Category: Feature Length Films

A review on Pakistani Rom-Drama feature length film, Junoon-e-Ishq (2019). The Production Houses & Distributors are Ever New Studios and Usman Umer Productions.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Naseem Haider Shah
• Written by Wajid Zubairi
• Cinematography by Aftab Ahmed
• Music Composed by M. Arshad
• Produced by Asghar Ali

 

 

 

+Note

Junoon-e-Ishq is a story of love and obsession beyond the limits. The editing is done by Asad Zada. After directing 30 films within Lollywood, Naseem is considered one of the top directors of Lahore.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan happens to be one of the playback singers and sung ‘Chupaon Kaise’. Besides him, Saira Naseem, Humaira Channa, and Joji Ali Khan have also contributed the songs for the film. The film was shot in different parts of Pakistan like Naran & Kaghan Valley. It is claimed that some of the parts were also shot in Bangkok and UK as well.

 

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Mahi Khan as Sahiba
2. Adnan Khan as Raza
3. Aamir Qureshi as Gulbaz

 

 

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+ Supporting Cast

1. Rashid Mehmood as Gulbaz’s Father
2. Shahid as Sahiba’s Father
3. Lucky Dear as Raja’s Friend #1

 

 

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+ Minor Cast

1. Ali Zafar as Sahiba’s Fiancée
2. Saleem Panchi as Sahiba’s Servant #1
3. Maesam Abbas as Raja’s Nephew
4. Mahnoor as Bar Girl #1
5. Afreen (Pari) as Bar Girl #2
6. Asada Ali as Raja’s Friend #2

 

 

 

 

+ Plot

Gulbaz, a crazy lover is madly in love with the rich girl, Sahiba. But she is already in love with Raja, a poor village boy.

 

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – There are some nice green trees, cloudy sky and blank walls to look at.

ii – Hardly 1 – 2 songs may be decent enough to listen (not watch) to.

 

 

 

 

+ Low Points

i – Everything in this film is terrible. You pick anything and that’s bad. Direction? Bad. Writing? Bad. Acting? Bad. Anything I tell you. It’s a wonder that even after directing 30 films, the director or his team still don’t know how to get basic things right for a film to work? This kind of poor execution is seen only when you are over confident with your work and surrounded by those friends who give fake praises on your every move. The only reason they do that so that they could get work and be in good books. And why these filmmakers are so stupid to fell for that? Because everyone loves to hear praises.

If your common sense works, then you would tell the difference of fake and actual praises. But at foremost, listen to the critics first. Listen to what they have to say. They are not your enemies. What they are telling you is where you are making mistakes and how you could learn from them. If you are too proud or too stubborn to learn anything then I guess our majority of the films would be stuck in the dark ages for times to come.

ii – After watching it for 2 minutes, my brain and eyes were having a serious conflict on who to commit suicide first. It’s a D- or F grade Lollywood film quality. The director should give the audience hard-earned money back to them.

iii – Aamir Qureshi (Mustafa Qureshi’s son) was the only recognizable actor from the mainstream media industry and happens to play the antagonist’s role. But I wondered, as to why he would sign to do such a bad film for? He has already acted in some nice TV dramas and some so-so films. Then why say ‘Yes’ to such a crap film? Do the actors not see that such a move may turn out to be a career suicide?

For Aamir to do such a film, he must have been shot with a dozen of tranquilizers where the BTS team later on pulled the strings (after tying with actor’s hands and feet) to perform on-screen. And then after the day’s hard work, left him back to his room, thinking he may have just saw a terrible dream.

iv – Ten minutes after the interval, I was the only one left out of the 15 people who bought the ticket to watch this rubbish film.

v – The director’s choice for comic relief characters given to the certain actors were terrible. Here I am not talking about their acting but their looks. I am sorry to say but these actors should not appear in front of camera, irrespective if those films are comedy or horror. The more I tried to avoid looking at their weird faces, the more they were given screen time with extreme close up shots. Ugh!

vi – Even the makeup & hair styling is done extremely poor… bucket full of makeup were on the female stars (except for the lead). Other stars dirty yellow teeth could be seen clearly. Yuck! The artificial blood used during fight sequences looked fake. Really awful.

vii – In this 135-minute film, there are 7 – 8 songs… out of which there is not 1 or 2 or 3 but at least 4 item songs, dance by 4 different healthy ladies reminding the audience to take us as ‘Sex Objects’. As for the songs, the first song’s main lyrics are the bar girl’s (item girl) beauty is compared with 12 hot spices. Just… don’t ask!

viii – Then we have this ‘Slapping Festival’ where the lead stars especially the female lead got slaps 4 – 5 times. I don’t understand why Lollywood like to promote slapping someone? I remember this same flaw in Syed Noor’s film, Chain Aye Na (2017).

ix – There are lots of over dramatic, ‘Over the Top’ romantic scenes in the film. It’s just gets embarrassing.

x – During my time at the cinema hall, I was almost sure that this got to be the worst Pakistani film I have ever watched. But then it struck to me that I once watched 15 minutes of a Pakistani feature film on a dare where Shafqat Cheema played the lead role. Well, no movie can top that! That film is surely the worst. Therefore, Junoon-e-Ishq is the second worst Pakistani film I have ever watched.

