Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: April 18, 2022 | 
| 中文
Hania Aamir and Ali Rehman Khan in Parde Mein Rehne Do
Grab some popcorns, caramelized ones. It is meethi (sweet) Eid in less than two weeks and Pakistani cinema is abuzz after a long hiatus. The last time Pakistani cinemas had this much to offer on Eid was in 2019, when a lineup of almost half a dozen films competed to grab public’s fancy. Traditionally considered a good festive occasion for the biggest and the best films to hit the screens, but this large offering also poses a risk for the local film industry, still struggling to achieve economic viability. A more prudent approach would have been to stagger the release of the films over the year. The cinema has now become an expensive excursion for a family of 5, costing anything between PKR 4000 to 5000 for one visit, with a soda and some munchies included. This means that it is a luxury for a family to even catch one film in a month, at best. Nevertheless, with a lineup of five major films set to release this Eid-ul-Fitr, cine goers will have a tough time choosing. This round up of upcoming releases will help you make an informed choice.
This is the big screen debut of two very talented and loved actors of television. Imran Ashraf playing Bao, and Amar Khan as Aaliya are the leads in Dum Mastam. Produced by Akhtar Hasnain and veteran actor Adnan Siddiqui, this film has an experienced director from television, Ehtashamuddin. Before this Ehtasham directed the 2019 Mahira Khan and Bilal Ashraf starrer, ‘Superstar’. Going by the scale and cinematographic excellence on display in the trailer of Dum Mastam, the director has definitely upped his game. From the trailer one can also tell that Dam Mastam is another story of young protagonists struggling through life to make it in the glamorous world of cinema, a plot that Ehtasham has already tested in ‘Superstar’. Dum Mastam is a romantic comedy, high on drama quotient.
Dum Mastam
Interestingly Amar Khan, besides being a very talented actor also has a lesser-known talent of being a writer and has written the script for this film. The film also has actors such as Sohail Ahmed, Saleem Mairaj and Adnan Shah Tipu in significant roles. Momin Saqib, whom audiences saw with Ashraf in super hit serial, ‘Raqs-e-Bismal’, is making his big screen debut with Dum Mastam. Releasing under the banner of Cereal Entertainment, the film is set in an old Lahori neighborhood, where two childhood friends have a love-hate relationship and dream of making it big in films. What follows is their journey laced with ambition, envy and heartache. Film’s music score is already making waves, thanks to an impressive line-up of music sensations Shiraz Uppal, Azaan Sami Khan, Nabil Shaukat Ali, Shani Arshad and Bilal Saeed.
Crime thriller enthusiasts have director Saqib Khan’s ‘Ghabrana Nahi Hai’ to look forward to. Saqib has previously directed ‘Mohay Bhool Gaye Sawariya’ (2017) starring Bushra Ansari. With this film, Saba Qamar, one of the most talented Pakistani actors makes her appearance at the local cinema screens, after almost 6 years. Adding to the lure of the film are debuts of Zahid Ahmed and Jibran Ahmed, as leading men, piquing tension further with a love triangle. Woven into the plot are issues of corruption, politics and women’s rights. The film has been produced by Jamil Baig and Hassan Zia. ‘Ghabrana Nahi Hai’ has been written by Mohsin Ali who previously penned ‘Wrong No.’ and ‘Chhuppan Chhuppai’. Film’s trailer doesn’t give away too much, as should be the case, but one can tell that Saba plays a social media influencer-turned-actor, who is ready to take on the world to prove her mettle. ‘Ghabrana Nahi Hai’ also stars Afzal Khan aka Rambo, Saleem Mairaj, Sohail Ahmed, Nayyar Ejaz, and Ovais Singstar. Music score is by Shuja Haider and is a presentation of JB Films, Geo Films and Masterminds Films.
