A review on Pakistani War-Epic Feature Length film, ‘Yalghaar’ (2017) aka [Assault / Attack]. The Production Houses are Mind Works Media while its Distributors are Navi Inc and Hum Films.
+ Crew
- Written, Directed & Produced by Hassan Rana
- Cinematography by Waleed Ughur & Ali Raza
- Co-Written by Haider Rizvi
- Edited by Emad Khalid
- Co-Produced by Waqas Butt
+Note
It is claimed by Pakistan Army that Yalghaar is based on the true story of Swat Operation. The film “Explores what happens in the lives of those involved, including the militants and how all of them are affected at a personal level because of the ongoing operation“.
Being one of the most expensive Pakistani movie to date. Apart from budget and extensive cast, the film features 150 written characters, a vast number of choppers and heavy ammunition, an artificial tunnel was dug in Karachi to replicate one found in North Waziristan. The movie went into production after about 3 years of extensive research.
The Music is composed by Syed Ali Hafeez.
+ Main Cast
- Shaan Shahid as Colonel Asad
- Humayun Saeed as Trojan (Militant)
- Adnan Siddiqui as Lt. Col. Imran
- Armeena Khan as Jero
- Mansoor Ahmed as Capt. Mansoor
- Ayesha Omer as Zarmina
- Ayub Khooso as Col. Jogezai
- Gohar Rasheed as Baran
- Hassan Rana as Maj. Gen Hassan
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+ Supportive Cast
- Bilal Ashraf as Capt. Bilal
- Sikander Rizvi as Azhar
- Ashir Azeem as Maj. Gen Ahmed
- Aleeze Nasser as Fareeha
- Sana Bucha as Sadia (Reporter)
- Uzma Khan as Capt. Samia
- Umair Jaswal as Capt. Umair
- Ahmad Taha Ghani as Capt. Asif
- Naeem-ul-Haq as Jalal Khan
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+ Other Cast
- Wali Yousaf as Capt. Abdullah
- Haris Bukhari as a Spec Ops Tech
- Shakeel Rana as Zoraiz Khan
- Talib Rizvi as Maj. Gen. Taimur
- Zarrar as Capt. Zarrar
- Rehan Seerat as Capt. Adnan
- Owais Sheikh as Wali Khan
- Ali Rehman Khan as Spec Ops Operator
- Hashim Butt as Spec Ops In-charge
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+ Cameo Appearances
- Aamir Qureshi as Spec Ops Troop
+ Plot
Over 76 hours of a successful military operation conducted in the Piochar region of Swat district (Pakistan), Yalghaar goes up close to follow the lives of the young, passionate officers and soldiers whose patriotism is throbbing with every heartbeat for their country.
+ High Points
i – Bilal Ashraf played the most interesting, care-free character of this film as Capt. Bilal. It was fun to watch him.
ii – Armeena Khan performed very well as Jero, Capt. Bilal’s love interest. Other Honorable Mentions: Gohar Rasheed and Sana Bucha.
iii – The slow motion & time freeze action sequences gave a good look to watch.
iv – The humor, one liner punch lines are actually pretty good and enjoyable.
+ Low Points
i – Humayun Saeed in main antagonist role is surprising move but the character did not suited him.And his EPIC FIGHT with Shaan Shahid is of less than one minute. Yayyy!
ii – Highly exaggerated, ‘over the top’ fight sequences while each and every troop speaks out ‘Qalma’ before expiring. Yes, every troop.
iii – What’s the purpose of HUGE CAST of STAR POWER when you are unable to focus on primary objectives to make this film a success?
iv – On the left corner we have Pak army as ‘Meta Humans’ while on the right corner we have militants as ‘Sitting Ducks’. Yep, that’s right. They just sit there to be killed off quickly without being in State of Shock to see their fellow militants getting their necks snapped in surprise attack.
v – In most cases, just average quality of work in cinematography while there are some scenes that completely break 180 degrees, places where close medium shots to be shown are instead master / medium shots including multiple scenes of negative space is shown in the shots.
vi – It’s a straight forward film with hardly / no plot.
vii – In the second half, many times I found myself to be sleeping.
viii – There is a scene where one of the men of Pak army gets shot in the head. He is confirmed by the battalion that the man is down. But afterwards, when they are reporting to their seniors, no mention of losing their guy or any serious expression by any of the troops. WTH? Oh right, he was in‘Extra’ role.
ix – Absolutely no character development of any cast belonging to the militant side. Only mere seconds of flashback scene is shown of Gohar Rasheed’s character and that’s it. Since our army involvement was in this project, I can understand to why no importance was given to these men back story. But are terrorists born or made?
x – Really? Ayesha Omer was your best choice to portray as Zarmina. First of all, is she even a worthy actress? Please.
xi – Clearly the film did not lived up to its hype of expectations.
xii – Even as the film is coming towards its end, you would not remember listening to any songs… if there were any.
xiii – Spelling mistakes in English subtitles / text that are mentioned in particular scenes to define the time frame and situation.
xiv – Special instructions are given by antagonist to look after Zarmina as she is kept captive. But the militants are so absent minded that they are more interested to watch a brawl than to make sure that untied Zarmina does not fled as she is already sitting outdoor.
xv – Strong word of advice for film makers… Never, ever ask for sponsorship from these three brands: Pepsi, Cornetto and Bank Al Falah. They would ruin your film with their product placements.
+ Overall
Politics aside, Yalghaar is filled with huge star power with enjoyable humor, is also one of the weakest and most outrageous, long, characterless films… which are among the greatest sins any ultra-expensive movie can commit.
Rate: 1.0 out of 5 stars
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