 

 

  

+ Overall

Junoon-e-Ishq is two hours of pure torture.

 

 

 

Rate: 0 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Street-Thriller feature length film, Laal Kabootar (2019). The Production House is Nehr Ghar Films while its Distributor is Geo Films.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Kamal Khan
• Written by Ali Abbas Naqvi
• Cinematography by Mo Azmi
• Music Composed by Taha Malik & Danial Hyatt
• Produced by Kamil Cheema & Hania Cheema

 

 

 

+Note

Laal Kabootar is the debut film of Kamal Khan. Previously, he has worked on music videos as its director. The story is based on the common on-going crimes in Karachi, related land grabbing, mobile snatching, target killing and corruption.

The word ‘Laal’ may refer to the violence & bloodshed shown in the film. Other than that, it may also refer to the ‘Red cap’ and ‘Red car’, all indicating dangers related to these characters. As for ‘Kabootar’, it may directly refer to the main character, Adeel, who wants to escape the city for a better living.

The film’s shooting locations are the various areas in Karachi. Taha Malik is the music director while Danial Hyatt (son of Rohail Hyatt) composed the score. The majority of the actors used were of NAPA while the writer, Ali Abbas Naqvi is a very talented filmmaker from KU. He has written and acted in many realistic short films, including performed in multiple Teeli videos produced by Dawn Media Group.

 

 

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Ahmed Ali Akbar as Adeel Nawaz
2. Mansha Pasha as Aliya Malik
3. Rashid Farooqui as Inspector Ibrahim
4. Mohammad Ahmed as Proprietor
5. Saleem Miraj as Shop Keeper
6. Syed Meesam Naqvi as Adeel’s Friend

 

 

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+ Supporting Cast

1. IR Omer as Police Officer #1
2. Syed Arsalan as Thug #1
3. Saad Zameer Fareedi as Thug #2
4. Kaleem Ghouri as Office Attendant
5. Akbar Islam as Adeel’s father
6. Hamad Siddiq as Hamid
7. Faiza Gillani as Ibrahim’s wife

 

 

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+ Minor Cast

1. Ali Kazmi as Noman Malik
2. Shamim Hilaly as Aliya’s mother
3. N/A as Ibrahim’s daughter
4. SM Jameel as Police Officer #2
5. Hassan Raza as Proprietor’s son
6. Shabana Hassan as Hamid’s wife
7. Raja Shahid Ali as Aliya’s friend

 

 

 

+ Plot

Adeel is desperately looking for a way out of the city, to Dubai for better living. But his only escape is through a woman who is looking for revenge.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – A huge round of applause for Kamal Khan’s direction as huge credit goes to him for this film’s success and to shoot it in realism style of film making. His style of direction would give a tough time to other film makers and producers of our industry.

ii – I am surprised and very pleased to see that Syed Arsalan who played the one of the supporting roles as Thug #1 gave the best performance. He is not your ‘Baby Face’ actor as commercial heroes appear. But if he is given chance, I strongly believe that, he would prove himself worthy in the market. Arsalan made a strong impact on the audience with his solid performance, where many people, friends asked me of the actor’s background. He is one of the young performers from NAPA and just in the span of two years, is making name for himself. We should welcome such actors for the benefit of our industry. If we do, someday, these very same people would be making headlines in the market similar to well known, veteran Indian film stars such as Irfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui did.

iii – Saleem Miraj is a fantastic actor. To have him on-board was a good decision and the choice of role given to him. He has made his worth in the film by giving one of the memorable performances.

iv – Akbar Islam gave a very believable, heart touching performance as Adeel’s father who is needful and drug addicted. Though his scenes are short but are very compelling and emotional. Other Honorable Mentions: Rest of the cast.

v – A suitable props used in its production design to keep us within the barrier of reality. The shooting locations were very carefully chosen, to put up the mood and settings as per content of the film.

vi – Great work behind its editing, able to create more intensity.

vii – There is no doubt that the performances by Ahmed Ali, Mansha Pasha and Rashid Farooqui are admirable. But here the NAPA performers take the lead. They are the show stealers’ and deserved to be given high praises.

viii – We have an Easter egg here, where the makeup applied on Inspector Ibrahim during his scene shared with his daughter. It gave strong resemblance to the Joker’s makeup from the Hollywood, DC based film, The Dark Knight (2008). This meant to be a hidden message, intentionally put up in such a way as he goes on to killing spree. Nice work!

ix – Good effort behind the makeup and hair styling. The splatter of blood looked real, as did characters’ makeup such as of Hamid, Office Attendant, Adeel’s friend and many more, to show them aged and belonging to the lower class.

x – Thank God, the writer saved us from a cheap love story that often happens between the two main characters; forcing them to fall in love with each other somehow.

xi – In a feature length film of 105 minutes, having 1 – 2 songs are acceptable and appropriate.