Ghabrana Nahi Hai
Wajahat Rauf and Shazia Rauf are the production duo with ‘Chalaawa’, ‘Karachi Se Lahore’ and ‘Lahore Se Aagay’ to their credit. They now bring their latest offering, ‘Parde Mein Rehne Do’, for the audiences that has Hania Aamir as Nazo and Ali Rehman Khan as Shani, and highlights a sensitive subject of male infertility in a desi household. Aggressive promotions of the film and song releases have already created a lot of anticipation and excitement around the film. ‘Parde Mein Rehne Do’ has many other big names in supporting roles such as Jawed Shiekh, Munazzah Arif, Noor ul Hassan and Saife Hassan. The film has cameos by Yasir Hussain and Dananeer Mobin and the music score is by Aashir Wajahat and Hassan Ali Hashmi. ‘Parde Mein Rehne Do’ is a romantic comedy and family drama written by Mohsin Ali, and directed by none other than Wajahat Rauf himself. It would be interesting to see how a couple deals with pressures exerted by family and society to bear an off spring soon after marriage, and how the film presents the nuances attached to a taboo topic without being too grim for an Eid release.
Parde Mein Rehne Do
‘Chakkar’ has been directed by Yasir Nawaz, who has given ‘Wrong No. 1, and 2’, and ‘Mehrunisa V Lub U’, before this to the audience. Unlike his previous films, which can be described as light-hearted comedies and family dramas, this time round Yasir tries his hands on a murder mystery. ‘Chakkar’ has the ‘Chhuppan Chhuppai’ (2017) couple Neelum Muneer and Ahsan Khan in the lead; in fact, Neelum plays a double role. Produced by Yasir Nawaz and Nida Yasir, the film also features Yasir Nawaz, Jawed Sheikh, Naveed Raza, Danish Nawaz, Mehmood Aslam and Ahmed Hassan in supporting roles. An interesting trivia about ‘Chakkar’ is that the film was officially announced in 2019 with Feroze Khan and Mawra Hocane in the lead, but in early 2020 Feroze was replaced by Ahsan, while Neelam replaced Mawra. ‘Chakkar’ has an assortment of dance and romantic songs composed by Naveed Naushad. As is evident from its trailer, ‘Chakkar’ has all the masala that cine goers crave, from crime to romance to comedy. The fact that Neelum is seen in a super glamorous avatar is a cherry on the top.
Chakkar
Syed Noor is a living legend. His credentials as a filmmaker and screen play writer need not be recounted as any history of Lollywood will be incomplete without the mention of his super hit films as director, such as Jeeva (1995), Choorian (1998) and Majajan (2006) . His last film ‘Chain Aye Na’ (2017) failed to impress the audience, but that does not take away from his brilliance as a veteran filmmaker who understands his audiences better than anyone else. His release for this Eid is ‘Tere Bajre Di Rakhi’ (TBDR), a film that stars debutants Abdullah Khan and TikTok sensation Jannat Mirza in lead roles. TBDR promises to be a total family entertainer with romance, music, comedy, tragedy, action and drama. Actors Saima Noor, Nadeem Baig, Babar Ali, Rashid Mahmood, Naghma Begum, Shafqat Cheema, Khushboo, Irfan Khoosat, Mustafa Qureshi and comedians Iftikhar Thakur and Saleem Albela are also part of the film. Unlike the other four films whose dialogue is in Urdu, TBDR is a Punjabi film produced by Safdar Malik. It has been years since a good Punjabi feature film has been made in Pakistan. As the film industry has moved to Karachi from Lahore, it would be interesting to see if TBDR is able to revive the magic of Lollywood of yesteryears and pull viewers to its screens. Most of the filming for the film has been done in the village Shergarh of district Okara, so the audience will get an authentic flavor of Punjab in TBDR.
Tere Bajre Di Rakhi
With the opening up of subscription platforms and wider population having access to internet, Pakistani films are competing with global content. To attract the right number of audiences, it is important that creative and technical standards of Pakistani films are in sync with global benchmarks. Thankfully, magic of watching a film in a theatre with friends and family remains unparalleled. What is important is that with the right amount of commercial success for Eid releases, the film industry resurrects its growth trajectory. On this Eid, support local film industry and make sure to catch at least one of the above films at a cinema near you.
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