Shafiq Ul Hasan
Pakistani cinema is going through a rough patch – again. The so called revival had brought a wave of support from local audiences and media and yet this year has been a slow one for the industry so far. All the movies to have been released this year were either average, box-office flops or total catastrophes.
The first half of 2017 saw bombs like Thora Jee Le (a misguided coming age story of six friends), Whistle (yet another nationalistic story with a good looking cast) and Raasta (Sahir Lodhi’s controversial debut). Even the best of the year’s movies, the sedate Chalay Thay Saath were relatively lukewarm. Can we expect better from the coming months? The disappointing fact is that there are a few films which are due to release this year that can be counted upon to make your brain explode.
These atrocious films will look so bad they are awesome. If you enjoy watching brain numbing idiocy here are a few upcoming Pakistani films you must watch based on their trailers.
Azaadi
Azaadi has been pegged as a comeback for Moammar Rana after many years. Also starring Sonya Hussain and Nadeem the story is set in present day Kashmir and follows the struggle for freedom. Although Momi has beefed up quite a bit for his role – and he does look impressive, muscles alone will not make the movie a hit. If you are a hardcore fan of the actor you may enjoy this film.
Geo Sar Utha Kay
Wait! Which year is this again? A few seconds in to this trailer and it felt like I had fallen into a time warp. This film will likely remind you of Aag Ka Darya and Ghar Kab Aaogay. The trailer of Geo Sar Utha Kay follows a familiar formula: excess blood, item songs and baseless fight sequences. Below average framing and editing don’t help the overdose of cliches.
Isharay Tumhare
Abdul Majid Khan’s Tum Hee Ho features Babar Ali, Sangeeta, Javed Sheikh and Riba Ali. The confusing first look is a bit of a jumbled mess so it’s hard to say what genre the film was going for. If it was comedy they definitely missed: the jokes hardly make you smile and the dialogues is unrealistic. But hey, that font is a winner.
Tum Hee Ho
Sageeta returns to silver screen as director after a long hiatus with her upcoming film Tum Hee Ho. The film stars an unlikely pair Danish Taimoor with Mathira and Quratul Ain. Despite the massive star power the trailer falls back on staid old tricks of the trade: cheap songs, vulgar dance moves, second-rate dialogues and over acting.
These film may be fun to make fun of on YouTube on a lazy Wednesday night but few will fork over hard-earned cash to watch them at a high-priced cinema on a Friday evening. Maybe next time the directors could try toning it down a bit – as they say less is more.