 

 

 

 

+ Low Points

i – Great writing skill is shown when the writer is able to connect emotional link between his characters with the audience. If that happens, you would feel the joy or pain as the characters would. Here, instead of feeling the pain, the desperation of Adeel’s character to leave the city or Aliya’s great desire for revenge, instead I was more concerned for Adeel’s father well-being or for Inspector Ibrahim’s redemption for his loved ones or for the supporting cast.

The problem is that the main characters’ development and backstory was not well-established. People didn’t really feel for them as they should have been or as the writer wanted to. Yes, the conflict was there… we have the primary & the secondary antagonists but what was more important, essential for any story, that needed to be rooted first.

ii – The cinematography in the start was used as ‘Hand-Held’ camera. You can notice the camera shaking clearly. I have no objections to it, as I find it interesting during intense or fight scenes, similar to the popular Hollywood, DC based film, Man of Steel (2013). However, the scenes where the camera should have been stable such as during a normal conversation or calm moments or a close master shot to be taken…  the camera kept shaking. What’s the purpose of shooting in hand held in these scenes for?

Surprisingly, stable, smooth shooting takes place in the second half as if the BTS team hired a professional cinematographer afterwards. Irony is that, more intense scenes comes in the second half. Not only that but there were some unnecessary weird camera angles insertions were chosen as if someone is watching the main characters secretly from a distance or the angle of a CCTV camera is been taken. For what purpose? What’s the point of putting up for such camera angles for?

iii – In the end, there were still some questions left unanswered… such as what happened with Adeel’s drug addicted father? Who is taking care of him? Whatever become of the thug who survived? Since he played one of the vital supporting roles in the first half of the film, why he was never shown again? Didn’t he want to avenge the death of his friend? Or wanted a bigger share of the money that was planned to be looted? Why it was taking so long for a professional killer to strangle an ordinary person?

I am sorry but his injury wasn’t bad enough to take him that long to strangle someone. These are the unanswered important questions that were left behind for no reason.

iv – The story is not unique, new or thought-provoking thriller. I identified the mastermind and his henchman by a mile. However, it’s the treatment of the film and well written characters which gives the film edge.

v – Although the film came to its satisfying end but it was predictable. The thriller films especially, should not be predictable.

vi – There were 1 – 2 songs in the film but I hardly could remember any one of them or their lyrics.

 

 

 

+ Overall

Kamal’s superb direction, hyper-strong performances has put Laal Kabootar in the ranks of great style of film making.

 

 

 

Rate: 3.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Rom-Thriller Feature Length Film, ‘Gumm’ (2019). The Production House and its Distributor is Starstruck Films.

 

 

+ Crew

• Edited, Cinematography, Written & Directed by Ammar Lasani & Kanza Zia
• Produced by Shakeel Anjum
• Co-Produced Ali Aqdus

 

 

 

+ Note

Gumm is written and directed very similar to Hollywood film, Wrecked (2011). Only that this English film is much better watch than Gumm (2019).

The directors, Ammar Lasani & Kanza Zia are a married couple, happens to be graduates from New York Film Academy and this is their directorial debut film.

 

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Sami Khan as Asad
2. Shamoon Abbasi as Haider the ‘Dagger’
3. Shameen Khan as Dua

 

 

 

+ Plot

A wanted criminal and a desperate father who are interlinked by a series of unfortunate events, manipulate their chances to save what matters most to them. Lost in the middle of nowhere, will they be able to win this battle against the ticking clock?

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – The jungle/forest scenes were interesting to watch. Too bad, they were very few.

ii – Shaky, hand held camera was used to make the scenes of the jungle intense.

iii – The film was around 90 -95 minutes in time length… short and a ‘Thank you’ note from the audience and critics alike.

