So basically Veer Zaara?: Shoaib Mansoor’s ‘Aasmaan Bolay Ga’ poster gets mixed reactions

Twitter users were conflicted about a Pak-India love story and war

Shoaib Mansoor dropped the poster of his upcoming film Aasmaan Bolay Ga (The Sky Will Speak) on Wednesday. The poster features Maya Ali and Emmad Irfani staring at each other while sitting on a land divided between Pakistan and India through a lightning bolt. As dramatic and romantic as it looks, it didn’t go too well with the audience.

Here’s the official poster for ‘AASMAAN BOLAY GA'
Starring: Emmad Irfani & Maya Ali
A film by Shoaib Mansoor
In theaters 2023 @emmadirfani @mayaali07 #AasmaanBolayGa #ShoaibMansoor #EmmadIrfani #MayaAli pic.twitter.com/wLZR00eaL2

— Shoaib Mansoor (@ShoManOfficial) December 27, 2022

What was earlier touted to be a documentary on the Operation Swift Retort of 2019 where the Pakistani military managed to shoot down an Indian fighter jet and capture pilot Abhinandan will now have a love angle between an Indian Journalist (Maya Ali) and a Squadron Leader (Emmad Irfani).

Given the political chaos in the country, a user felt that 2023 is a particularly “bad time” to release anything about the armed forces.

Bad time to release a movie about the armed forces 👀
I like that they are making a film on Operation Swift Retort but not sure why they have included this love angle? What actually happened in it was cool enough on its own. https://t.co/r1q0OlPw43

— Ali (@Bhuut_) December 28, 2022

We are making a movie on Operation Swift Retort about the events of 2019 when we shot down Indian fighter jet plus captured Abhinandan.

We are taking that based true story line and turning it in to an Pak-Indo love story 👎🏼🤮 pic.twitter.com/LBz7TKq1aI

— Zero. (Silent Ninja Hours) (@Zerodarknerdy1) December 28, 2022

 Another felt that the operation was “cool enough” on its own and didn’t need a love affair to bring in an audience.

For once ditch love story https://t.co/ubCUw3DgKB

— javed sher (@Shelbykhan98) December 28, 2022

Another tweep was of the opinion that including a love story might just help the film’s business. “You can't make people in a country like Pakistan bored with a documentary-style movie, where a single trip to the movies costs you around 2500. This is most likely the motivation behind including a love story in the film. People want to enjoy, they want entertainment,” read the tweet.

You can't make people in a country like Pakistan bored with a documentary-style movie, where a single trip to the movies costs you around 2500. This is most likely the motivation behind the inclusion of the love story in the film.
People want to enjoy, they want entertainment 🫡 https://t.co/okN4VDFxvt

— Sameer Siddiqui #TaxTheRich (@SenatorSameer) December 28, 2022

 A number of fans were also unhappy about how the plot reminds them of the Yash Chopra classic Veer Zaara. “Can we stop blending early 2000s Bollywood Indo-Pak films with 2010s Bollywood Indo-Pak films pls?” wrote a user.

Raazi meets Veer Zaara.

Can we stop blending early 2000s bollywood indo-pak films with 2010s bollywood indo-pak films pls? https://t.co/xozpAsB8rK

— Hassan (@hassaninexile) December 28, 2022

The bird app was full of excitement for the return of Khuda Ke Liye maker to the big screen. “Shoaib Mansoor is back, baby,” read a tweet. 

Shoaib mansoor is back baby 🥳🥳🥳 https://t.co/w1l2M8OtEF

— 😼 (@asdf_78601) December 29, 2022

Aasmaan Bolay Ga is slated to hit theatres in 2023. On the work front, Ali was last seen in Parey Hut Love alongside Sheheryar Munawar, while, Irfani made a cameo in 7 Din Mohabbat In. Mansoor’s last film was Haroon Shahid and Mahira Khan starrer Verna.