Will lightning strike twice for Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2?

The trailer does give a feel-good appeal but the real deal will be the execution of the plot by its lead actors.

Jawani Phir Nahi Ani was a massive hit at the box office and became the highest grossing movie in Pakistan’s history. An adventure-comedy directed by Nadeem Baig, the movie starred Humayun Saeed, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Ahmad Ali Butt, Vasay Chaudhry, Sohai Ali Abro, Mehwish Hayat, Javed Sheikh and Ayesha Khan.

Due to the massive success of the movie, a sequel was in the making for which the trailer was recently released. Reprising their roles are Saeed, Butt and Chaudhry. Also part of the cast are Mawra Hocane, Kubra Khan and Fahad Mustafa. Other cast members include Sarwat Gillani, Sohail Ahmed and Safina Behroz.

The trailer begins with the voice-over saying,

“Kuch kahanion ka happy ending ke baad bhi ek end hota hai. Yeh kahani bhi unhi main say ek hai!”

(Some stories have another end following a happy ending. This story is one of them!)

Seen in the trailer is Sherry (Saeed) running towards the edge of the cliff with the motive of jumping off, while his friends (Butt, Chaudhry and Mustafa) try to stop him. The trailer immediately shifts and seems a bit confusing, probably because the producers were trying not to give anything away.

What I did get from the trailer, though, was that the plot revolves around Saeed’s quest of getting married to his Indian-born girlfriend, Kubra, while Mustafa vows to never let that happen.





While the trailer suggests that the cinematography is top notch and the fun aspect has also been accounted for in the movie, what viewers would be more concerned about is the execution of the plot by the lead actors. It is essential for every actor to have a level of seriousness and maturity while he/ she is playing a role. It is only fair to wonder, if these bunch of actors will be able to do justice to the movie and its genre.



Mustafa, who is replacing Abbasi in the movie, will surely rise amongst the rest because he is spectacular from whatever we have seen of him in the trailer. His dialogue delivery is on-point and done with such precision that you actually believe that he is the character. Like always, Mustafa has managed to put his charisma into his words.



While there will be good music and dance performances in Jawani Phir Nahin Ani 2, the movie would need to be at par with its prequel to achieve similar box office success. The curse of the sequels should be worrisome to everyone involved in this project. Not many have been successful in presenting a sequel that was almost as good as its prequel, if not better.



If they manage to produce a movie that is actually hilarious and does not seem dragged or boring, the makers might just take the cake away with this one.

Interestingly, this movie will also touch upon the animosity between Pakistan and India. Since Saeed’s girlfriend is Indian and he is Pakistani, the father of the girl, played by Kanwaljit Singh, is against their relationship. It is yet to be seen how well or how badly this political tension is discussed and depicted in the movie. Obviously, this being a comedy, there has to be a mix of emotions and humour when addressing the case of these two bordering nations.



While the prequel revolved around three friends, Saeed, Butt and Chaudhry, the twists and turns of the movie did send the audience in fits of laughter. Time will tell if Jawani Phir Nahin Ani 2 will be able to do the same.



The trailer does give a feel-good appeal but the real deal will be watching the movie and finding out how good the story actually is. Let’s hope that this movie does not disappoint; we wouldn’t want “the boys” to be remembered like that anyway.

The movie is set to release on Eidul Azha, 2018.

All photos: Screenshots