 

 

 

+ Low Points

i – A different type of thriller main content, film to watch but very disappointed to know that this is not an original work.

ii – Having Sami Khan in lead role is the first mistake any director would make in his film. His acting skills needs a lot of improvement, regardless to how much ‘Fame’ he has gain in the TV industry. Other Dishonorable Mentions: Shameen Khan.

iii – It is shocking to see a number of international film festivals’ selections and wins for this film. Anyone’s who might have good expectations by watching this film’s trailer, would quickly be shattered once the film starts to play… especially after watching the awful, cheesy scenes shown in numerous flashbacks of Asad and his wife, Dua.

iv – With almost no character development or back history, a great actor like Shamoon Abbasi’s performance falls short in this cheap thriller.

v – Due to similarity with the English film, Wrecked, there has no fun or interest to watch this dull film any further.

vi – Really bad songs and music to listen to.

vii – The flashback scenes were not only badly performed and directed but also that they were huge turn off for this film’s main content. The jungle/forest scenes were the ones where the film should have mainly focused on.

viii – Mediocre work in makeup and hair styling department.

 

 

 

+ Overall

Gumm is a hit and miss, badly performed, copycat thriller film.

 

 

Rate: 0.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Action-Drama Feature Length Film, ‘Azaadi’ aka Independence (2018). The Production House is Pervez Malik Films while its Distributor is ARY Films. This film’s music is composed by Sahir Ali Bagga.

 

 

 

+ Crew

• Written, Directed & Produced by Imran Malik
• Screenplay by Wajid Zuberi
• Cinematography by Ben Jasper
• Edited by M. Arif
• Co-Produced by Irfan Malik

 

 

+ Note

Azaadi was released on Eid al-Fitr. The shoots have taken place at Azad Kashmir and Northern areas of Pakistan. The film key elements are of patriotism, action scenes and a deep love story.

It is based on the issue of Kashmir conflict and freedom for Jammu & Kashmir. Danish Taimoor was originally cast opposite lead female Sonya Hussain, as the lead male character of the film. But due to the fallout with the makers of the film he was later replaced by Moammar.

The music of the film has been done by Sahir Ali Bagga, Jabar Abbas, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan and Afshan Abbas. It is believed that singers such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch have also lent their voices for the soundtrack.

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Moammar Rana as Azaad
2. Sonya Hussain as Zara
3. Nadeem Baig as Azaad’s Father
4. Maryam Ansari as Azaad’s Mother
5. Erum Azam as Azaad’s Sister
6. Ali Bilal as Mujhadeen #1

 

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+ Supporting Cast

1. Ali Fateh as Mujhadeen #2
2. Samama Randhawa as Mujhadeen #3
3. Waseem as Mujhadeen #4
4. Zeeshan as Mujhadeen #5
5. Saddam-ul-Haque as Mujhadeen #6
6. Mariyam Khalif as N/A (Cameo)

 

 

+ Plot

Azaad has devoted his life for Kashmir cause and is now imparting his vision to the youth to keep the cause alive.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Sonya Hussain as Zara, a Pakistan-origin British journalist was the only interesting performance to watch. I can see that she has worked really hard to pull it off on-screen. Hopefully, her performance might bring her new and good budget projects.

ii – Decent work with the direction of photography. The shooting locations of northern areas and Kashmir have given a good add-on to it.

iii – A couple of songs were worthy to listen to.

 

 

 

 

 

+ Low Points

i – Moammar Rana must have taken classes from Indian film star, Rajnikanth or Hollywood star, Chuck Norris in terms of their action scenes. It’s the granddaddy of stupidity when Moammar Rana is in action! The bomb scene in the end was most spectacular of them all… NOT!

ii – Indian soldiers are shown as the most stupid people where they intentionally stood firm in their tracks as ‘Shooting ducks’ even though they could see that an unknown sniper is killing them one by one! Nowhere did they look like as real soldiers belonging to any army whatsoever. Similarly, Indian govt in Jammu Kashmir is a govern body filled with idiot and devilish schemers.

iii – It would have been awesome to watch realistic based film on this long dispute issue. Though honestly, I watched what I expected from Moammar Rana’s film.

iv – Visual Effects are worst of the worst! I can assure you that you have watch much better visual effects in a student thesis film than here. Every mujahedeen seemed as though they were wearing very powerful springs underneath their boots where they could jump high whenever they felt like it. The bomb blasts, driving scenes clearly showed that the background is just a cheap ‘C’ grade visual effect.

v – Poor performances by the supporting characters

vi – The time length duration was almost 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is too long for such a … film.

vii – Weak writing of the supporting characters

viii – Some of the dramatic scenes turned out to be comic instead.

 

 

 

+ Overall

Azaadi is a terrible action based war film which clearly forgot what the intention was behind its making but instead focused on their box office collection.

