‘Devdas’ escapes Evernew Studio in garb of ‘Ishq Ne Hum Ko Loota’

Producer rebrands stolen print and releases film as studio files for fraud

LAHORE:

Friday night at Lahore’s Capital Cinema was quite an affair. A film titled, Ishq Ne Hum Ko Loota was premiered in the presence of producer Nadeem Shah, actor Zara Sheikh and several other film personalities. It was all glitter and gold and Shah was seen beaming with pride, looking forward to the response of the audiences.

The poor print quality and patched up audio did raise a few eyebrows as very few, skeptical filmgoers turned up for the event.

The gimmick was soon figured out. What was branded as Ishq Ne Hum Ko Loota was in fact Ilyas Kashmiri’s directorial venture Devdas — the film that was shot back in 2010 but was withheld by Evernew Studio since its post-production bills were not paid by Shah; a gift that just keeps on giving.



It was revealed that Shah was somehow able to ‘rescue’ the Pakistani Devdas from the dungeons of the studio and release it with another name, in hope of resurrecting his film career.

Karachi-based Shah, who also plays the lead role in the film, owed Evernew around Rs1.3 million. The film was shot on a shoestring budget and featured the likes of Zara, Meera and Babar Ali.



When approached, Shah had no shame in admitting that the film really was Devdas and not Ishq Ne Hum Ko Loota. The loss of hope was evident as he spoke to The Express Tribune about the issue. “Had this film been released five years ago, I’d have been in a position to do more films. Back then I was talented and energetic. I wanted to do a lot of work. The project taught me a lot and I am glad that I was finally able to release it,” he said.

So how really did Devdas manage to do what imprisoned British airmen did in the 1963 war epic The Great Escape? Studio official Yousaf Malik said Shah had telephoned them a few days ago. “He said he is coming to pay the dues but he cheated us and released the film. This is not the original print. Even we wanted the film to come out with its original name. This man is playing games with everyone.”

Evernew was quick to term the version ‘robbed’ and its owner Sajjad Gul submitted an application for the registration of a fraud case against Shah who has had sleepless nights for years, owing to an empty war chest and dreams of making it big as a film hero.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Gul said Shah did steal a copy of the film earlier and wanted to release it in Karachi. “We interfered and he had to stop.” This time, Shah tricked the censor board and cinema owners, he added, and released the film with a different name. “We will not let this go easily. We will take action against the cinema administration for screening the stolen film,” Gul added.

Interestingly so, in the entire saga, veteran film director Kashmiri was in the dark all along. He was not aware of the release of the film, into which he put his heart and soul’. “I am busy with a project in Karachi. I am not aware of Shah’s priorities. He did not inform me about the release.” He said he did his best with the film and it was a great movie. “It is beyond my understanding what Shah wants and what he did to the film.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd,  2015.

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