Ali), so that she can be married off to Butt’s son. Written by Ahsan Rahim, Ali Zafar, and Danyal Zafar, Teefa in Trouble proved to be a great mix of action, comedy, romance, and drama. The dialogues were witty, relatable and easy to understand for the local audience. The attention to detail was reflected in the Polish actor’s accents, dialogues and interactions with Pakistanis, which required minimal subtitles.
The Zafar brothers also did a brilliant job with the music. Ali Zafar, also the producer of the movie, undoubtedly provided strong vocals. But the director also refrained from breaking the flow of the film with too many choreographed dance numbers; the only dance number was ‘Item Number,’ which was short and entertaining. Another song worth mentioning is ‘Sajna Door,’ sung by Ali Zafar and Aima Baig. Beautifully choreographed, it has been performed by the two lead actors besides a beautiful lake.
Poland is evidently a picturesque country, but the way in which Zain Haleem, the cinematographer, presented it to the audience was breathtaking. He was even able to transform the streets of Old Lahore into a wonderful representation of local architecture, and make an ordinary neighborhood appear maze-like, where Teefa could perform his stunts. Additionally, Ahsan Rahim’s direction left little room for error, and resulted in great team work and a visual masterpiece.
The team also did a great job with the film’s cast, as each actor seemed to fit in their role. Jawed Sheikh may be an old member of the industry, but he gave his all in the film, juggling brilliantly between his identity as a member of the Polish elite and a Punjabi. Maya Ali, who looked stunning throughout, is still growing as an actress. It may take the audience some time to adjust to her in the film, but eventually she turned out to be a good choice for the role of Anya. This is probably not what most people want to hear right now, but Ali Zafar really does take the cake with his performance as an actor, singer, producer, and writer. As a Lahori, Ali had the perfect Punjabi accent, the right build for action packed scenes, and the talent required to act. In one scene, where Ali is hallucinating with five different versions of himself, he proved how capable he is as an artist of creating a one-man show.
Perhaps the only drawback of the film was its length, since it ran on for more than two and a half hours. While the film was certainly worth sitting through, a few minutes could have easily been cut in order to avoid dragging the plot. However, it is safe to say that Pakistani cinema has finally witnessed a project which is worth going to the theatre for.
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