 

 

Rate: 1.25 out of 5 stars

A review on Pakistani action thriller feature length film, ‘Waar’ (2013) [Strike]. The Production Houses are Mind Works Media & Off Road Studios while its Distributors are ARY Films and Mandviwalla Entertainment.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed, Cinematography & Edited by Bilal Lashari
• Music by Amir Munawar
• Written & Produced by Hassan Rana

 

 

 

+Note

It is Bilal Lashari’s debut as a director, who has directed music videos and assisted Shoaib Mansoor in the film Khuda Kay Liye. It took three years to complete Waar. Shooting locations included Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad & Swat Valley (Pakistan), Rome (Italy) and Istanbul (Turkey). It is a stylized depiction of events surrounding the war on terror in Pakistan, including the attack on a Police Academy at Lahore in 2009.

 

 

+ Main Cast

• Shaan Shahid as Major Mujtaba Rizvi
• Shamoon Abbasi as Ramal
• Meesha Shafi as Laxmi
• Ali Azmat as Ejaz Khan
• Hamza Ali Abbasi as Ehtesham Khattak
• Ayesha Khan as Javeria Khattak
• Hassan Rana as Taha Ali

 

 

 

+ Plot

A retired security officer returns to save Pakistan from a major terrorist attack.

 

 

 

+ High Points

i – Shamoon Abbasi’s performance is the best in the cast. Shamoon most often given a negative role to play where the audience sees him as type cast. However, his work in Waar is terrific as he played the character as the script demanded it to be.

ii – Hamza Ali Abbasi is very good actor where his character as Ehtesham Khattak is memorable one in this film. The sibling relationship he had and shared screen time with Ayesha Khan was worthy to watch. This was the first performance and appearance I had watched of Hamza Ali Abbasi on-screen when it was newly released on cinemas. Other Honorable Mentions: Ayesha Khan, Meesha Shafi and Shaan Shahid.

iii – The action sequences are very admirable and of high standards in the ranks of our film industry.

iv – Bilal Lashari did a commendable work in cinematography. His film editing is also very effective.

v – The costumes designing dept. did an impressive job.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – The fight sequences were mediocre-choreographed especially between Shamoon Abbasi & Shaan Shahid in the end. Shamoon was making such an effort to fight while Shaan seemed to adopt the personality of Neo from Matrix series; stopping punches and kicks with such ease, only few were able to land on him otherwise Shaan is untouchable!

ii – Some people complained on the film having too much action, violence scenes. I on the other hand was fine with it as it goes with the flow of the film’s plot and narrative.

 

 

+ Overall

Waar is a notable example of high-tech action thriller where its scenes’ encounter tension which builds remorselessly and is spectacular to watch.

 

 

Rate: 3.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Rom-Thriller Feature Length Film, ‘Wajood’ (2018). The Production House is Jawed Sheikh Films While Its Distributors are Saga-Hits and Geo Films. Its Music is composed by Sahir Ali Bagga.

 

 

+ Crew

• Written & Directed by Javed Sheikh
• Co-Written by Baber Kashmiri
• Cinematography by Kelvin Keehde and Asif Khan
• Edited by Asad Zaidi
• Produced by Momal Sheikh and Shehzad Sheikh

 

 

+ Note

Wajood is a comeback directorial film by Javed Sheikh. The previous film directed by him was Khulay Asmaan Kay Neechay (2008).The film was released on Eid ul-Fitr. Principal photography was shot most of it in Pakistan and Turkey while some parts of Greece.

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Danish Taimoor as Faizan
2. Saeeda Imtiaz as Arzoo
3. Aditi Singh as Jessica
4. Javed Sheikh as Detective Steve Rock
5. Ali Saleem as Q / Arzoo’s Friend
6. Asad Mehmood as Faizan’s Friend

 

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+ Supporting Cast

1. Faiza Khan as Faizan’s Friend Fiancee
2. Nadeem Baig as Arzoo’s Father
3. Shaheen Khan as Arzoo’s Mother
4. Shahid Hameed as Faizan’s Father
5. Frieha Altaf as Faizan’s Mother

 

 

+ Plot

Faizan is a handsome pilot of a private jet. He falls in love with Arzoo at first sight and would do anything to win her heart. Then there’s Jessica, who has an obsession to have Imran all to herself by any means necessary.

 

 

+ High Points

i – The lead star, Danish Taimoor as Faizan has given a satisfying performance to the audience and critics alike. His scenes were entertaining. Other Honorable Mentions: Ali Saleem and Saeeda Imtiaz.

ii – The direction of photography has been done a beautiful job.

iii – The comic relief character of Q played by Ali Saleem was funny at times and did its job well as per the writer’s expectations.

iv – The songs, most of them are pleasant to listen to.

v – The locations of the shoot, especially of the songs were ‘Eye Candy’ to watch.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – The second half of the film is dull and pointless! Yes, I can understand that the writer wanted a thriller element after the interval but why? Why can’t we made this film and enjoyable as the first half? And even if you wanted this film to have thriller then be sure that you have something really interesting to tell and show. But what we ended up was with a love sick attractive girl, Jessica who seemed like a character taken from another genre film who clearly didn’t fit with this one.

ii – Weak supporting characters were written, they hardly made any impression to the audience.

iii – This film is a combination of Lollywood-Bollywood style film. Perhaps this is what Danish Taimoor wants to be recognized by as he wants to differentiate himself than all other lead actors; but would this kind of film style be helpful to our Pakistani Film Industry Revival to grow? Mehrunisa V Lub U (2017) is a good example for a successful film whereas most of them including Chan Aye Na (2017) by Syed Noor were not appreciated.

