Showdown at the box office

Nadeem Cheema’s ‘Geo Sar Utha Kay’ and Syed Noor’s ‘Chain Aye Na’ go head to head on August 11

LAHORE: Eid is always something to look forward to, especially in the film industry. It’s a prime opportunities for film-makers to benefit from the extended holiday and therefore, we often see them vying for release dates around Eid time.

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This time, however, it seems like Eid has come a little earlier for the local box office. While major projects like Na Maloom Afraad 2 and Main Punjab Nahi Jaungi are slated to release on Eidul Azha in September, there are two others opening this weekend, namely Syed Noor’s much-talked about Chain Aye Na and Nadeem Cheema’s Geo Sar Utha Kay.



Preparations for their August 11 release are in full swing across theatres, particularly in Lahore where both Noor and Cheema hail from. Local cinema houses are sporting posters and advertisements for both films and social media has been ablaze with promotions for quite some time now. Not to mention, speculation regarding which film will do better is rife throughout the film circuit.



But perhaps the best part is that both Chain Aye Na and Geo Sar Utha Kay are bringing in fresh new faces into the industry. Cheema’s son Shaheryar is the male lead in his film and will be making his debut alongside three new female actors including Areeba Khan. Besides this, fans will get to see senior actor Babar Ali return to the screen after a long time. Chain Aaye Na, on the other hand, boasts of a stellar cast including veteran artists such as Mustafa Qureshi, Nadeem Baig and Atiqa Odho.

 

Fortunately, the plots of the upcoming films differ greatly in that Geo Sar Utha Kay is an action film revolving around the life story of ring leader Shotto Gang. Chain Aye Na, in contrast, is a romantic drama with Shahroz Sabzwari and Sehrish Khan playing the two protagonists.



Both Cheema and Noor – the men of the hour – are eager to see how their respective films fare at the box office. While their performance is yet to be tallied, the film-makers are equally hopeful and believe their work will revive Pakistani cinema.

“Geo Sar Utha Kay has been shot in Rajanpur and its surrounding areas with the best technology. It will be a trend-setter, not just because it’s about the life of Shotto Gang but because it’s got a mix of action, romance, drama and comedy too. It’s also got some great music,” Cheema told The Express Tribune. “The cast also includes Nayyer Ejaz, Rashad Mahmood, Shafqat Cheema and Iftikhar Thakur. Also, Geo Sar Utha Kay is not just in Urdu but Sindhi and Punjabi as well, due to the high demand.”

Cheema continued, “I know Chain Aaye Na is also releasing on the same day but I believe our film will be the best as we have gotten great responses during the advertising campaigns. We completed the post-production in Dubai.”

About his own film, Noor added, "Chain Aaye Na is beautiful and it will be entertaining for everyone. The whole cast, script, pre and post production is excellent and surely, the film will be a memorable one.”

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