A review on Pakistani Rom-Com feature length film, Ready Steady No! (2019). The Production House is Obsessive Compulsive Dreamers while its Distributors are Hum Films and Eveready Films.
+ Crew
- Written, Directed & Produced by Hisham Bin Munawwar
- Cinematography by Fazal Ahmed and Muhammad Ali
- Edited by Vasi Hassan
- Music by Baqir Abbas and Hassan Badshah
- Production Design by Hamna Zahid & Asma Zia
+ Note
Ready Steady No is a debut directorial by Hisham, who has also written his first script for a feature length film. This film was at first offered to super model turned actress, Iman Ali but the role initially went to Amna Ilyas.
According to the director, this film is based on real-life events.
+ Main Cast
- Faisal Saif as Faisal
- Amna Ilyas as Razia
- Muneer Ahmed as Detective Muneer
- Marhoom Ahmad Bilal as Advocate Mazhar Fakhar
- Salman Shahid as Chaudhry Sahab
- Nargis Rasheed as Faisal’s Mother
- Ismail Tara as Faisal’s Father
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+ Supporting Cast
- Zain Afzal as Maulana
- Nayyar Ejaz as a Palmist / Imam
- Ashraf Khan as Police SHO #1 (Cameo)
- Saleem Albela as Hotel Manager
- N/A as Mazhar’s Friend
- N/A as Police SHO #2
- N/A as Guard
+ Plot
A young couple decides to run away and do court marriage. But a number of hurdles make it almost impossible for them to come to their desired conclusion.
+ High Points
i – Faisal Saif as Faisal plays a mature, calm lover and confident son who unlike his father, if cornered, he would seek out the risky plan to have his way. Where some people have criticized on his acting skills, to bring in more feeling, I on the other hand would say that Faisal played his role really well. In fact, he performed the best in this film.
ii – Marhoom Ahmed Bilal’s performance turns out to be surprisingly good and happens to be the film’s main comic relief character. His interesting role with good performance bought a roar of laughter in the cinema hall. Other Honorable Mentions: Salman Shahid and Zain Afzal.
iii – The two songs, Dekho-Dekho and Nachee Ja are not only good but their cinematography is stunning to watch.
iv – The film has good humor, at times very funny. I loved the scene where Muneer is forced to read a letter and other Mazhar’s scenes are hilarious.
v – I liked the concept of the film. It is a bit different than the rom-com films that we are watching at the cinemas for quite some time now.
vi – The cameo played by Ashraf Khan as Police SHO #2, bought smiles on many people faces for his character’s great love & respect for singing.
+ Low Points
i – The entire film is a one BIG drag. Ready Steady No could have ended within 90 minutes if it wanted to (without breaking the continuity or having jump shots). Yet, it keeps on dragging till you really want the film to end by now.
ii – I believe that there were many opportunities throughout the film where the writer/director could have made the film much more enjoyable than it was but missed it completely. Examples: A scene where Faisal is helping Razia to escape her house or the scene where the duplicates get to meet each other alone or when Faisal and Mazhar decide to pick CNIC from Razia’s home. The given situation in all these three scenes could have been much more hilarious than they actually were.
iii – The love triangle is such a bore! Some people would try defending it by saying ‘Hey, it’s a comedy film’. I am sorry, but irrespective, whether the film is comedy or any other genre, the chemistry between the actors should be interesting enough to watch & enjoy. Unfortunately in this film, it was clearly not so.
iv – At some places its production design gave the feel that I perhaps was watching a TV drama serial rather than a feature film; especially in those scenes which Nargis and Ismail have shared and of Muneer Ahmed.
v – Except for the songs’ cinematography, the entire film DOP seems to be handled by a different person altogether. Honestly, it is so-so.
vi – I don’t know what was going through the director’s head when it comes to the film’s editing. I know that Vasi is the man behind it. But since the director is the captain of the ship, he had to make sure that no scenes is longer than required, only to bring in a few more laughs. There was not one but many where I felt the cut should have been made but didn’t. Unnecessary extra footage with most of the scenes is shown, where the audience either didn’t laughed or just wanted the film to move on.
vii – Not only, there is no proper character building / development, the story is just too simple to watch and enjoy.
viii – Once more, a stereo type maulvi character that our eyes have grown tired of watching it on big screen.
ix – Repeated dialogues just made the script even worse to listen to. It was no longer funny.
+ Overall
Ready Steady No! tries hard to be new and different. But it loses the vision of being a bigger picture completely. To deal with the ‘com’, the ‘rom’ had to suffer.
Rate: 2.50 out of 5 stars
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