This might be the year of sequels and remakes for Bollywood; however Pakistani cinema has fresh and entertaining movies to offer in 2013. With a handful of upcoming movies being the talk of the town, the country’s first sports film titled Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is all set for release on Eid. A press conference held on Sunday at Atrium mall highlighted the film and the cast.
The film’s writer and host of the night Vasay Chaudhry elaborated on the kind of cinema actor-producer Humayun Saeed and his team support. “Song, dance and drama is the style of cinema that we believe in,” said Chaudhry. “From 1947 to 2001, more than 4,300 films were released in Pakistan with dances, songs and drama. This is as much our style of cinema as it is our neighbour’s.”
After Chaudhry’s brief on the film, film distributor Nadeem Mandviwalla shared his views. “On all such jubilant occasions, we should never forget to pay tribute to and thank people like Nadeem Baig and Javed Sheikh who have seen the industry go through thick-and-thin and have been resilient,” said Mandviwalla. According to Mandviwalla, Main Hoon Shahid Afridi is expected to do a great job at the local box office.
Like every cricket-loving citizen of Pakistan, Saeed also expressed his love for Shahid Afridi and how this film is a tribute to him. “I would have easily made a shaadi biyaah type of a film, but I always wanted to pay tribute to one of our own Pakistani stars in their life time,” said Saeed.
“Whether he performs or not, Shahid Afridi will continue to be Shahid Afridi for us,” said Saeed. He then thanked all the cast and crew for their continuous support and hard work but failed to mention Mathira, who performed an item number in the film. She walked out of the conference in protest. Main Hoon Shahid Afridi also features Javed Sheikh, Nadeem Baig, Shafqat Cheema, Humayun Saeed, Mahnoor Baloch and Noman Habib, who plays the lead role.
Saeed, who invested $1 million into the film, initially had asked the legendary cricketer himself to act in the lead role. “They offered me the role but my elders didn’t let me act, but I happily gave them permission to use my name as this film will bring a positive message,” Shahid Afridi later told AFP.
Veteran actor Javed Sheikh talked about his experience in contributing to the new age of Pakistani cinema. “I must assure you that Humayun Saaed and his team will bring you a pleasant surprise on the first day of Eid,” said Sheikh, who also believes that if Pakistani dramas can beat Indian dramas, then Pakistani films can also beat Indian films. “The new wave of Pakistani cinema will come from Karachi and the new film-makers will make better films than India in much more limited circumstances,” he added.
Senior actor Shafqat Cheema, in his signature aggressive style, explained his character, which is significantly different from the one in Bol. Being one of the most senior cast members, Nadeem Baig said he is hopeful of the new Pakistani cinema, while he grieved over artists going to Bollywood. “There is nothing bad about going to Bollywood, but not at the cost of your own cinema,” said Baig. “Respect your soil and culture because it’s a part of you and you are a part of it.”
Director Syed Ali Raza had a more proactive approach towards the new wave of Pakistani cinema. “We are not here to compete but to walk hand-in-hand with our neighbours, for the cause of entertainment,” he said. “Whether you win or lose doesn’t matter, but play with such a spirit that you can look into each other’s eyes after the game,” said Raza, using one of the lines from the film.
The evening ended with the unveiling of some very catchy songs from the film after which we can easily say that the audience is definitely in for some good surprises.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (28)
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Lets hope its entertaining and doesnt turn out to be a cliche like Chambili
@Azeez: This is called BARAK in punjabi
@Abu salim: people know its not comparable with India, but still have to compare because of people genre of blood.hope it make sense.
I really really hope that this is a good film and not a copy of Chak De India, like people are saying.
Well the trailer was painful to watch. -_-
Competition with your neighbour is a good thing, but it needs to be a healthy competition. Just boasting "we are the best" or "we can beat anyone" does not make you the best and frankly no one cares. In fact, your neighbour does not even consider you their competition. Lollywood's competition should be within itself.It is still too small to compare and compete with Bollywood. I will give one 'live' example: On this very same website, there is another news article about a new Lollywood film "Dirty Girl" that is soon going to be released in Pakistan. The producer claims it is "inspired by Bollywood movie 'The Dirty Picture'" and that it is a "small effort by him to give back to the industry in which he has worked his way up". The newspaper calls it a B-grade Lollywood movie and it also mentioned this producer is going to be the Chairman of film industry's censor board. A B-grade films producer who has made only 3 films so far is going to be the chairman of censor board in Pakistan. How ridiculous is that? If Lollywood's standards are so low, it has a long time before it can compare itself to Bollywood.
