Life & Style

Karachi Se Lahore crew takes over Hollywood

Lead actress Ayesha Omar says her film has received 'fantastic' response from the LA audience

Hassan Choudary August 17, 2015

lead actress ayesha omar says her film has received 039 fantastic 039 response from the la audience photo ayesha omar

Lead actress Ayesha Omar says her film has received 'fantastic' response from the LA audience. PHOTO: AYESHA OMAR

KARACHI: It's a great time for Pakistani cinema. Two releases on Eid. Three on Independence Day and one in between; a total of six within a month. Pretty amazing if you think about it. And what's even more exciting is that one of these movies has just had a premiere in Hollywood!

The Karachi Se Lahore crew are in Los Angeles these days and seem to have taken Hollywood by storm after their film's premiere there -- apparently a first for a Pakistani film.

"We are overwhelmed beyond words to be in Hollywood. Karachi Se Lahore is the first Pakistani movie to ever show in Hollywood and we feel so honoured to be here," lead actress Ayesha Omar excitedly told The Express Tribune while speaking to us from LA.

"Wajahat (the director) and I were sitting next to each other and I looked at him and asked 'what did we do to deserve this?' And we both simultaneously said 'pure, honest intentions'," she added.

Ayesha said that they have received fantastic response from the audience there; even those who don't understand Urdu were in fits because it has been subtitled really well. "The response is amazing. Beyond what we expected. Everyone loved the movie."

The actress -- whose dance number Tutti Frutti has become a major hit -- asserted that although hard work always pays off, you also need to have a positive attitude. "No jealousy or hate for anyone else's success. If you think well for others, good things happen to you too."

Here are some more photos from the Hollywood premiere:

https://instagram.com/p/6eDh8_TgRX/

PHOTOS: Ayesha Omar

COMMENTS (15)

Stylewalk | 9 years ago | Reply Watching to die the movie. But don't know were to see the movie. Congrats to all for a great success.

Hassan | 9 years ago | Reply @Khan: u use the word garbage and the synonym of garbage is crap...anyways i too was not supporting a particular movie but i was saying that whatever is being produced these days in these circumstances is a good move and the movies are better than mola jutt and typical gandasa type movies at least we r moving in the right direction, secondly when we talk about Bollywood and Hollywood they are to expected to make silly movies as they have a developed industry and they should be criticize whereas our industry is in its initial stage the day u realize this u won't criticize on petty issues like there are no mountain ranges in the way from Karachi to Lahore, any comment or criticism would be welcomed if u had any valid points. any how try and support the industry and u will see the fruits later. and i am not associated with the Film industry in any way.

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Khan | 9 years ago | Reply @Hassan You are defending the movie and the errors made without disclosing your association with the production team. That is not the right way! Your general conclusion is that because Bollywood makes bad films we must do the same? I never said that all Bollywood movies are good, neither did I say that all Pakistani movies are bad. Pakistan has produced some great films which have enjoyed commercial success as well. Poor productions from Bollywood get bashed all the time. I never used the word "crap", unfortunately you are not getting the point. This conversation ends here.

Hamza | 9 years ago | Reply @Hassan ... kindly understand the difference between Hollywood and South Asian festival. Would have an amazing achievement if CANNES picked up this movie for screening. Don't mislead simple Pakistani people. Movie at best seems like a by product of a Bollywood cliche.

Hassan | 9 years ago | Reply @Khan: Just wanted to point out one thing here and hopefully u will get where did u go wrong, quoting you here ''Do we really need a 100 year old industry to understand that there are no mountain ranges between Karachi and Lahore? Or that Ayesha Omar’s items number was in bad taste?'' now, i am failed to understand why don't u realize that it was a movie and not a documentary where u claim that there r no mountain ranges on the way to Lahore from Karachi...remember ''Chal mere bhai'' where they portrayed through the movie that it was India, the funny part was when the family decided to go out on a picnic in the outskirts of Mumbai and u can see them singing and dancing in Switzerland did any critic from India stood up against this biggest lie? as there are no such beautiful lush green mountains and waterfall around Mumbai. as far as the item nbr is concerned some may like it some may not, but still we r not master in it. u r way too impatient seriously, and honestly i never asked u to call it a ''gold'' and don't expect u to call it a ''crap'' either and honestly speaking this is too early to criticize when the most matured and all time expert critics have given rather soft reviews letting go the expected shortcomings, its not possible to master any form of art in a go, this is where u r wrong. i think u were expecting something extraordinary and it seems as if u were looking for Oscar winning production. hold ur horses bro, as i said it will take time, don;t try and bring facts when talking about a movie that there are no mountains on the way from Karachi to Lahore, watch Bollywood movie ''Welcome to Karachi'' which is not even shot in Karachi but the way they have portrayed Karachi is hilarious, and obviously u won't have any issues with that, as u already have surrendered to India. watch their old movies where Govinda can been seen in a superman costume, the industry gradually evolves its not a matter of a day month or year.