 

 

+ Overall

Wajood is a cheap rip-off from any low budget thriller film where its second half is a complete snoozer.

 

Rate: 2.0 out of 5 stars

A review on Bollywood Action thriller feature length film, ‘Fan’ (2016). The Production House and its Distributor is Yash Raj Films.

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Maneesh Sharma
• Cinematography by Manu Anand
• Written by Girish Kohli Habib Faisal and Maneesh Sharma
• Edited by Namrata Rao
• Produced by Aditya Chopra

 

 

+Note

Fan’s original idea was conceived by Sharma in 2006 and recited the story to Chopra, who advised him against the challenging project for his directorial debut. In the same year, Yash Chopra read it to Khan, who expressed interest in being part of the project. The project was revived in late 2013, and was completed by November 2015.

The film was heavily marketed; after several delays, it was released internationally on 15 April 2016. Although it was huge box office success (overseas) and opened to positive reviews from critics, who praised Khan’s performance especially but criticized the editing and the loosely written script. At the 63rd Filmfare Awards, Fan received the Filmfare Award for Best Special Effects.

Fan is a ‘Song-Less’ film; a soundtrack album consisting of a marketing song in different languages was composed by Vishal–Shekhar and the original score was done by Andrea Guerra.

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Shah Rukh Khan as Aryan Khanna / Gaurav Chandna
2. Shriya Pilgaonkar as Neha
3. Waluscha de Sousa as Bela Khanna
4. Yogendra Tiku as Gaurav’s father

 

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+ Supportive Cast

1. Deepika Amin as Gaurav’s mother
2. Sayani Gupta as Sunaina
3. Amarjeet Singh as Show Host
4. Taher Shabbir as Sid Kapoor

 

 

+ Plot

Gaurav Chandna, who is a very look-alike and obsessive fan of film star, Aryan Khanna. One day, he beats up a rival actor to appease Aryan, but is instead punished by his idol. Now being badly heartbroken, ‘Gaurav the fan’ plans on taking revenge.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Shahrukh Khan as Aryan Khanna / Gaurav Chandna. He was clearly committed to give ‘A’ graded performance and showed glimpse, signs of ‘Method Acting’ into his dual roles. To portray the character of Gaurav, any praises would fall short on playing an emotional filled, dynamic performance.

ii – The special effects and makeup department were able to convince the audience of his character’s mere difference in terms of facial and physique.

iii – Though there were still some loop holes in the story but yes, the first half is interesting enough to give a ‘Go’ and watch the film.

iv – This would surely be labelled as one of the daring films, Shahrukh Khan has done on big screen.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – The second half of the film is a huge disappointment. I mean, you would really say to yourself… ‘What happened? Why they made a more convincing film in the first half but an over the top film in the second’? In the second half, the film is filled with mindless action, thriller taken from crappy spy films and a disappointing end.

ii – It is one of those rare films where there is no protagonist’s love interest (lead) or song in a Bollywood film. It means, the BTS team would need a very different approach and a strategy to attract the audience to watch their film with great interest. But were they able to pull this off as ‘Promised’? ‘Hmm… nah’!

iii – There were numerous times where the film went off the track or filled with most illogical moments.

iv – Since there were no songs and the film were not really entertaining as Shahrukh Khan’s films are, which is why you would find yourself bored.

 

 

 + Overall

After watching hat-trick of Shahrukh Khan’s films released in a sequence, Fan is still much better film in terms of performance and entertainment.

 

Rate: 2.50 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Bollywood Rom-Action feature length film, ‘Dilwale’ aka The Big Hearted (2015). The Production Houses are Rohit Shetty Productions and Red Chilies Entertainment who happens to be its Distributors also.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed & Co-Produced by Rohit Shetty
• Cinematography by Dudley
• Written by Yunus Sajawal and Sajid-Farhad
• Edited by Bunty Nagi
• Produced by Gauri Khan

 

 

+ Note

Dilwale is a second film of Rohit Shetty starring Shahrukh Khan, after the successful box collection of Chennai Express (2013). In Pakistan, Hum TV sponsored the film as well in some countries abroad. A huge marketing campaign was covered to promote the film, where lead super stars, Shahrukh and Kajol were invited to many lead interviews’ shows.