Hope next films would be "Main hoon OBL" and then "Main Hoon Musharraf" Ha ha ha..........this is called Pakistan
@Aki: dude i agree with u. Its only after we realize how deep the water is or how high the wall is we can cross it, by ignoring the true strength of the competition we cant win. Frankly the trailer looked like an indian movie....seemed saeed and sheikh were copying...thats the problem with pakistanis stars...we do one tiny improvement and we think we r larger than life...title of this very article has arrogance...the maker of bol was acting like bollywood and hollywood would come bow to him...we r way behind india we need trend of good movies to be even taken seriously...we can compare bhag milika bhag with this one and see who is better....i honestly wish saeed good luck and hope its a good movie...
It happen always "Sheikh, who also believes that if Pakistani dramas can beat Indian dramas, then Pakistani films can also beat Indian films. “The new wave of Pakistani cinema will come from Karachi and the new film-makers will make better films than India in much more limited circumstances,”
In recent survey in Pakistan about TV Channels Star Plus is first viewing in pakistan and so many other TV Channels Sony TV etc to follow so by saying this Pak dramas beat Indian dramas just like joke, second things is that Indian movies are releasing worldwide and millions are follow and some of them win OSCAR as well.
Also I want to mention in cricket recent champions trophy Misbah and others Pakistani cricketers said match against India is like final for us they want to beat India but result everyone knows.
what I want to say develop yourself comprising is not required. India is far far ahead in everything accept the fact.
Maybe its too premature to comment, however, i believe that the name of the movie is too individual centered, if its an ideology the movie promotes, the name could've been the ideology.. but i suppose people in general will be ok with the name... after all, whats in a name!
But name alone, doesnt inspire excitement, lets hope the trailer, (and yes mathira) does that... :)
@Logical: He means in Pakistan, Pakistani dramas are watched more compared to foreign dramas including Indian soap operas. Indian and Turkish content is secondary entertainment only. Indian content has gone down over the years, as people are no more interested in the same old boring soap opera content that is produced in that country. Hence the gradual shift to Turkish serials.
@Javed Sheikh: "if Pakistani dramas can beat Indian dramas....
If this is true, on what basis you came to this conclusion? How much TRP's does Pakistani dramas get on average over foreign content? Why do Pakistani TV Channels show Indian and Turkish content during prime time?
What is fresh? ALL I see is old faces.
That is sucha blow
Imagine, the next movie comes out as "Main hun Inzamamul Haq"
@ Javed sheikh: approximately 1500 films produced in India last year .We are the largest film producing country in the world.......how can you beat India....? .. foooolishness
only odd thing about is that it cost $ 1 million
@nishantpatwari Pakistan film industry before it's death (and even in it's current form) is practically an extention of Bollywood. And it won't ever completely break free because of shared cultural ties. But you would see the comparison with India/Bollywood disappearing once it establishes it's own style that would be much closer to iranian films. Thats the direction we would naturally go as Pakistan has always been more attracted to social dramas than fiction based escapist cinema that bollywood is famously known for. The best scenario would be for Pakistan is follow UK model that competes with Hollywood which is many folds it's size. But it might not happen due to embedded bigotry towards arts and culture in the dominant Pakistani discourse.
I don't understand, why we're competing with India? Which is 100years old. Second, why add an item song on shahid afridi biopic film. And really the movie is made in cost of $1million.
Best of Luck! We should support our own Industry :)
Hahaha...joke of the story...Shahid Afridi said his elders did not allowed him to act....
Cheap copy of Indian movie. What's the point.
Are you sure that $1 Million was spent to make this movie ?
Item No with a film based on sport's personality !!!! WOW what a connection.
So much for 'Fresh', at least they didn't name it "Main Shahid Afridi banna 'chahti' hoon".
press conference for a pakistani movie and how many times they have used the word india.
Best part of the article was that someone walked out in protest as she was not mentioned lol