Amli | 9 years ago | Reply Express Tribune really needs to get some professionalism and stop intentionally misleading the public with its misrepresentation of the news. Westerns read this stuff and LAUGH at us for it. Its embarrassing. The movie was screened at a small South Asian event with MAYBE 150 people in attendance, All related to the cast and crew. Express Tribune is Pakistan's FOX news.

Khan | 9 years ago | Reply @Hassan - you need to first disclose if you are associated with the production team because your comments were more passionate than logical. I am not a "movie critic" per se, I shared some honest feedback it wasn't meant to be a detailed review. Criticism should be taken in a positive manner to improve future products, there is no point in being defensive. You are stating that because Pakistan film industry is new hence we should expect garbage and call it gold? Makes no sense. We can talk about MI5 or FF but I don't recall seeing the producer's whole family appearing in those movies. If you are not the producer himself, watch it again they all had screen time and credits, it is beyond ridiculous. Hollywood and Bollywood movies are full of technical and logical issues, they get called out on those all the time. This film isn't getting bad reviews because it is a Pakistani film, all bad movies do. Do we really need a 100 year old industry to understand that there are no mountain ranges between Karachi and Lahore? Or that Ayesha Omar's items number was in bad taste? I can go on but there is no point in extending this argument, the bottom line is that we aspire for great things and shouldn't try to get sympathy votes for mediocre efforts.

Hassan | 9 years ago | Reply @Khan: i think your criticism us unjustified, it seems like as if you r judging a 5th grade student with PhD standards, since we all know there is no such ''Industry'' at all exist in Pakistan, not many films were produced earlier with almost no experience of Film making, the team the crew the writer director has no such training or experience and u r expecting them to produce a film of International standard??? It is very easy to criticize but every critic is not welcomed as well,they come and go, if u don't know go and check ''Kamal Khan'', there were critics in the past too who were there just for the sake of criticism, well, to be a critic it requires to understand the background in which a movie is being produced,u need to understand that '' industry'' their experience, training, current situation of the country, budget, etc, a critic is not a critic if he only watch a movie as a ''movie'' and does not consider other factors. what u have mentioned i guess most of the moviegoers would understand and identify those lacking, trust me u did not provide us some extraordinary outstanding and unexpected review of the film that we were failed to identify it was pretty normal to expect baby steps from a baby, Now, look at your own self for example how naive r u to be a critic, but still u tried u tried to give your best reviews focusing on every area where u could find something silly, u did not let go any of their ''mistakes''. i guarantee you the way u have ''purposely'' watched this movie for criticism u could even easily identify a list of points that are illogical and inappropriate in MI5, Fast and the furious and other Hollywood and Bollywood movies. like we r doing great in drama Industry and if u compare the current movies with that of 90's u too would feel that it is a breath of fresh air and once u start moving in the right direction excellence will come ur way as peanuts, so just give the industry sometime and we shall see ur criticism helpful if a silly movie is coming out of a fully developed Industry.

Khan | 9 years ago | Reply Let us be realistic for a moment: The movie was screened at a South Asian event with about 150 people in attendance, this has nothing to do with Hollywood, it is not different from having a screening in Dallas or Edison. The headline is super misleading. Somebody needs to explain to these actors what this event was. The movie started 1.5 hours late, the organizer showed no respect for his paying customers and blamed the delay on him being a "desi". This guy needs a lesson in basic human decency and understand that people make plans based on the announced schedule. The movie was mildly entertaining in parts, there were just too many jokes based on homosexuality and the "pathan" stereotypes. The scenes that were funny were too long by about 40% and lost their funny value very quickly and dragged. This film needs to be edited by a professional. The producer, his wife, all his children and most of his close friends appeared in the film which showed that there was no commitment to the art, this was a venture of self promotion. The writer also appeared in the film and wrote the best lines for his character. Shehzad Shaikh and Ayesha Omar put in a week performance, there was no chemistry. The items number performed by Ayesha Omar made no sense, it was in bad taste. The positive response Ayesh Omar got was from the friends and family of the production team. We cringed really hard watching shots of her behind. The production quality was poor and the storyline is as unoriginal as they come. This film is unlikely to be shortlisted for the best foreign film category by the Academy, please be prepared.

Np | 9 years ago | Reply Released in LA NOT. Hollywood which is an independent industry by itself

Shahid Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply Looking gorgeous

Shahid | 9 years ago | Reply The corniest headline I have read in quite sometime. ET needs to raise its writing standards.

Parvez | 9 years ago | Reply WOW !

Sodomite | 9 years ago | Reply Good luck.

shehryar | 9 years ago | Reply wow! congratulations! so well-deserved!

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