Humayun, Sheheryar and Saira team up for Pakistan's 'first ever superhero film'

Isn’t it amazing that the newly revived Pakistani cinema continues to offer movies to all kinds of audiences?

From Na Maloom Afraad to JPNA, and Moor to Mah e Mir, our films have not only proven how talented our filmmakers are, but also shown they’re not restricted in terms of content.

And adding more power to the industry is a movie titled Project Ghazi, the makers of which are calling it Pakistan’s first ever superhero film.

“It’s a story of an advanced soldier project and it spans over a period of 20 years,” director Nadir Shah told The Express Tribune during a live Facebook session.

Nadir is an ad-film maker and Project Ghazi is his first feature film. “We wanted to shake things a little so there are elements of espionage and spy genres in the movie as well,” he added.

The film — 40% of which has already been shot — will feature Humayun Saeed, Sheheryar Munawar and Saira Shahroz in lead roles. “Humayun and Sheheryar’s characters are equally balanced and compliment each other and they’re both playing superheroes,” producer Ali Raza said.

What about Saira? Will she appear as a superhero as well? “Absolutely yes. In her own way,” Ali responded, adding that Adnan Jaffar is playing the antagonist while veteran actor Talat Hussain is also playing an important role.

Ali revealed that Humayun’s character is named Salar while Sheheryar’s, Saira’s and Adnan’s characters will be called Zain, Zara and Qataan respectively. “You’ve never seen Saira like this before. Sheheryar has worked really hard and he has come out looking really good; like a young, modern super soldier.”

When asked what kind of audience they’re aspiring to target, Ali said, “We strongly believe in Pakistan and the revived cinema of Pakistan. The superhero genre is owned by Hollywood. They’re the ones who started this and they’re the ones we would like to land closest to, if not be exactly like them.”

Ali added that since the Pakistani audience is evolving, they want Project Ghazi to appeal to not just the Ra. One or Krish fans but also those who love watching Batman and X-Men. “We want to do justice to the first Pakistani attempt. And I am sure Nadir will agree that while making this film, we faced many challenges because there’s no history of superhero movies in Pakistan. Hollywood films belonging to this genre have a track record of 80 years.”

One of the biggest challenges they faced was getting the costumes right. “We really had a great team. No one’s really done costume work like this in Pakistan before and we had to do everything from scratch. So it was difficult to design costumes in which actors could do stunts while being able to breathe normally,” Ali said.

“First, we made designs. Then we made concept art and later found the right vendors. Then we had a team which tried out several versions before we actually got to a functional piece which not only looked good but was wearable as well,” Nadir added.

That wasn’t it, though. Nadir and Ali disclosed that the actors had to undergo 3D scanning for the masks they’d be seen wearing in the movie which were created by a 3D printer, adding that the special effects used are of the highest standards.

“One thing that motivated us was that when we were travelling across Pakistan, we’d see superhero merchandise from all over the world but nothing from Pakistan. So it’s time. And I hope we can complete this project and present it to the audience in a grounded way,” Nadir said.

“We will come up with a product which will make every Pakistani proud,” Ali added.

The movie is expected to be released next year.

Lahore Se Aagey poster: Saba Qamar, Yasir Hussain all set for a fun journey

The official poster of Lahore Se Aagey — a spin-off of last year’s popular hit Karachi Se Lahore — is finally out.

Directed and produced by Wajahat Rauf, the comedy film features Yasir Hussain and Saba Qamar in lead roles.

 In an earlier interview with The Express Tribune, Yasir, who is reprising his role as Moti, revealed that the film “will be more of a romantic-comedy and will follow the adventures of a young couple set right after the events of Karachi Se Lahore.”

Sharing details about Saba’s character, Wajahat told The Express Tribune, “She will be essaying the role of Tara, an urban girl in the movie and, just like Ayesha Omar’s character in the original film, her character will also go through a transformation.”

Lahore Se Aagey is set to be released on November 11.

Three Pakistani films to release on July 22

LAHORE: It might have been a while the last time Pakistani films competed against each other on the box office with simultaneous releases, but July 22 will change all that.

With Jamal Shah’s Revenge of the Worthless, Noor Bukhari’s Ishq Positive and Faisal Bukhari’s Blind Love hitting screens together, Lahore’s cinemagoers might be spoilt for choice.

“Revenge of the Worthless is an action drama film shot in the northern areas of Pakistan. It narrates the story of the Swat insurgency. It points out the sacrifices made by the army to counter terrorism in such areas while it also sheds light on the sufferings of people,” said Summit Entertainment official Waryam Iqbal.

