A review on Pakistani Drama feature length film, Chalay Thay Saath (2017) aka We Walked Together. The Production Houses are We Think Films and Hot Water Bottle Films.
+ Crew
- Directed by Umer Adil
- Cinematography by Shahzad Khan
- Written by Atiya Zaidi
- Edited by M. Arsalan (Sharp Image)
- Produced by Beenish Umer
+ Note
Chalay Thay Saath is focused on the Hunza Culture. It was shot in the Northern Areas of Pakistan in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan. The film crew over 40 days to complete the film shoot in the Hunza region.
Its original background score is composed by Abbas Ali Khan and songs by Mooro.
+ Main Cast
- Syra Shehroz as Resham
- Kent S. Leung as Adam
- Pepsi as Pepsi
- Behroze Sabzwari as Resham’s father
- Mansha Pasha as Tania
- Osama Tahir as Zain
- Sherbaaz Kaleem as N/A
- Shamim Halai as N/A
- Zhalay Sharhadi as N/A
- Faris Khalid as N/A
+ Plot
Resham is on a journey to discover her past and future alongside her friends. They come across a Chinese citizen, Adam who carries a language translator application in his mobile to understand and speak his new friends’ language. During this time, with the surroundings of beautiful mountainous scenery, Resham and Adam fall in love with each other.
+ High Points
i – Osama Tahir’s performance is very intriguing and praise worthy. Last time I watched his performance in All-Stars theatre play ‘Qusorwaar’ directed by Sunil Shankar at Arts Council, based on classic Broadway & film ’12 Angry Men’. Osama is a great actor and was pleased to see his inclusion in this film as part of the supporting cast. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the performers.
ii – Art direction and the northern area locations that they chose to be used throughout the film is very exotic and highly stunning to look at.
iii – The humor is light hearted without using any vulgarity or cheap jokes. Some punch lines are very amusing.
iv – I was pleased to see Hani Taha in Mooroo’s song in mid of the film, thought she was an add-on in the cast for the later film. I have watched her performances in recent theatre plays, where she has acted really well. Unfortunately, she was just there as cameo appearance.
v – The cinematography is beautifully shot, and nicely handled. Good job!
+ Low Points
i – In multiple scenes, you would see Pepsi’s presence. Pepsi cans are everywhere, the people are shown consuming Pepsi instead of water. The person responsible for its ‘Product Placement’ should be sued / fired for almost ruining the film.
Plus in the start, a long list of ‘Media / Travel / Print / Sponsor / Radio partners’ were shown before the film actually began. I almost said it aloud in the audience, ‘Picture meh sirf yahi dekhnay ko milayga kya’?
ii – The writer used a very simple story / plot.
iii – The second half was a bit drag. A couple of reviewers gave bad reviews to the film due to this main reason but it did not bother me as such.
iv – Except for one or two, the songs are either so-so or forgettable.
v – There were some scenes of close medium shots where the camera was shaking unnecessarily that instead of focusing on what the scene is about or listen to the actor’s punch lines or watch his performance… my concern was ‘Why the hell camera is shaking for’?
+ Overall
Chalay Thay Saath is a smooth romantic comedy with charming performances.
Rate: 3.25 out of 5 stars
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