This film has grossed INR 408.15 crore (US$57 million) worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing film starring Shah Rukh Khan after Chennai Express, also directed by Shetty. Dilwale is also the highest-grossing film starring Shah Rukh Khan in overseas markets. The song “Gerua” also performed well in the charts. While the film’s domestic box office performance in India was disappointing, it was an overseas success, the sixth-highest-grossing Indian film overseas.

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Shah Rukh Khan as Raj Randhir Bakshi / Kaali
2. Varun Dhawan as Veer Randhir Bakshi
3. Kajol as Meera Dev Malik
4. Kriti Sanon as Ishita Dev Malik
5. Boman Irani as King
6. Johnny Lever as Mani Bhai
7. Sanjay Mishra as Oscar Bhai
8. Varun Sharma as Sidhu

 

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+ Supportive Cast

1. Chetna Pande as Jenny, Sidhu’s girlfriend
2. Mukesh Tiwari as Shakti, Sidhu’s brother
3. Pankaj Tripathi as Anwar
4. Vinod Khanna as Randhir Bakshi
5. Kabir Bedi as Dev Malik
6. Nawab Shah as Raghav, Malik’s right-hand

 

 

+ Plot

Unknown to Veer, his elder brother, Raj has a secret identity who is forced to reveal once the past enemies’ clash with him again.

 

 

+ High Points

I – The superstars, Shahrukh & Kajol looked very beautiful, glamorous even at this age.

ii – Songs in the film are just okay at best.

iii – There are few really wonderful locations to watch where the shooting for songs and scenes had taken place.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – Let’s just say one needs to store his brain in locker before watching this film. Rohit Shetty must have said ‘Hey, I have lots of cash on my hands although no story with cheesy dialogues but I could show some really cool cars with beautiful scenarios and hire two one of the top-notch actors to promo the film where public would watch it anyway due to these two superstars in lead roles.

ii – The twist in the film which people claimed to be unpredictable, happens to be so predictable that one would expect from these kind of Bollywood films. Meera parks the car and walks with such a distance to Raj that it takes forever for her to reach him. I remember watching and saying to myself ‘Malir se aa rahi hai jo ithna waqt lag raha hai’ (‘Is she coming from Malir which is why she is taking that long’)?

iii – Whatever story / plot people claimed to have in this film, ended in the first ten minutes. After that, they have just dragged the film as far as they could.

iv – Two great actors Shahrukh & Kajol talent has been wasted in this story less film.

v – Some of the scenes are taken frame by frame from popular action films such as Mission Impossible 2 (2000).

vi – It was extremely hard for me to watch the film without a yawn or a serious face.

vii – The two new co-actors acting was just okay while their part of scenes was not interesting at all to watch.

viii – There is hardly any character development of the four lead actors in a film filled with unnecessary action scenes, especially the end.

ix – The role of Boman Irani is very useless.

 

 

+ Overall

Dilwale is fantastic film to watch after you have taken heavy load of drugs.

 

 

Rate: 0.50 out of 5 stars

A review on Hollywood Marvel Comics feature length film, ‘Deadpool 1’ (2016). The Distributor is 20th Century Fox while it is Edited by Julian Clarke.

 

 

+ Production Houses

• Marvel Entertainment
• Kinberg Genre
• The Donners’ Company
• TSG Entertainment

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed by Tim Miller
• Cinematography by Ken Seng
• Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick
• Music by Tom Holkenborg
• Produced by Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds and Lauren Shuler Donner

 

 

 

+ Note

Deadpool is created by Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefeld.  For the development of a Deadpool film starring Reynolds began in February 2004, before he went on to play the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009. Reese and Wernick were hired for a spin off in 2010, and worked with Reynolds to more faithfully adapt the character (including his fourth wall breaking) after the portrayal in Wolverine was criticized for not doing so. Miller was hired in 2011 for his directorial debut, and an enthusiastic response to leaked test footage he created with Reynolds led to a green-light from Fox in 2014.

The film achieved both financial and critical success. It earned over $783 million against a $58 million budget, breaking numerous records: it became the highest-grossing R-rated film, the highest-grossing X-Men film, and the ninth-highest-grossing 2016 film. Critics praised Reynolds’ performance, the film’s style and faithfulness to the comics, and its action sequences. Some detractors criticized the plot as formulaic as well as the sheer number of jokes in the film. It also received numerous awards and nominations, including two Critics’ Choice Awards and two Golden Globe nominations. A sequel, Deadpool 2, was released in May 2018.