The cast of Shah’s film includes actors Ayoub Khoso, Firdous Jamal and Shamil Khan, among others. Holding high expectations from the film, Waryam shared the movie will be screened across all multiplexes in Lahore.

Blind Love, on the other hand, is being distributed by IMGC Entertainment and Eveready Pictures is backing Ishq Positive. “I am currently busy in promoting my film. It is a beautiful musical and I am sure it will be remembered for years to come,” shared Noor. She revealed that post-production of Ishq Positive was completed in India and the cast comprises a number of new actors, with Indian star Sonu Sood doing a cameo.

While Blind Love was originally scheduled for an Eidul Fitr release, it was delayed to avoid competition from Sultan. Blind Love has been made by Lahore-based producers Chaudhry Ejaz Kamran, Mian Amjaz Farzand and Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ahmed. “We are releasing the film on July 22. We are expecting it to be a major hit,” Kamran said

'Dobara Phir Se' trailer will leave you wanting for more

The trailer of the much-anticipated film of the year Dobara Phir Se is out now and it proves that the film industry is indeed undergoing a revival.

Fresh faces and a storyline combined with equally refreshing cinematography show the impeccable talent found within the Pakistani entertainment industry.

Starring Adeel Husain, Hareem Farooq, Sanam Saeed and Ali Kazmi in key roles, the Mehreen Jabbar directed film is “a journey of love and friendship”.

But this journey has its fair share of ups and downs — it’s all about winning, losing and giving love another chance.

By the looks of it, Adeel’s character seems to be married to Tooba Siddiqui’s and has a child. But things get complicated when he falls in love with Hareem’s character.

Speaking to The Express Tribune earlier, Mehreen revealed that her film is about the unlikely love story of soul mates that just can’t seem to be in the right place at the right time for the right reasons. “It’s about relationships, friendships and finding one’s way in life.”

Dobara Phir Se also stars Atiqa Odho and Shaz Khan and is slated to release this year.

‘Actor In Law’ director says it is too soon to judge his film

KARACHI: Exactly two years and one day from Tuesday, director Nabeel Qureshi had released the trailer of a film called Na Maloon Afraad. While many thought the film and its debuting maker were no match for Shaan’s Operation 021 and Hrithik Roshan’s Bang Bang that were also releasing on the Eidul Azha of 2014, things changed when Na Maloom Afraad’s box office figures were made public.

Today Qureshi and his screenwriting partner Fizza Ali Meerza are among the most successful film-makers of the country. Set to release their latest film Actor In Law, the duo put out its trailer on Tuesday.

They may have chosen to keep the story of the film under the wraps; the 173-second trailer does give away a few vital plot points. The movie follows the story of a lawyer (Fahad Mustafa) who harbours a burning desire to become an actor, something his father (Om Puri) does not approve of.

With the trailer’s view count rising, some have already begun to draw parallels between this “social comedy” and Indian National Award-winning film Jolly LLB.

No stranger to such comments, Qureshi laughed at the comparison, saying, “Even prior to the release of Na Maloom Afraad, people were pointing out how the movie is similar to Indian films like Hera Pheri andC Kkompany. It wasn’t until they saw the full movie that they realised that it was a completely different film.

Another major talking point from the film’s trailer is the issue of minorities, with the movie’s leading lady taking a jibe at the plight of Pakistan’s marginalised communities. Clearing the air on the particular line and whether the topic of minorities would constitute a central theme of the movie, he explained, “All I can say is that the trailer consists of a few scattered lines and it is too early to draw any assumptions.”

Given the success of their debut film, it was only logical for the production team to up the ante with their next project. “That was something obvious and we’ve made this movie on a bigger scale,” said Qureshi. “There are close to 300 extras dancing alongside Fahad [Mustafa] in the title track,” he added.

Slated to release on Eidul Azha this year, Actor In Law is expected to go toe-to-toe with another Pakistani film, Janaan. “When we announced the release date for Actor In Law, Janaan wasn’t releasing on Eidul Azha,” the director explained.

Aware of the fact that of competing with a local film means that the already small number of screens would be divided between the two releases, Qureshi felt that such events were understandable given the Eidul Azha’s box office promise.

Produced under the banner of Filmwala Pictures, Actor In Law features an ensemble cast, including Fahad Mustafa, Mehwish Hayat, Alyy Khan, and will also mark the Pakistani film debut of renowned Bollywood actor Om Puri.

The four-song soundtrack for the movie has been composed by Shani Arshad with the music launch set to take place in July.