Apart from that exposé that's provided to the audience with the songs, I could tell you that Na Maloom Afraad 2 will entertain you. The film starts off with highlighting the inequalities in our society and keeps the theme through-out the movie.
Farhan (Fahad Mustafa) and Shakeel bhai (Javed Sheikh) are threatened by goons and very soon it leads to them becoming dirt poor once again. Moon (Mohsin Abbas Haider) unknowingly invites them over to Cape Town. And its in Cape Town, the trio runs into problems as they look to find a short cut to get rich once again (or richer in case of Moon). Sheikh al Baklawa played by Nayyar Ejaz has a golden commode where he hides his ‘Pink diamonds'. There is kidnapping, swearing, shooting, dancing, two "Gunday" inspired villains and lots and lots of jokes that take the film forward.
Will they find the diamonds, will the kidnapped girls be saved, what happens to the pot? I am pretty sure you could answer these questions after watching the trailer. Hence, why the title of this review has the word predictable.
What NMA 2 lacks in terms of twists and turns in the story, it entirely makes up for it with tremendous acting, funny one liners and an overall stylish look of the film.
Javed Sheikh and Saleem Mairaj (who plays one of the Gunday) are the two best performers on display. Fahad Mustafa is at his quirky best as he inevitably gets the best lines. Having watched him talk extempore, one wonders how many of his dialogues are improvised on delivery. Mohsin Abbas Haider provides the required edginess and caution to his character Moon. Also, I was personally really delighted to see him not overdoing his shirtless scenes with his toned-up body. His love interest Pari (Hania Aamir), is a lovely addition to the cast. She is all dolled up for her character and aptly plays the confused girl. Urwa Hocane just plays her part but left with a little room to deliver any punch, she does what she best could.
There are some hilarious sequences like the relatable not-being-able-to-find-shopping-bag scene. In the climax, Javed Sheikh goes through a bit of a transformation which leads to some laugh-out-loud moments. I just wish the director had played on it a bit more.
The songs are not worth discussing much, and could be cut out entirely (I am looking at Hug Lay). I could use a whole range of adjectives to describe the one song "Hug Lay" because I still don't understand how the censor board allowed this song with bikini clad models to run?. Stunning, bewildering, astounding and many more words of the same genre could categorize my reaction on the song because I just want to know how this happened. AIB (a famous Indian group) did a parody party song that includes a line ‘kyun k ye gana hai censors will let it go’. Maybe that is it with Hug Lay as well.
Situations in the film sometimes do feel a bit doctored or forced but that is how most comedies work. There are a few tiny bits of details which I found really refreshing for a Pakistani film, like Moon owning a 1960s vintage car and also decorating his home with a set of car models, offered good visual delight.
Na Maloom Afraad in 2014 was a breath of fresh air. It showed Karachi’s ugly under belly without exposing it too ferociously to shock the audiences. The strength of the movie was how the director, Nabeel Qureshi had portrayed the chaos that grips this wonderful city.
In 2017, Na Maloom Afraad 2, takes us to Cape Town, South Africa. Hence the biggest strength of the director is taken away. Having said that, still NMA 2 was a cleverly made film which will entertain a varied crowd. However, here is hoping Nabeel Qureshi takes on a different genre in his next and takes Pakistani cinema in a new direction like he did with Na Maloom Afraad.
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