 

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson / Deadpool
2. Morena Baccarin as Vanessa
3. Ed Skrein as Francis Freeman / Ajax
4. J. Miller as Weasel
5. Gina Carano as Angel Dust
6. Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead
7. Leslie Uggams portrays Blind Al
8. Stefan Kapičić as Colossus (Voice)
9. Karan Soni as Dopinder / Taxi Driver

 

 

 

+ Plot

Wade Wilson is a dishonorably discharged special forces operative working as a mercenary when he meets prostitute Vanessa. Soon they become romantically involved, and later she accepts his marriage proposal. However, Wilson is soon diagnosed with terminal cancer, and leaves her without warning. Afterwards, he starts hunting down the man who gave him mutant abilities along with severely disfiguring his body, during the experimental session Wilson had agreed to.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Deadpool has made its own market in front of the strong line-up of the existing successful franchise, X-Men with its spin-off. The critics and audience gave a very positive response to it and are anxiously waiting for its sequels to the cinemas. This is one role which Ryan Reynolds is born to play.

ii – The real flaw of the character is that although he is all too powerful for the villain to fight with, but the character himself is too careless and doesn’t take situation on hand seriously, which gives the upper hand for his enemies to make the first strike.

iii – Most of the people, including comic book fans are very pleased to see a R18 film to which the developers keep the film true to its theme of violence and sex-based jokes as its comics are written with.

iv – The story starts off with a comical but loving relationship between Wilson and Vanessa who meets her one night at a bar. The importance is given to their relationship to whether Vanessa would accept him back or not after becoming Deadpool.

v – The screenplay is engaging enough to pull the audience towards the film with interest.

vi – The characters such as Weasel and Vanessa are very well written. They give a strong support to the main lead.

vii – The film does have nice laughs, smiles here and there with several hidden jokes where most of the audience could not get them.

viii – There were many interesting references made on real life celebrities and some on super hero movies.

ix – Unlike comics, Ajax and Angel Dust are very different to what we are shown in the film. Nevertheless, they able to bring a strong conflict for the prankster, anti-hero, Deadpool to his knees. Well, not literally. As long as Wilson has not paid proper attention to how to deal with the antagonist till, he meets couple of X-Men characters.

 

 

 

+ Low Points

i – It was fun watching Ryan Reynolds in super hero lead role again but can’t say I enjoyed as much as crowd did. The crowd was laughing at every joke there were including the minor ones. Most of the jokes were sex based,

ii – There are scenes where it showed how Dead Pool came to be super hero. Those were high graphic gore ones. Really disgusting to watch even at R18.

iii – Although I am huge fan of comic book films but I find other far greater films of Marvel and some of the Fox studio than this.

 

 

+ Overall

I believe Deadpool sequels would have more potential on creative humor than this one had.

 

 

Rate: 3.25 out of 5 stars

 

A review on Pakistani Comedy feature length film, ‘Wrong No.’ (2015). The Production House is YNH Films while its Distributor is ARY Films.

 

 

+ Crew

• Directed & Produced by Yasir Nawaz
• Edited by Rizwan AQ
• Music by Waqar Ali
• Co-Produced by Nida Yasir & Hassan Zia

 

 

+Note

Wrong No. is the directorial debut of Yasir Nawaz. The story is inspired by Bollywood hit film ‘Judwaa’ (1997).

 

 

+ Main Cast

1. Danish Taimoor as Salman (Sallu) / Shehryar
2. Javed Sheikh as Haji Abba
3. Sohai Ali Abro as Laila
4. Janita Asma as Haya
5. Nayyar Ejaz as Gullu Butt

 

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+ Supportive Cast

1. Shafqat Cheema as Shera
2. Qavi Khan as Nawab
3. Nadeem Jafri as Pappi
4. Danish Nawaz as Bali
5. Ismail Tara as Saleem

 

 

+ Plot

Sallu is a middle class guy, passionate about becoming an actor and prove his worthiness to his family. After ditching a job interview (as a favor from his father), Sallu’s life takes a U-turn when he finds himself in a place of his rich duplicate.

 

 

+ High Points

i – Danish Taimoor’s performance is very good and effective as he is able to portray the double roles with ease. Other Honorable Mentions: Javed Sheikh, Sohai Ali Abro and Nayyar Ejaz.

ii – Poor duplicate’s life is quite funny and enjoyable to watch

iii – Audience would find dark comedy throughout the film.

iv – The production design is bright, colorful including its props just as the theme of this film.

v – A couple of songs are good to listen to.

 

 

+ Low Points

i – The film time length is short while being an entertaining film.

ii – The rich duplicate’s life is shown as handful of scenes only in compare to poor duplicate’s life.

iii – The ending for one heroine is good while bad for other one… depending on which duplicate she wins. Why ‘bad’ you say? Well the main problem is due his financial status. You see there is no character shift of him till the end.

 

 

+ Overall

With Danish Taimoor and Javed Sheikh at their best, Wrong No. is an effortlessly bought together to come up with good-rate comedy.

 

Rate: 3.25 out of 5 stars