A review on Pakistani Action-Drama feature length film, Raasta (2017) aka Path. The Production Houses are Sahir Lodhi Films, Hom Production, Sams Company & TV-1 Films while it’s Distributor is IMGC Global Entertainment.
+ Crew
- Written, Narrated, Produced & Directed by Sahir Lodhi
- Cinematography by Nabeel Jawaid Qureshi
- Co-Written by Shahid Naqvi
- Edited by Muhammad Irfan & Muhammad Bilal Habib
- Co-Produced by Moid Ul Hassan and Dr. Faisal Zia
+ Songs
- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
- Sara Raza Khan
- Nabeel Shaukat
- Damiya Farooqui
- Saman Saleem Sabri
+ Note
Raasta was to be released on 23rd March 2017 (Defense Day). However, due to getting heavy censored it was postponed and released on 31st March 2017. Since the film is cut a lot before its release thus it is unjust to blame on film editing as many times I felt why this scene was shown after this one. To do justice, one needs to watch the original cut (uncensored one). But the question is who has the guts to do that?
The music directors are Sajai Ali & Kamran Akhtar. It’s about two brothers, Sultan who is the elder brother, police inspector and has a family. The younger brother is Samir, who is qualified but is unemployed for last 8 years. This is Sahir Lodhi & Saima Azhar’s debut film.
Raasta’s theme reminded me of fame Bollywood film ‘Vaastav’ (1999).
+ Main Cast
- Sahir Lodhi as Sameer
- Aijaz Aslam as Inspector Sultan
- Syed Naveed Raza as Sherry
- Shamoon Abbasi as Shah Nawaz Rajput
- Sana Nawaz as Bhabhi
- Abeer Rizvi as N/A
- Saima Azhar as N/A
- Saleem Mairaj as N/A
- Mathira (Item Girl) as N/A
- Saniya Mansoor as N/A
+ Plot
The bond of two brothers is shown where the elder one Sultan is an honest police inspector, has a family and firmly believes that no one should be considered above the law. As for Samir, who is unable to get a white collar job thus starts doing odd jobs to make his ends meet. During Samir’s struggle for good work, he gets mixed up with gangsters like Shah Nawaz and his younger brother Sherry.
+ High Points
i – Aijaz Aslam’s acting is above average whereas mild performances by rest of the cast including Sahir Lodhi’s (but in the first half only).
ii – I liked the film’s message which they conveyed it throughout their film ‘Raasta’ (Path) that is instead of choosing between a righteous or misguided path to reach to your destiny… here the lead character is forced to take wrong path as a result of being jobless, society ignorance, lack of family support and getting into brawl with wrong people.
iii – The struggle to choose righteous path while facing many hurdles was properly handled in the film. The director gave importance in establishing his character emotional link with the audience. I believe it was a good effort that made in making the connection. What I am saying is that the first half of the film is… watchable! There, I said it aloud.
iv – The makeover of Sahir Lodhi in second half while the makeup & hair styling of Mathira looks good.
v – The cinematic shots and lighting particularly in the songs are nicely executed.
vi – Most of the songs are nice to listen to. Not all but most of them.
vii – Art direction throughout the film is very decent.
vii – There is a shot taken in the later of the film where Sahir Lodhi is lying down in the similar position of crucifixion. Either this scene was intended to give symbolic meaning to it or maybe Sahir Lodhi thought it may look cool on-screen.
+ Low Points
i – Writing is a very difficult task indeed. Anyone who has worked in the media production would agree to this right away. For a good writing skill, one should be able to give proper portray of their characters, to do justice with them, a story worth telling, sharing with the people — which is not an easy thing to do. It needs a lot of experience, study how to write or work under the guidance of an expert.
However, when a person who has vast abundance of wealth, many references / contacts then that person would most probably not give any heed to this above say and would a make film like ‘Raasta’. Although the film’s plot may look good on paper, but once it is shown as a film especially after interval — its equivalent of having brain hemorrhage.
ii – Sahir Lodhi’s character from start of the film shown able to overcome any thug, always wins in fights against anyone, even if that person is mafia leader / don himself. After the interval, all hell breaks loose! Then Sahir Lodhi’s character becomes very similar to Greek mythology’s immortal demi-god. Now anything is possible by him.
iii – Saleem Meeraj is such a good actor. He is usually in such good projects. But what made him say yes to be in a film like this? Anyone? I think perhaps to maintain his friendship he had to be in the film.
iv – We don’t have just one but two item songs. Yes, two! It does not matter if the item song is performed by a respected model / actress or not, either way it is still degrading and offending to be inserted in the film. Item girls are always considered as sex objects for the viewers and speaking of item songs, why do we need them anyways? Can you not entertain people with your good script, strong performances and great direction? In this case, no it’s not possible.
v – After a cliffhanger interval which was misleading (naturally), all logic is now officially thrown in the trash can and the film dares you to watch whatever they show you on screen. At this point, I was thinking perhaps watching Waseem Hassan Sheikh’s notorious ads were a better option.
The things they have showed in the second half is cruelty to your brain; because as soon as the interval came, it give you one last final warning to pack your bags and move abroad or just ditch your film ticket’s expense and go have a dinner at a good restaurant. As your life is more precious than what you are about to witness after the interval.
vi – When a person kills your loved one, it is understood that you would come back with vengeance (especially when both are killers). So instead of gathering your forces and keeping them on high alert, that person is enjoying an item song while having alcohol and getting wasted.
vii – Samir’s transformation into new self can now shoot & kill anyone without even looking. No matter where ever that person is, he just shoots them dead. All this is done with one magazine only which is enough for him to tackle and kill the entire gang of mafia rivals (clap, clap, clap… Bravo!).
viii – The fight sequence between Shamoon Abbasi and Sahir Lodhi is not only unrealistic but that the wiring attached to Shamoon is making him jump in highly impractical manner.
ix – A woman comes complaining to Shamoon Abbasi to know the whereabouts of her missing husband to which he lets her know but forces her to live with him instead. And in the very next scene, we are shown that woman has become his mistress… willingly! What…? My! I guess he must be so good in bed huh? <Wink>
x – A punch line Shahrukh Lodhi kept repeating in the film … ‘Is Zindagi Meh Sirf Do Log Hothay Hai… Eik Tum Aur Eik Meh’. And you have to listen to this lame dialogue in last few scenes much often.
xi – What we are shown in its end, is highly unlikely thing to happen. It is shown as a dream sequence but I can assure you that it’s not!
+ Overall
Despite the apparent great cinematography, decent songs, sound performances yet Raasta is a highly fictionalized story of one-man battle with never-ending trash action sequences and cheesy dialogues.
Rate: 1.75 out of 5 stars
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